Former Los Angeles Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda has died at age 93, the team announced.
He suffered a sudden cardiopulmonary arrest at his home on Thursday night and was taken to hospital, where he was pronounced dead less than an hour later.
Lasorda was hospitalized Nov. 8 with heart problems and did not return home until Tuesday.
He led the Dodgers from 1976 to 1996, winning two World Series titles, four National League pennants and eight division crowns. He was twice named National League Director of the Year and won 1,599 career games.
– Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) January 8, 2021
Lasorda was born on September 22, 1927 and grew up in the blue-collar city of Norristown, Pennsylvania, on the outskirts of Philadelphia. In 1945, at the age of 18, the left-handed pitcher got a great break by signing with the Phillies organization in his hometown.
“I didn’t have much skill, but I’ll guarantee you one thing: when I stood on that hill of emotions, I didn’t believe there was any living man who could hit me,” Lasorda said in 1997. “And if they hit me , which they did, I thought it was an accident. “
Lasorda’s baseball career was interrupted in 1946 and 1947 due to military service in the U.S. Army. Lasorda returned in 1948 and lost no rhythm; on May 31 of that year, he scored 25 batters in Schenectady’s 15-inning victory over Amsterdam and made a single match in the decisive test. After that season, Lasorda was selected by the Brooklyn Dodgers in the minor league draft, beginning a long relationship with the franchise.
Lasorda reached the standings in 1954 and played with the Dodgers in 1954 and 1955. He also played for Kansas City Athletics in 1956, but never played in the major leagues again after that season. He retired from the launch in 1960.
After finishing his professional career, Lasorda remained with the Dodgers. He was an explorer of the team until becoming coach of minor leagues from 1965 to 1972. Seventy-five players that Lasorda got in the minors went on to play in the major leagues.
In 1973, Lasorda coached the Dodgers’ third baseman under the direction of Walter Alston Hall of Fame. When Alston retired in 1976, Lasorda was named his replacement.
Lasorda quickly found success in Los Angeles. In 1977 and 1978 he led the Dodgers to the National League banner, but lost to the Yankees in the World Series both seasons. In 1981, Lasorda finally won his first World Series title, as the Dodgers defeated the Yankees in six games. The Dodgers also won the World Series in 1988 with Lasorda. He witnessed the team’s victory in the 6th game against the Tampa Bay Rays in October, which sealed the Dodgers’ first World Series championship since the 1988 Lasorda team.
After 20 seasons, Lasorda retired as Dodgers coach in 1996 due to health issues. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1997 by the veterans committee, but Lasorda remained active in the sport. He played various roles with the Dodgers and was the manager of the American team that won the gold medal at the Sydney Olympics in 2000 in favor of Cuba. Lasorda was also the official ambassador for the World Baseball Classic in 2006 and 2009.
“His passion, success, charisma and sense of humor made him an international celebrity, a stature he used to grow our sport,” MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement Friday. . “Tommy welcomed Dodger players from Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Japan, South Korea and elsewhere, which made baseball a stronger, more diverse and better game.”
Hall of Famer Vin Scully, who was the voice of the Dodgers for 67 years, fondly remembered Lasorda’s energy and effort.
“I will always remember two things about Tommy,” Scully said in a statement. “The first is his unlimited excitement. Tommy would get up in the morning full of beans and keep that up while he was with anyone else.
“The other was his determination. He was a teammate with limited ability and pushed himself to be a very good Triple-A pitcher. He never had anything extra that was a great player, but it wasn’t because he didn’t try. These are some of the things: his competitive spirit, his determination and, above all, this unlimited energy and self-confidence.His heart was bigger than his talent and there were no faults for him. their enthusiasm “.
A distant relative of Hall of Fame catcher Mike Piazza, and Piazza’s brother’s godfather, Tommy, Lasorda played a key role in the Dodgers’ influence in selecting Piazza in the 62nd round of the 1988 draft. in an All-Star twelve-time batting average of .308, one of the nine National League Rookies of the Year who played for the Dodgers under Lasorda. Piazza finished with 427 homers, including a 396 record as a catcher.
In 2009, Lasorda uploaded his portrait to the Smithsonian Institution’s National Portrait Gallery. Lasorda No. 2 was removed by the Dodgers in 1997 and the main street leading to the entrance to the Dodgers complex in Vero Beach, Florida, was renamed Tommy Lasorda Lane that year.
“In fifty years, we’ll still know Tommy Lasorda as a great baseball ambassador,” said Dodgers pitcher Orel Hershiser, who spent 14 of his 18 seasons playing Lasorda. “And I think he’ll be number 1 on his resume.”