Tommy Lasorda

Tommy Lasorda
Birthdate 9/22/1927
Death Date 1/7/2021
Debut Year 1976
Year of Induction 1997
Teams Dodgers
Positions Manager, Pitcher

Tommy Lasorda guided the Dodgers to 4 National League pennants and 2 World Series championships in his 20-year reign as Los Angeles skipper.

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In the collection:

A grateful Tommy Lasorda reflects on his Hall of Fame induction

A grateful Tommy Lasorda reflects on his Hall of Fame induction

Tommy Lasorda writes about receiving baseball’s highest honor in this letter dated September 13, 1999. On the familiar Dodger letterhead, he states, “Dear Jim, Baseball and the Dodgers have been very good to me. In 1997 I became the 14th manager and the 15th Dodger to be elected to the H
Tommy Lasorda recalls the 1988 World Series title on his 75th birthday

Tommy Lasorda recalls the 1988 World Series title on his 75th birthday

Dodger fans old enough to remember the 1988 championship recall it with great fondness. So does former Los Angeles manager Tommy Lasorda. After each of the post-season wins in the Dodger clubhouse the players would shout, “What a f*cking team!”. Always bleeding Dodger blue, Lasorda took
Tommy in the press box in August, 1998, one year after his retirement

Tommy in the press box in August, 1998, one year after his retirement

The summer after his Hall of Fame induction Tommy Lasorda was a frequent visitor in the Dodger press box. In this photo a happy and healthy Lasorda poses with ESPN SportsTicker reporter Jim Smiley who covered Lasorda’s final five seasons as Dodger skipper. Tommy autographs the photo and dates
Autographed picture of a young Tommy Lasorda

Autographed picture of a young Tommy Lasorda

Before Tommy Lasorda was a manager in Los Angeles, he was a pitcher in Brooklyn. This photo was taken in one of the two seasons the lefty threw for the Dodgers, either in 1954 or 1955. Tommy has autographed the image and dated it October 2, 1996. Interestingly, Lasorda started the ’96 campaign
One decision Lasorda would like back is pitching to Jack Clark in the 1985 NLCS

One decision Lasorda would like back is pitching to Jack Clark in the 1985 NLCS

Baseball managers are tasked with making on-field decisions for their clubs. Their success as skippers are measured in wins in losses based on those decisions. In 1997 the Hall of Fame’s Veterans Committee recognized the career of Dodger skipper Tom Lasorda as worthy of induction to the Basebal

A Story about Tommy Lasorda

Orel Hershiser needed persuading to break Don Drysdale’s consecutive scoreless inning streak in 1988

June 8th, 2022 Leave a comment

Orel Hershiser

Records are meant to be broken. Or are they? In 1988 Orel Hershiser wasn’t so sure. Given the chance to break Major League Baseball’s record for consecutive scoreless innings, he almost opted out. One Cooperstown man betters another A hurler’s job is to keep his opponents from scoring. Moundsmen take great pride in putting up zeroes. One of baseball’s greatest run-preventers, Walter Johnson set the big league record by not allowing a man to cross the plate in 55 2/3 consecutive innings in 1913. The 417-game winner held the mark for the rest of his life. More than a half-century later, along came the Dodgers’ Don Drysdale. An intimidating presence on the hill, the 6’5″ right hander believed that pitchers owned the inside half of the plate. Big D finished first or second in batters hit in 12 of his 14 seasons. In 1968 he surpassed the Big Train, extending the consecutive scoreless innings record by three frames. Twenty years later Drysdale entered his first year as the Dodger color man. That season he witnessed Hershiser’s epic run. Hershiser faces a difficult decision Nicknamed “Bulldog” by skipper Tommy Lasorda, Hershiser had great respect for Drysdale, the franchise’s pitching-rich history, and […]

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"Whoever wants to know the heart and mind of America had better learn baseball…"

~Jacques Barzun, 1954