Tommy Lasorda

Thomas Charles Lasorda pitched in the Dodgers' minor league system for six seasons, won 107 games for the Montreal Royals (more than anyone in franchise history), and was sent down to the minors on June 8, 1955, to make room on the Brooklyn roster for a left-hander named Sandy Koufax. "It took the greatest left-handed pitcher in baseball history to get me off that Brooklyn club," Lasorda said, "and I still think they made a mistake." Lasorda managed the Los Angeles Dodgers for 21 seasons, won 1,599 games, took eight division titles, four pennants, and two World Series championships, produced nine Rookie of the Year winners, managed the United States to an Olympic gold medal in Sydney in 2000, and lived the Dodger brand with a devotion that approached genuine theology. "I bleed Dodger blue," he said, "and when I die, I'm going to the big Dodger in the sky." The Veterans Committee elected him to the Hall of Fame in 1997.

Norristown

Lasorda was born on September 22, 1927, in Norristown, Pennsylvania, the second of five sons of Sabatino and Carmella Lasorda, both from the Abruzzo region of Italy. He signed with the Phillies at 17, was drafted by the Dodgers in 1949, and pitched briefly in Brooklyn before the organization sent him to manage in the minors, where he spent 12 years developing players who would anchor the Dodger machine for the next two decades. He won three consecutive pennants at Ogden (developing Steve Garvey, Charlie Hough, Bill Russell, and Bobby Valentine), took the PCL championship at Albuquerque, and led Tigres del Licey to the Caribbean Series title in the Dominican Republic. He coached third base under Walter Alston from 1973 through 1976 and took over as manager when Alston retired after the final four games of the 1976 season.

Lasorda won pennants in each of his first two full seasons (1977 and 1978), the first NL manager to accomplish the feat, losing both World Series to the Yankees. The Dodgers won the 1981 championship over the Yankees in a strike-split season, rallying from a 2-0 Series deficit to win four straight. "Seems to me," Lasorda said before Game 3, "we've got them right where we want them."

1988

The 1988 season produced the most famous moment of Lasorda's career. On October 15 at Dodger Stadium, the Dodgers trailed the Oakland Athletics 4-3 in the bottom of the ninth in Game 1 of the World Series. Kirk Gibson was in the clubhouse receiving treatment on a pulled left hamstring and a severely swollen right knee. Watching on television, Gibson heard Vin Scully tell the audience he was "nowhere to be found," and told Lasorda he could pinch hit. Lasorda sent Dave Anderson to the on-deck circle as a decoy. After Mike Davis walked, Lasorda called Anderson back and sent the hobbling Gibson to the plate. Gibson hit a two-run walkoff homer off Dennis Eckersley on a 3-2 backdoor slider, and the Dodgers won the Series in five games. Earlier that season, Lasorda convinced Orel Hershiser to go back out for the 10th inning of a September 28 game against San Diego, and Hershiser threw 10 scoreless innings to break Don Drysdale's record of 58 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings with 59.

Nine NL Rookies of the Year played under Lasorda, including two streaks of four consecutive winners (Rick Sutcliffe through Steve Sax from 1979 to 1982, and Eric Karros through Hideo Nomo from 1992 to 1995), followed by Todd Hollandsworth in 1996.

Fullerton

Lasorda managed his final game on June 23, 1996, and drove himself to the hospital the following morning after suffering a heart attack. He cited Don Drysdale's death alone in a Montreal hotel room three years earlier as a reason for stepping away while he still could. In 2000 he managed the United States Olympic team to the gold medal at Sydney, defeating Cuba, which won the two prior Olympic golds, and became the only manager in history to win both a World Series and an Olympic gold in baseball.

On August 28, 1988, Lasorda chased and body-checked the Phillie Phanatic at Veterans Stadium. The following year he got the Montreal Expos mascot Youppi! ejected from a game, making Youppi! the first mascot ever tossed from a major league contest. He married Jo Miller in April 1950, and they lived in Fullerton for more than 50 years. Their son Tom Jr., known as "Spunky," died in June 1991 at 33. Lasorda died on January 7, 2021, at 93, after suffering cardiac arrest at his home in Fullerton. Los Angeles City Hall, Staples Center, and Dodger Stadium illuminated in Dodger blue. "Dodger Stadium was his address," Lasorda once said, "but every ballpark was his home."