LOS ANGELES – Hall of Fame manager Tommy Lasorda was commemorated during a private funeral service at Dodger Stadium, home of the Los Angeles Dodgers champions, before being buried Tuesday.
Lasorda died on January 7 after a heart attack at age 93.
His coffin, covered with a wide variety of blue and white flowers, was placed on the pitcher’s mound with a blue 2, meaning the number of the Lasorda t-shirt, on the back of the mound.
Lasorda’s wife for 70 years, Jo, attended in a wheelchair, along with her daughter, Laura. The mourners remained socially distanced around the mound.
Former Dodgers receiver and Los Angeles Angels manager Mike Scioscia, retired Major League player and manager Bobby Valentine, retired Dodgers first baseman Eric Karros, retired player and coach Mickey Hatcher, former pitcher of the Dodgers, Charlie Hough, and former NBA coach Mike Fratello were among the 10 coffin bearers. Each wore a T-shirt with the number 2 Lasorda on his back.
Karros and Hatcher, along with Sketchers president and co-founder Michael Greenberg, and his personal friends Steve Brener and Chris Leggio spoke at the stadium and served as coffin bearers, along with businessman Warren Lichtenstein. With mouthpieces due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they carried Lasorda’s coffin to a white hearse parked in front of the dugout.
“I bleed the blue Dodger and when he dies, I go to the great Dodger of heaven.”
Tommy Lasorda’s friends and family gathered today at Dodger Stadium to pay tribute to the Hall of Fame manager. pic.twitter.com/cD398zwZeI
– Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) January 20, 2021
The national anthem was sung and the image of Lasorda was projected on the stadium’s video screens.
A caravan traveled from the stadium to Rose Hills Memorial Park in nearby Whittier, where Lasorda was buried. The group had just arrived at the cemetery when they received the news that Dodgers Hall of Fame pitcher Don Sutton had died at age 75.
Lasorda spent 71 years in the Dodgers organization, starting as a player when the team still had its base in Brooklyn. He later coached and then became his best-known manager for 21 years in Los Angeles, leading the franchise to two World Series championships. After resigning in 1996, he became an ambassador for the sport he loved.