Dodgers legend Lasorda dies at 93

MLB.com ^ | 8 January 2021 | Ken Gurnick

[HKMk23]

Well, that does it.
Ya got me cryin’ here.

Lasorda is on a short roster of My Most Beloved Humans.

I saw his heart and soul in how he managed the players; saw the love and respect between him and guys like pitcher Fernando Valenzuela. Yeah, he cared about stats and performance, but he loved the people first and foremost. He never managed a dugout full of statistics; he led teams of men he respected and cared for.

Not being a celebrity wonk, I never dug into Tommy’s life, only recorded what I saw, which was mostly during ballgames, and what I saw was monument to living life among others as decently as possible. I’ve no doubt Tommy wasn’t perfect, but sticking with the same wife for 70 years is a Hall Of Fame stat all by itself.

A towering baseball personality, both inside and outside the ballpark, Lasorda’s departure has left the world with a VERY large, and well-worn pair of empty shoes.

And there’s a rainy place, now, in my heart, too.

[americas.best.days...]

He was a character. We’re not going to have a lot of cool characters in the future because everyone has to be so “careful” and “safe”. Sad.

Glad this character had a nice long life.

PLAY BALL.

[deport]

When a 7-year-old visited his Dodger Stadium office during the 2006 playoffs, Hall of Fame manager Tommy Lasorda decided to give the boy his “
facts of life” speech. Lasorda put his hand squarely on the boy’s shoulder and began the message in a slow and deliberate voice. “I want you to always remember one thing … stand in the middle when taking a photo, so they can’t crop you out of the picture,” he said.

[Honorary Serb]

Memory Eternal!!!!

[al baby]

Go F yourself

[T. P. Pole]

My memory of Lasorda comes from the Rick Monday flag saving incident.

“By the time he’d handed it to a teammate near the dugout, Tommy Lasorda let the protesters have a few choice words. At the time, Lasorda was the third baseman for the Dodgers. He [Lasorda] came running past me yelling about every expletive that a longshoreman would utter on a bad, bad day!” Monday said.

If Monday hadn’t gotten the flag, Lasorda was headed there too.

[Win94]

A great personality, great manager, great patriot. RIP from a Cards fan.

[L.A.Justice]

I saw his heart and soul in how he managed the players; saw the love and respect between him and guys like pitcher Fernando Valenzuela. Yeah, he cared about stats and performance, but he loved the people first and foremost. He never managed a dugout full of statistics; he led teams of men he respected and cared for.
___________________________________

Excellence description of Tommy Lasorda...

RIP to Tommy...

His son passed away many years ago...That was a sad story...

[changeitback440]

lol......another crybaby.....its even in your name

[L.A.Justice]

I think Tommy and President Reagan got along very well...

[MissEdie]

I met him when I was a teenager back in the 80’s (I know, I'm telling my age). My church's youth group had travelled from SC to Atlanta to watch the Braves play the Dodgers. It was when Joe Torre was with the Braves. We were all big Braves fans before that game. Long story short, we go to the stadium early to get autographs and meet some of the Braves players. Joe Torre was such a rude, pompous ass to us. He saunters over to where we were and told us the star players were busy warming up but if we needed an autograph he would get someone out of the dugout to come over. Me and another girl told him not to bother- that's when we saw a friend of ours over talking to Tommy Lasorda . We walked over to him- she introduced us as Braves fans. He said that was ok- he wouldn't hold that against us. He asked us if we had any questions about the game or his team. Before we could ask, he calls the entire Dodger team over to us so we could meet them. I can't remember all of the famous players we met, but we got lots of autographs. He told us his players didn't mind meeting fans- because without us they wouldn't be there. Tommy Lasorda was such a nice man, my other friend and I became Dodger fans from that day forward.

[Lockbar]

I don’t know much about sports, but he always seemed to be a regular likeable guy.

[SecAmndmt]

RIP

Not a Dodgers fan, but a Lasorda fan

Also not a Tigers fan, but a Sparky Anderson fan

Two of the greats.

[The MAGA-Deplorian]

Last year of the great ones! RIP Tommy!

[Atticus]

His expletive-filled rant about Kurt Bevacqua is epic. I was a big Dodger fan as a kid and when I was 12 or so I wrote to Tommy Lasorda and asked for an autograph. He wrote “To (my name), a future Dodger.” Small gestures like that made the game great.

[L.A.Justice]

I met him when I was a teenager back in the 80’s (I know, I’m telling my age). My church’s youth group had travelled from SC to Atlanta to watch the Braves play the Dodgers.
_________________________________________

Thanks for the story...

Joe Torre became the Dodgers manager many years later...

I hope that you still supported Dodgers when Torre was the manager...

You were clearly not happy with how Mr. Torre treated you and your group...

[MissEdie]

I knew Torre managed the Yankees for a long time, but I didn’t know about him managing the Dodgers :9) and yes, I still support the Dodgers.

[L.A.Justice]

Joe Torre managed Dodgers from 2008 to 2010...

I am glad that you were willing to support Dodgers although it employed Joe Torre...

I thought that Mr. Torre was a nice guy...
But, I was disappointed to hear how he treated you back in 1980s...Nobody is perfect...