Tommy Lasorda
Tommy Lasorda
Thomas Charles "Tommy" Lasordais a former Major League baseball player who has had a lengthy career in sports management. In 2009, he marked his sixth decade in one capacity or another with the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers organization, the longest non-continuoustenure anyone has had with the team, edging Dodger broadcaster Vin Scully by a single season. He was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame as a manager in 1997...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionCoach
Date of Birth22 September 1927
CityNorristown, PA
CountryUnited States of America
You wait till you see that Dominican team. You wait till you see Puerto Rico. You wait till you see Venezuela. . . . Matsui is a great player. The Japanese team needs him.
I managed the Dodgers for 20 years. It's hard to believe that there are only four guys in the history of baseball who managed the same team for 20 years or more. One was owner of the team, Connie Mack. Another was part owner of the team, John McGraw. Then there was my predecessor, Walter Alston, and me. It's amazing. In the 20 years I managed the Dodgers, 210 managers were fired.
You can have the best team in baseball, and if nobody goes through the turnstiles, you've got to shut the doors down.
I was glad to see Italy win. All the guys on the team were Italians.
When I took the job as the manager of the Olympic team, I didn't take it because I was a Dodger. I did it because I was an American, and I wanted to bring that gold medal where it belongs in baseball, the United States. And that's exactly what our team did.
I was fortunate enough to coach the U.S. Olympic team in Australia.
I've been able to dine with presidents, with leaders of corporations, traveled for 14 years with (financier and philanthropist) Michael Milken, who has taught me so much about life. Hanging around with them, it's nothing I could have believed in grade school. I could be with all of them? Milton Berle, Don Rickles, Dean Martin ... this former third-string pitcher from the Norristown High baseball team and the son of an Italian immigrant? I really am in awe when I think that has happened to me. What a life.
The worst team in baseball's history won only 55 games. The best team ever won 110 out of 160, so you're virtually guaranteed to win 1/3 of the time and lose 1/3 of the time. The difference is the 1/3 in the middle. You don't know what bucket the game you're playing falls into, so if you're smart, you'll fight like everything for all of them.
When you - when you become the manager of a major league team, particularly the Dodgers, to me, that's a privilege and an honor. No matter where you go or what you do, you represent that position that you have. And you represent that organization that gave you the opportunity to be doing what you're doing.
I've always called L.A. 'the world capital of sport.'
I was in awe of playing on that (1955) team,
Frank asks me questions, and I give him opinions, and that's it. I'm the senior advisor to the chairman of the board. It wouldn't be good if we both had the same opinions.
I am enthused and excited to be named the honorary starter. Waving the green flag is like swinging a bat; it's all in the wrists.
I am enthused, and excited to be named the Honorary Starter. Waving the green flag is like swinging a bat; it's all in the wrists.