LOS ANGELES – Tommy Lasorda, son of Italian immigrants and a professional pitcher who has become a legendary manager of the Dodgers, a global baseball ambassador and national treasure, died on Thursday. He was 93 years old.
Commissioner Rob Manfred issued the following statement:
“Tommy Lasorda was one of the best coaches that our game has ever known. He loved life as a Dodger. His career started as a pitcher in 1949, but he is obviously best known as the manager of two World Series champions and four streamer-winning clubs. His passion, success, charisma and sense of humor made him an international celebrity, a stature he used to make our sport grow. Tommy welcomed Dodger players from Mexico, Dominican Republic, Japan, South Korea and elsewhere – making baseball a stronger, more diverse and better game. He served in the Major League Baseball as a Global Ambassador for the first two editions of the World Baseball Classic and managed the US team to gold at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. Tommy loved his family, the United States, the National Passime and the Dodgers, and made everyone proud during a memorable baseball life.
“I am very lucky to have developed a wonderful friendship with Tommy and I will miss him. It seems fitting that in his final months, he saw his beloved Dodgers win the World Series for the first time since his 1988 team. On behalf of the Major League Baseball, I send my deepest condolences to his 70-year-old wife, Jo, and to your whole family, the Dodger organization and your generations of loyal fans. ”
In three seasons as a Major League pitcher, Lasorda scored 0-4 and did not remind anyone of Sandy Koufax, who replaced him in the Brooklyn squad. But as manager of the Dodgers for two decades, Lasorda worked on a job that earned him a spot alongside Koufax in the baseball Hall of Fame. Before his death, Lasorda was the oldest Hall of Fame member, a distinction that is now passed to Willie Mays, 89.
He died after serving in his 71st season with the Dodgers, an extraordinary show of loyalty. He spent the past two decades as a special adviser to the president (now Mark Walter), having been rescued by former president Frank McCourt from imposed exile when News Corp. bought the club from Peter O’Malley and his sister, Terry Seidler.
“My family, my partners and I were blessed to have spent so much time with Tommy,” said Walter in a statement. “He was a great ambassador for the team and baseball, mentoring players and coaches, always had time for an autograph and a story for his many fans and was a good friend. He will be sorely missed. “
– Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) January 8, 2021
Lasorda’s career started out as a small left-handed pitcher with a big heart and fighting spirit. When that dream ended, he became a scout and then built a resume as a minor league manager, a major league third baseman, a hall of fame major league manager, interim general manager, and senior vice president.
He earned eight honorary doctorate degrees, had an asteroid named after Cal Tech, had a wife (Jo) in his 70s and still made appearances every year on behalf of the Dodgers and the MLB. He’s in 17 Halls of Fame, and if they had one to eat, he would be there too. He tasted the “fruits of victory”, not to mention the industrial-sized portions of linguini and clams.
Lasorda was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1997, with the strength of more than 20 seasons managing the Dodgers (1976-96). He is one of only four coaches in the history of the major leagues to manage the same team for 20 years or more – the others are Connie Mack, John McGraw and Lasorda’s predecessor Walter Alston.
“In a franchise that celebrated these great legends of the game, no one who wore the uniform embodies the spirit of the Dodgers as much as Tommy Lasorda,” said Dodger President and CEO Stan Kasten. “A tireless baseball spokesman, his dedication to the sport and the team he loved was unmatched. He was a champion who at critical times apparently wished his teams to win. The Dodgers and his fans will miss him a lot. Tommy is just irreplaceable and unforgettable. “
Lasorda retired as a coach after suffering a heart attack in 1996, having won the World Series in 1981 and 88, as well as four National League flags and eight division titles. He had 3-1 as an All-Star manager. His 1,599 victories were in 22nd place ever.
Baseball’s undisputed goodwill ambassador ran the United States Olympic baseball team until the gold medal in 2000. In 2009, his portrait was hung in the Smithsonian Institute’s National Portrait Gallery. In 2008, he received the Order of the Rising Sun, Golden Rays with Rosette from the Emperor of Japan, just one of the many heads of state that Lasorda considered his friends.
Lasorda is one of only two managers in baseball history to earn pennants in his first two years of management, joining Gabby Street, who did it with the Cardinals in 1930 and ’31. Lasorda made nine National League debutants of the year, a Major League record. And he served as the official ambassador for the World Baseball Classic in 2006 and ’09.
As a pitcher, he was known mainly for his fight. He never managed to take the final step of Triple-A dominance to Major League success as a pitcher, compiling a record of 0-4 in brief tests with the Dodgers and Kansas City A’s.
Alston managed Lasorda at Triple-A Montreal and Brooklyn and considered the southpaw a better cheerleader than a pitcher. When the Dodgers sent Lasorda back to Triple-A in 1955, it was to clear a spot on the list for a newly signed bonus baby – Koufax.
Lasorda, however, would have a fame and fortune in baseball that no one could have predicted, not even him. It was mentor and then Scouting director Al Campanis who told Lasorda in 1960 that his days as a player were over, dampening the news by hiring him as a scout. When Campanis became general manager, he appointed Lasorda as manager of the Rookie League, first in Pocatello, Idaho, then in Ogden, Utah.
It was there, and later at Triple-A Spokane, where Lasorda formed the bond with what would become the nucleus of the 1970s Dodgers – Steve Garvey, Bobby Valentine, Bill Russell, Willie Crawford, Charlie Hough, Tom Paciorek, Bill Buckner , Tommy Hutton, Ron Cey and others.
Lasorda, who attributed Ralph Houk to his administrative model, honed his motivational skills by teaching these raw talents how to play and win. He led the way as a coach who approached his players, and Joe Torre said it was Lasorda who gave the game the administrative hug. Lasorda socialized with his players, usually over dinner, but he still respected them.
Lasorda was profane, sometimes profound, always amusing. He was so effective as a teacher that 75 players he led in the Minor Leagues reached the Major Leagues.
Lasorda leaves his wife, Jo; daughter, Laura, and granddaughter, Emily. Lasorda’s son, Tom Jr., died in 1991.