Nevertheless, RIP Tommy Lasorda ... you were a true "giant".
Posted on 01/08/2021 8:56:28 AM PST by Borges
Dodgers Hall of Fame great Tommy Lasorda has died, the team announced. He was 93.
The Dodgers in a statement confirmed that Lasorda passed away Thursday night.
Lasorda had been hospitalized in Orange County in November with an undisclosed ailment. He was in the hospital for six weeks before returning home in early January.
The 93-year-old was known for his enthusiasm for baseball and especially the Dodgers. Lasorda found his calling as a manager after an unsuccessful 14-year stint in the minors as a pitcher.
In three major league stints, Lasorda went 0-4 in nearly a 6.5 ERA with Kansas City and the Brooklyn Dodgers who released him to make room for Sandy Koufax.
A true student of the game, Lasorda moved onto coaching after his playing days were over. In 1972, he would become the manager of the Dodgers Triple-A farm club, the Albuquerque Dukes.
There, he would win a Pacific Coast Championship in his long season, and that led Lasorda to the big leagues, joining Walter Alston’s staff, before replacing the long-time manager in 1979.
Lasorda became a leader and voice of the team. Under Lasorda, the Dodgers went to the World Series for his first two seasons, but they failed to beat the New York Yankees in both 1977 and 1978.
But things really came together in the 1981 Fall Classic when the Dodgers beat the Bronx in six games. Then, there was that magical season in 1988 – Lasorda’s greatest achievement despite most considered that his team was ill-equipped for the post-season. After upsetting the New York Mets in the National League Championship Series, the Dodgers were heavy underdogs against Oakland so in Game One, Olympian Kirk Gibson stepped to the plate, and history was made.
Lasorda would continue to the helm until the middle of the 1996 season when heart problems forced him out of the job he cherished.
Lasorda retired from managing, one shy from 1,600 wins and was inducted into the baseball Hall of Fame in 1997, his first year of eligibility, and that same year, the Dodgers would make sure that no one would ever wear Lasorda’s No. 2, retiring his jersey alongside other Dodger greats.
In the year 2000, Lasorda returned to managing, this time for Team USA at the Sidney Olympic Games, and as expected, answered the call for his country and led Team USA to the gold medal just three days before his 73rd birthday.
Lasorda went on to work for the Dodgers organization well into his 90s as a scout and later, special advisor, and ambassador for the game he loved and the team that so dearly loved him.
Lasorda in late October attended the Dodgers’ Game 6 World Championship victory in Arlington, Texas, where the Dodgers defeated the Tampa Bay Rays, 3-1.
Rest in Peace, Tommy.
Thanks for the memories.......................
May he rest in peace.
He and Billy Martin were two great managers. When they got pissed it was in its entirety.
I am not a dodger fan but I always liked Tommy. Seemed to be a straight up guy and patriot.
RIP uniform 2
I was a Yankee fan and hated the Dodgers in the World Series, not because they were terrible people but because they were our opponents and were good. Now I hate players because they are bad people dealing in wokism, call me racist and demand my money.
Coached the Spokane Indians (LA Dodgers AAA team) 1969-1971, before LA moved it to ABQ. A great coach.
ping
He was just as much in disbelief as the rest of us were, but that immediately turned to complete elation.
One of baseball’s legends, RIP
Will be classed under the COVID stats.
He attended mass at my church once when they were in town to play the braves. He sat several rows from me. Looked exactly how he looked on TV. Everyone was thrilled to see him.
Lasorda made it easy for a Giants fan to hate the Dodgers.
Those were good days...
RIP.
Tommy lived in a very simple house for many years well after he gained fame and fortune. If I recall right it was in Fullerton. Down to earth guy.
“As a life-long Giants fan, I hated anything or anyone wearing Dodger Blue.”
But that’s not the real point of my post. Look at what we’ve lost/had taken away from us. Being life-long fans of baseball teams. I neither watch nor cared about the 2020 World Series.
Remember the old WWII movies where some Japanese/German speaking perfect English tried to trick our troops only to be foiled by the question “Who won last years World Series? Baseball was something we all had in common as Americans. Is there much of anything like that left?
RIP Tommy. You were a part of my life for many years. Glad you got to see the Blue Crew once again world champs.
He was one-of-a-kind.
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