LOS ANGELES – Tommy Lasorda, the fiery Hall of Fame executive who led the Los Angeles Dodgers to two World Series titles and later became the ambassador for the sport he loved during his 71 years in the franchise, has died. He was 93 years old.
The Dodgers said Friday that he was suffering from heart failure at his Fullerton, California home. Resuscitation attempts were made on the way to a hospital, during which he was pronounced dead shortly before 11 p.m. Thursday.
Lasorda has had heart problems in the past, including a heart attack in 1996 that ended his managerial career and another in 2012 that required him to have a pacemaker.
He had just returned home Tuesday after being hospitalized with heart problems since November 8th.
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– Los Angeles Dodgers (@ Dodgers) January 8, 2021
Lasorda took part in the Dodgers’ Game 6 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on October 27 in Texas, which secured the team’s first World Series title since 1988.
“It is appropriate that in his final months, for the first time since his team in 1988, he saw his beloved Dodgers win the World Series,” said Commissioner Rob Manfred.
Lasorda has been special advisor to team owner and chairman Mark Walter for the past 14 years and has been present at games in Walters Box frequently.
“He was a great ambassador for the team and baseball, a mentor to players and coaches, he always had time for an autograph and a story for his many fans, and he was a good friend,” said Walter. “He will be missed very much.”
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Lasorda worked as a player, scout, manager and front office manager for the Dodgers, who had their roots in Brooklyn.
He set a record from 1,599 to 1,439, won World Series titles, four National League pennants and eight division titles in 1981 and 1988, and was Dodgers manager from 1977 to 1996.
He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame as a manager in 1997. He led the US to a gold medal in baseball at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
Lasorda has been the longest-serving active employee at the franchise since Hall of Fame broadcaster Vin Scully retired in 2016 after 67 years. He gave a standing ovation when featured at games in recent years.
“There are two things about Tommy that I will always remember,” Scully said. “The first is his boundless enthusiasm. Tommy would get up in the morning full of beans and keep that up as long as he was with someone else. The other was his determination. He was a guy with limited abilities and he pushed himself to be a Very Good Triple -A-Pitcher. He never had that little extra that makes a great leaguer, but not because he didn’t try. “
Lasorda would often proclaim, “I’m bleeding Dodger blue,” and he held a bronze plaque on his desk that read, “Dodger Stadium was his address, but every ballpark was his home.”
As a pitcher, Lasorda had a modest career in the major league, going 0-4 from 1954 to 1956 with 6.48 ERA and 13 deflections.
Tommy Lasorda ran the Dodgers for 20 years and led the team to two World Series titles. George Rose / Getty Images
Born on September 22, 1927 in Norristown, Pennsylvania, Thomas Charles Lasorda began his professional career when he signed with the Philadelphia Phillies as a vacant free agent in 1945. He missed the 1946 and 47 seasons while serving in the army.
Lasorda returned in 1948, hitting 25 once in a 15-inning game. It knocked out 15 and 13 on its next two starts and caught the attention of the Dodgers who designed it from the Phillies. He played in Panama and Cuba before making his major league debut for the Brooklyn Dodgers on August 5, 1954. Although he did not play in the World Series in 1955, he won a ring as a member of the team.
Lasorda played two seasons for the Dodgers before the Kansas City Athletics bought his contract. It was sold to the Yankees in 1956 and sent to the Triple-A Denver Bears before being bought back to the Dodgers in 1957. During his time with the Bears, Lasorda was influenced by manager Ralph Houk, who became his role model.
“Ralph taught me that players who are treated like humans play like Superman,” said Lasorda in his 2009 bio, “I live for it: Baseball’s Last True Believer.”
“He taught me how important a pat on the shoulder can be like a kick in the buttocks.”
Lasorda stayed with the Dodgers as a scout after they released him in 1960. This was the start of a steady rise through the Dodgers system, culminating in his promotion to the Big League team under longtime Hall of Fame manager Walter Alston in 1973.
Lasorda spent four seasons coaching third base while he was viewed as the heir to Alston, who retired in September 1976.
Lasorda took over and his sociable personality was in stark contrast to his reserved predecessor. Lasorda was known for his enthusiasm and outspoken opinions about players. After Dodger’s victories, he would jump around pumping his arms in the air and hugging players in the dugout after home races or other good games.
In LA, Lasorda found many of the players he’d run in the minors, including Steve Garvey, Ron Cey, Davey Lopes, Bill Russell, Bobby Valentine, and Bill Buckner.
Words cannot express my feelings. A friend and mentor hasn’t been with us for 52 years. Tommy, no one will ever fill the void you left. Thank you for everything. REST IN PEACE
– Bobby Valentine (@BobbyValentine) January 8, 2021
As popular as Lasorda was with the public, behind the scenes he was known for using reporters to abuse a blue stripe that made many of his quotes unusable.
Some of his most memorable rants live on on the internet, especially one from July 1982 involving Kurt Bevacqua of the San Diego Padres, who called Lasorda “that fat little Italian” after Dodgers pitcher Tom Niedenfuer fined US $ 500. Dollar for beating Joe Lefebvre, Bevacqua’s teammate.
Lasorda denied ordering Niedenfuer to hit Lefebvre while he was firing a series of F bombs.
“If I ever did,” said Lasorda, his voice rising, “I certainly wouldn’t get him to throw at a stroke like Lefebvre or Bevacqua that couldn’t hit water if he did.” fell out of a boat. “
In 1978, Chicago Cubs’ Dave Kingman met three homers and drove a 10-7 win over the Dodgers in eight runs. A reporter asked Lasorda what he thought of Kingman’s performance.
“I think they were for horses,” said Lasorda. Â € œHe beat us three and five home runs. How can you ask me such a question? “
Lasorda was known for his friendship with Frank Sinatra and other Hollywood stars. Sinatra sang the national anthem on the opening day of the 1977 season to mark Lasorda’s debut as a manager. The synthetic wood paneled walls of Lasorda’s office were overflowing with black and white signed photos of his celebrity friends. The framed glass was stained with red sauce from the pasta and was served in large foil trays after the games.
Lasorda’s appetite for profit and food was just as insatiable. His weight rose sharply over the course of his years as a manager, and he stated, “When we won games, I ate to celebrate. And when we lost games, I ate to forget.”
He turned his struggles into a role as the pitchman for a popular weight loss product.
Lasorda managed nine National League rookie-of-the-year winners including Fernando Valenzuela, Steve Sax, Steve Howe, Mike Piazza, Eric Karros and Hideo Nomo.
“You have to know who to pat them on the back, when to pat them on the back, when to kick them in the butt and when to stroke them a little,” said Mike Scioscia, former Dodgers catcher and major League manager. “And Tommy had the gift of knowing which players needed what.”
Lasorda made it in four all-star games. He served as the third base coach in the 2001 game when he fell backwards while trying to dodge the broken barrel of Vladimir Guerrero’s bat in a comical scene.
In 1998, Lasorda became Interim General Manager after Fred Claire was fired mid-season. After the season he resigned from this job and was named senior vice president. After the team was sold to Frank McCourt in 2004, Lasorda became special advisor to the chairman.
Lasorda had a heart attack while traveling to New York in 2012 to represent the Dodgers in the drafting of the Major League. He was implanted with a pacemaker, which was replaced five years later.
He is survived by Jo, his wife of 70 years. The couple lived in the same humble house in Fullerton for 68 years. They have a daughter, Laura, and a granddaughter, Emily. The couple’s son, Tom Jr., died in 1991 of AIDS-related complications.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
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