In sad news, the Dodgers announced this morning that Hall of Fame manager Tommy Lasorda passed away last night. He was 93 years old.
“In a franchise that has celebrated such great legends of the game, no one who wore the uniform embodied the Dodger spirit as much as Tommy Lasorda,” president and CEO Stan Kasten said in a statement. “A tireless spokesman for baseball, his dedication to the sport and the team he loved was unmatched. He was a champion who at critical moments seemingly willed his teams to victory. The Dodgers and their fans will miss him terribly. Tommy is quite simply irreplaceable and unforgettable.”
A franchise icon, Lasorda began a brief playing career with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1954. While he didn’t find much success as an MLB player, that experience kicked off an association with the Dodger organization that would last 71 years. After his playing career ended, Lasorda served as a scout and manager in the Dodgers’ farm system. He became a member of the MLB coaching staff in 1973 and took over as manager near the end of the 1976 season.
That began one of the most decorated managerial careers in MLB history. Lasorda immediately led the Dodgers to back-to-back pennants in 1977-78. Both those teams lost to the Yankees in the World Series, but Lasorda would guide the Dodgers to a pair of championships in the following decade (in 1981 and 1988). He remained the Los Angeles skipper for an incredible twenty seasons, before stepping aside midway through the 1996 campaign due to health concerns. Even after Lasorda’s managerial tenure ended, he remained inextricably linked with the organization. As the Dodgers note in their press release, he had spent the past fourteen years as a special advisor.
Lasorda also managed the Gold Medal-winning 2000 United States Olympic team in Sydney. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1997. MLBTR joins the Dodgers in sending our condolences to Lasorda’s family and countless friends and fans throughout the sport.
At least he lived long enough to see the Dodgers finally win a World Series. RIP Tommy.
Very true. God bless him.
DrDan you do know he coached them to 2 World Series Championships in the 80s
Dude shut up.
@mrmet6141
Of course I know that. That’s why he’s in the HOF. It certainly isn’t because of his playing career.
I was referring to the Dodgers’ more recent history of choking in the playoffs with that comment.
Really? Seriously? On the day Tommy Lasorda passes away and people are rightly and kindly paying their respects to him and expressing their condolences to his family, you have to throw in a crass comment like that???? Have some class, gidez1
Well…I mean he was insulting the Dodgers, which opens the floodgates to mom jokes and the like in my book as well
@mrmet…I read DrDan’s comment as “again” being implied at the end of the first sentence. While he won because he was on the roster early in ‘55, he did not contribute much to that team. However, the number of championships he won as a minor league manager is quite impressive.
His concept of reinforcing with positive feedback was a pretty modern approach in the 50s and 60s. “Treat players like human beings, they will play like Superman.”
Thanks for the take and info.
Lasorda also managed in the minors names like Garvey, Lopes, Russell, Cey, Yeager, Buckner, Valentine and many more that went on to have great MLB Careers.
While he was one of the best managers before sabermetrics and algorithms took over, don’t forget his silence on HIV and his son being gay. Really a shame how he was treated.
Your comment has AIDS
With all due respect, why can’t we just leave families to themselves? And why should you care if Tommy was silent about an STD? I don’t know Tommy’s son but I’m sure they had a million different reasons to have whatever relationship they did and I am certainly not going to interject myself into the middle of their family schism.
RIP
Sorry to see this. At least he got to see his team win one last time.
“I bleed Dodger blue and
when I die, I’m going to the big Dodger in the sky.”
RIP Tommy !!
Not quite how heaven works, but nonetheless he was one of the best managers before sabermetrics and algorithms took over. COVID ruins everything. RIP Tommy.
Class man, with many, many stories that I had the pleasure of meeting and just talking to, on multiple occasions. RIP. The All-Stars from 2020 now have their manager.
Agreed, I met Lasorda when he won Manager of the year in 1988. He was in Milford Ct. with Bobby Valentine. They were crossing the street in front of Valentine’s restaurant and about to enter. I worked in print media advertising and had a copy of that days paper, which I showed to Lasorda. He was so excited to see it in print he shook my hand and asked if he could have it, I told him I would be happy to let him have it and asked if he would sign another one I had in my car. He agreed and told me to get it and bring it inside. Upon returning with 2 copies, one I gave to Bobby V. he thanked me and asked if I would like to join them for lunch. I still regret to this day I declined, because I was working and also was too young (24) and nervous to accept. RIP Tommy.
Wow! If only you had stayed. The stories you could tell today…
Excellent story Ted Yaz. Truly authentic and sort of a small deal but the way you tell it brings it to life and it’s a Once in a Lifetime experience to be shared forever. Thanks for sharing it here.
Great story man!
What a great story…as awesome as it would’ve been to enjoy a meal with them at least you respected their privacy. What a nice gesture from Mr. Lasorda!!!!
He once said of the Padres’ Kurt Bevacqua that “He couldn’t hit water if he fell out of a boat.”
That right there is timeless. Better than the Mendoza line.
That is a great one but for me the Dave Kingman interview response is the all-time Lasorda moment
“You’re asking me how I feel about his performance? How the **** do you think I feel about his ****ing performance?”
Dr Dan-I take acception to that statement!
You left out a few other words that Tommy said about Bevacqua lol.
You don’t have to be a dodger to feel blue today.
I got cussed out by Tommy Lasorda
One of the last of his kind
RIP Tommy Lasorda
He always bled blue! Not a company line he lived it. Mr Lasorda lived a helluva life. Much respect and rest easy sir.
He was one of the most entertaining managers I ever saw. Prayers for his family and for the Dodger family as well. Baseball has lost a true giant of the game.
A legend, nobody in my lifetime had as much loyalty to his team as Tommy. As a opposing fan he was possibly misunderstood, but as a baseball fan, you completely understood his passion.
My bet is no one has more loyalty to a manager than the his former Spokane Indians players. They took each other to the greatest height in baseball.
So sorry for the Dodger fans and staff.
@Mort…The list of championships he led his teams too in the minor leagues sums up his ability to lead and motivate.
Baseball has a lot of extreme talents, but very few larger-than-life personalities, especially in the modern era. Lasorda was a legendary baseball personality. The Phanatic throwing Ultra Slim Fast at him, and Lasorda having fun right back is one of my fondest baseball memories. RIP to a legend.
People forget Tommy served as interim GM in 1998, and actually traded away a young Paul Konerko.
I had the pleasure of speaking to him as a teenager, and being chewed out for having my friend’s little brother out late on a school night trying to get an autograph, and then chewed out later as an adult for wearing my hat in the Dugout Club! He was a great ambassador to the game though and baseball royalty.
Nothing like seeing Tommy go nuts in the 77 series when Reggie doesn’t get out of the way for the relay from second base. Classic Tommy. Rest In Peace…
I was thinking the exact same thing! Great memories!
But it’s always sad when we have to say goodbye to a true baseball legend.
I’m so glad someone else remembered that moment. I was rooting for the Dodgers in that series and was rooting Mr. Lasorda on, but unfortunately he lost the argument. What a classic moment. I’ll never forget it!!!!
Jeez man, the baseball world has lost so many names in the past calendar year. So sad to see. RIP Tommy
Great baseball man. So many memories. What a great life. RIP from Tiger fans.
“About the only problem with success is that it does not teach you how to deal with failure.” – Tommy Lasorda
Rest in peace, Mr. Lasorda. May your family find joy in their memories of your inspirational and legendary life.
RIP to a legend.
Am especially appreciative to Mr. Lasorda for bringing Mike Piazza into baseball by convincing the Dodgers to draft him. RIP. You were a class act.
RIP Tommy Lasorda!
71 years with the same organization is unreal. He was both an outstanding and entertaining manager who every baseball fan should admire.
RIP to one of the greatest ambassadors to the game, Tommy Lasorda.
Another baseball great passes…RIP in Sodger blue
Couldn’t agree anymore. A great story teller.
I’m a Padres and Giants fan (yes it’s possible to be both) who dreaded the Dodgers over the past decades, yet I adored this most passionate blueblood. RIP
I’m a Giants fan who enjoys watching Giants-Dodgers matchups, believe it or not. Regardless of the result, I think they are entertaining matchups.
Well as a Dodgers fan I have more respect for you as a Giants fan that that quisling above you…how you gonna like two teams in the same division? Tommy would not approve of that behavior lol
I don’t like two teams in the division, and if I did one of the teams wouldn’t be the Dodgers. I just find the matchups entertaining, more so than most other matchups. To me, matchups between division rivals tend to be the most fun to watch
Tommy was a larger-than-life, bleeding Dodger blue, charismatic encourager. Never saw him depressed.
Quite simply an amazing ambassador for the game of baseball, RIP Mr. Lasorda ⚾️
I grew up in the LA market, and I’m am not a Dodger fan (Angels and Padres). He was one of those larger than life figures. In LA people from 9 years old to 90 knew who he was. He had a large presence in one of the biggest markets in the world. People in baseball and all fan bases respected him. This is a huge hit to the baseball world. I wish for strength and peace for his family.
Even as a life long Padres fan I always had the utmost respect for him. He was a Dodger icon and true baseball man with a great personality. He will be missed.
Ugh. RIP. What a great person and baseball legend.
One of the truly most entertaining baseball personalities of all time. Can’t think of a more self-deprecating, passionate, players manager.
The 2001 all-star game where he got knocked flat on his ass by Vladdy Guerrero’s bat will always stand out as my favorite Tommy memory.
RIP Mr. Lasorda.
Mr Dodger. Brooklyn, LA. Long life. True baseball ambassador. RIP.
Just saw this. The first thing is said was probbaly not appropriate for this site and forum.
Rest in Paradise Tommy Lasorda
Do you mean the comment that he lived long enough to see another World Series win for the Dodgers? Absolutely true….he was in terrible health for years and I’m happy he made saw it.
Nope. That’s not what I meant. When I saw it I cussed out loud.. Making inappropriate for the forum.
A big loss to baseball, at every level. No one ever exuded love for the game and the Dodgers like he did. RIP.
Google “LaSorda and Kingman’s performance” and listen to the most epic rant ever. RIP Tommy.
I’ll always remember Tommy’s comment on Daryl Strawberry
A reporter asked if Strawberry was playing like a dog
Tommy said no – dogs are loyal and run hard after balls
RIP
Truly a legend. RIP Tommy.
Rest In Peace Tommy
RIP Tommy, thank you for everything you have contributed to Dodger Blue! A true champion and one of the best field managers in the history of the game! You will be missed and definitely welcomed to Dodger Heaven!
As Giants fan, we would boo him and he would wave and blow kisses to the stands. He came to the last game at the Stick to get booed. He knew how to play up a rivalry.
I was there at the last game at Candlestick – Dodgers and Giants in 2000. When he was announced, Lasorda leaned out of the press box and waved his hat while 56,000 people booed. He enjoyed the moment. It was the loudest I’ve ever heard at any stadium…
One of the faces of baseball for a long, long time. Rest in peace, Mr. Lasorda, you had an immeasurable impact on baseball.
RIP Tommy, baseball lost a great ambassador for the game!
He seemed like a decent guy when there was a camera nearby
Somewhere Fletch is cheering.
RIP, Skip.
Once a Dodger, always a Dodger he used to say. Rest In Peace in Dodger Blue heaven Tommy. We will miss you.
google.com/amp/s/amp.reddit.com/r/phillies/comment…
Tommy vs Phanatic
I’ve seen that lol
Growing up in Miami I never knew or cared for the Dodgers. But growing up basically from 88-99 you saw him everywhere being “this cool old guy” who was always really funny.
Thanks to him I’ve always enjoyed the Dodgers with the legendary Vin Scully.
Tommy even appeared in plenty of ads and shows and films just being kinda goofy.
Overall from my perspective this was a good man, a funny man, but a large baseball man. A living embassador for the game. We are surely worse off without him in our lives. Godspeed Tommy!
RIP tommy we’ll boo ya in heaven
Tommy is gone to his Blue Heaven in the sky.
It hasn’t been mentioned here but Vin Scully also lost his wife Sandi this past week. It’s been a sad few days in Dodger-land, but both of them at least got to see the Dodgers win the World Series.
Great guy. Very enthusiastic ambassador for baseball and overall guy will be sorely missed
RIP to a legend.
The first thing that comes to mind when I’m thinking of him is him being the Ultra Slim Fast pitchman. RIP
Tommy Lasorda Baseball for the Sega Genesis
Doesn’t matter which team you are a fan. As a baseball FAN, Tommy Lasorda Thanks for what you did for the game of baseball and for its fans. Condolences go out to Lassorda’s family. RIP.
God bless Tommy Lasorda
RIP Tommy.
So sad to hear this. Rest In Peace Mr. Lasorda.
Rest In Peace A definite legend
R.I.P Mr. Lasorda. Thank you for all you’ve done for the game I love.
Eternal rest grant unto him o Lord and may he and all the souls faithful departed rest in peace. Amen
True legend. Thanks Tommy for everything. RIP
RIP to one of the greatest managers before sabermetrics and algorithms took over the game.
COVID takes them all. This sucks.
Always said he could die happy once the Dodgers were champions again. What a blessing and true legend. Rest in peace Tommy!
I’m betting a bunch of people in heaven are asking him about Kingman’s performance or about Bevacqua. Classic Jim Healy material. RIP, Tommy.
Jim Healy classic for sure. My favorite Jim Haley classic is Benoit Benjamin response regarding the fans.
Around 20 years ago while working the night audit shift at a hotel in Wichita I was in an office behind the front desk when the bell rung at 2am. I got up and walked around the corner to find Mr. Lasorda standing there. He’s asked for a wake up call and started to walk away. I wanted to ask for an autograph, but that was against hotel policy. So, I asked “Mr. Lasorda, May I shake your hand.” He said, “Of course young man. Nice to meet you.”. We shook and he went on his way. Later that morning as he walked through the lobby with longtime WSU coach, Gene Stephenson he stopped, waited to make eye contact with me as I was checking out other guests and waved goodbye. Something I’ll never forget.
Cool Tommy story. Thanks for sharing.
As a bleeding orange Giants fan from the Candlestick days, I am mourning this man I loved to hate. We’d curse his name and boo him loudly and he would drink it up and give it right back. I say Tommy brought the rivalry to another level. I think back fondly to those days and he’s a major reason why.
I know it’s a sad day for the Dodger fan base but know us on the other side are standing right behind you with caps off and heads down.
Very classy post, thank you from Dodgers fans who respect the best rivalry in baseball.
My condolences to the Lasorda family and Dodger Nation. RIP Tommy. You were a legend and truly a great ambassador for the wonderful sport of baseball. His enthusiasm and passion for the sport was truly inspiring and even as a Padres fan I absolutely loved Tommy Lasorda. He wore and represented Dodger blue well and was a mangers managers. I shed a tear hearing about this!
Still remember the SI cover story where he posed with his head stone, already made. Paraphrasing here, but it said something like “Every ballpark was his office, but Dodger Stadium was his home”. RIP Tommy. Not sure about Dave Kingman, but I enjoyed your performance(s).
Legend. RIP Tommy
Very sad day for baseball. He was one of the great ones. RIP Tommy.
Rip man but the only time I saw him he cussed me out
He was a coach with the Dodgers when I went to my first game and I credit my passion for the Dodgers and for baseball to having the fortune to watch him and listen to Vin Scully call games. Truly a sad day.
I’ll always remember the long walk Tommy would take in Candlestick Park from the visitor’s clubhouse to the dugout before the game. He’d come out with Parranoski or some other coach and just stroll down the line, just waving to all the booing Giants fans – it was a great tradition and he played the part perfectly. Loved and miss those Friday night Giants/Dodgers games at the Stick! It was a great rivalry when Tommy was at the helm
Sad day,he was one of the greatest managers, his best work was at the minor league level developing players. I am sure Dave Kingman remembers him.
Lasorda’s what MLB so desperately needs today. Characters. He wasn’t just THE face of the Dodgers–although that alone is an accomplishment–he was THE face of an entire era of baseball. He was a brand. A marketable and lovable and honorable brand, entirely unto himself, and he became that just by being himself. He was the kind of guy you don’t need to root for to love, admire, and respect. Just class.
He can’t be replaced. Can’t even be imitated. Godspeed, sir.
I remember like it was yesterday. Vero Beach Fl.Holman field Spring training for the Dodgers .Tommy Lasorda sitting in the right field stands with the fans Mike Soccia makes a throw out at 2nd base yells to Tommy Lasorda text book play without missing a beat Tommy lasorda yells to Soccia you have to read the book Mike. The man emulated Baseball and how to be as a player and a human being. MAY HE REST IN PEACE SADLY MISSED Thanks for the memories.
Our seats at Dodger Stadium are right above where Tommy could be seen seated next to the Dodger dugout at nearly every game. Look down there and you could feel no matter what else was going on, at least that part of the world was the way it should be. I hope the Dodgers have the foresight to designate that seat as Tommy’s chair. Nobody should ever sit in it ever again. At one postseason game, and it wasn’t all that long ago, Tommy got hold of a Dodger pennant and ran up and down the aisle whipping up the crowd. Boy did it ever work. The man could barely walk at that point but so long as he had an ounce of life in him it would belong to his beloved Dodger Blue. He was one of a kind.
The Blue Jays are interested.
So sorry for your loss
True ambassador of the game. Saw him in Vero Beach during spring training many times. Always smiling, and always had time for an autograph and a chat. RIP
The problem with the world today, more people like Tommy Lasorda needed.
youtube.com/watch?v=PAqw6dp56CU
I just know that if you were to ask Tommy Lasorda how he wanted to go, he would respond “The Dodger way…”.
Tips his Reds hat…well done Skip…rest easy
Same for Sparky.
Loving all the nice stories and comments. Missing our Tommy and so thankful for him and all of you.