As a player, this Dodger was 0-4 as a pitcher with an ERA of 6.48, and he finished with a total of 37 strikeouts…in his career!. As the Dodgers manager, however, he was 1599-1439 in games, won the World Series in 1981 and 1988, won NL Manager of the Year in 1983 and 1988, and he had his number retired by the Dodgers. Thomas Charles “Tommy” Lasorda managed the Dodgers from 1976-1996. (Tommy noses out Derek Fisher who proudly wore #2 for the Lakers, and he has 5 rings to show for it!)
Lasorda was my kind of manager. He was flamboyant, demonstrative, and outspoken. Some mangers never show their emotion, but not Lasorda. He wore it on his sleeve, and that’s exactly the way I managed. After a World Title, some managers can barely crack a smile, and they immediately begin preparations for next year. And then there’s Tommy. When the Dodgers won, he hugged everybody in sight and ran around the diamond like a kid at Christmas. I remember the final out when my team won state. It was a high pop up down the first base line that was drifting foul. The first baseman drifted towards the fence, stopped 3 feet short of it, and caught the final out. I absolutely exploded out of the dugout. I had enough energy in my body to power LA for a week. I hugged my players, coaches, moms, dads, anyone within reach. When I hugged Penny, though, the tears started flowing. Truly one of the happiest days of my life.
Lasorda was also very funny. He was miked up at third base coach for NBC once before he was the manager. Pete Rose was playing third and Lasorda told him they had voted for the best looking Red, and Rose had come in second. Rose responded, “they did?” He then told him there way a 23 way tie for first. Here’s a few more quotes from Tommy: "When we win, I'm so happy I eat a lot. When we lose, I'm so depressed, I eat a lot. When we're rained out, I'm so disappointed I eat a lot." "I bleed Dodger blue and when I die, I'm going to the big Dodger in the sky." "No, we don't cheat. And even if we did, I'd never tell you." "Eighty percent of the people who hear them (your troubles) don't care and the other twenty percent are glad you're having them"
Wow. #1 is tomorrow. After 32 years at New Plymouth, it all comes down to this. Numero Uno. Think long and hard and you’ll come up with him.
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