Tommy Lasorda played 14 professional seasons; three were in the bigs
Before Tommy Lasorda was a manager in Los Angeles, he was a journeyman minor league pitcher with 26 MLB games to his credit. Lasorda began his professional career at 17 years old with the Concord Weavers of the Class D North Carolina State League. He remained in the minors until a 5-game cup of coff
Tommy Lasorda played 14 professional seasons; three were in the bigs
Before Tommy Lasorda was a manager in Los Angeles, he was a journeyman minor league pitcher with 26 MLB games to his credit.
Lasorda began his professional career at 17 years old with the Concord Weavers of the Class D North Carolina State League. He remained in the minors until a 5-game cup of coffee with Brooklyn in 1954.
Lasorda bounced from the bushes and the majors in ’55 and ’56 then remained in the minors through 1960.
His final numbers include 432 professional appearances, 26 of them in the bigs. The winner of 144 pro games, Lasorda went 0-4 with one save and a 6.48 ERA at baseball’s highest level.
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 as manager and managed the team’s first 76 games. He directed the June 23rd contest, a 4-3 win over Houston.
The next day he drove himself to the hospital complaining of abdominal pains but was in fact experiencing a heart attack. He would never manage another big league game.
The Dodgers made the playoffs that season, reaching the Divisional Championship Series against the Braves. The photo was signed before Game 1 of that series, a 2-1, 10-inning Dodger loss.
Tommy led the Dodgers to the pennant in each of his first two full seasons
Tommy Lasorda replaced Hall of Fame skipper Walter Alston with four games remaining in the 1976 season. In each of the next two seasons he led the Dodgers to the National League pennant. Both times in the World Series Lasorda’s Dodgers were vanquished by the New York Yankees. In the ’77
Tommy led the Dodgers to the pennant in each of his first two full seasons
Tommy Lasorda replaced Hall of Fame skipper Walter Alston with four games remaining in the 1976 season. In each of the next two seasons he led the Dodgers to the National League pennant.
Both times in the World Series Lasorda’s Dodgers were vanquished by the New York Yankees. In the ’77 tilt, Reggie Jackson led the Yankees to victory in a six-game Series. He hit .450 with 5 homers, 8 RBI, a .542 on-base percentage and a 1.250 slugging mark. Jackson finished with a record 25 total bases.
Reggie’s biggest contribution came in deciding Game 6 when he belted three home runs off of three different Dodger hurlers. In the process Mr. October became the first position player in history to earn two World Series MVP nods.
Shown here is a ticket that allowed one lucky fan to attend Reggie’s legendary performance. In addition to signing his name, Jackson inscribes the ticket, “Mr. October 3WS HRS”.
The Dodgers and Lasorda got revenge on the Yankees in 1981
The Dodgers captured the NL flag in 1974, ’77, and ’78 yet came up empty each time. The ’74 squad dropped to Charlie Finley’s Oakland Athletics. In ’77 and ’78 it was the Yankees who put down Los Angeles. In 1981 the Dodgers again earned the pennant. Again the Yan
The Dodgers and Lasorda got revenge on the Yankees in 1981
The Dodgers captured the NL flag in 1974, ’77, and ’78 yet came up empty each time. The ’74 squad dropped to Charlie Finley’s Oakland Athletics. In ’77 and ’78 it was the Yankees who put down Los Angeles.
In 1981 the Dodgers again earned the pennant. Again the Yankees stood in the way of a Fall Classic title. When the Yankees took the first two games, another New York triumph felt uncertain.
Los Angeles stormed back, winning four straight to take their first crown since 1965. Ron Cey captured the Babe Ruth Award given each year to Major League Baseball’s most outstanding postseason performer. The third baseman, along with Pedro Guerrero and Steve Yeager formed the first World Series tri-MVPs.
With a 2-1 lead the Dodger hot corner man come to the plate in the bottom of the 8th. Yankees fireballer Goose Gossage uncorked an 0-1 fastball that hit Cey in the helmet. The Dodger Stadium crowd of 56,115 went silent as their man collapsed in the batter’s box.
Cey was helped off the field in favor of pinch runner Kenny Landreau. His team made the lead stand up as the Dodgers went ahead 3 games to 2 heading to New York. Los Angeles won it all in Game 6.
In the four Los Angeles wins, Cey went 6-for-12 with a .600 on-base percentage, three runs scored and six RBI.
Jack Clark made Lasorda pay in the 1985 National League Championship Series
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
Jack Clark made Lasorda pay in the 1985 National League Championship Series
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 Baseball Hall of Fame.
One decision the Los Angeles pilot would like to take back involves Jack Clark.
Clark’s Cardinals squared off against Lasorda’s Dodgers in the 1985 National League Championship Series, the first played under today’s 7-game format. The first five games were won by the home team, giving St. Louis a 3-games-to-2 advantage.
With the Dodgers on the brink of elimination, the Series came back to Los Angeles. A Dodger win would force the decisive Game 7 the next day in front of the Los Angeles faithful.
The contest got tense when the Cardinals scored three in the 7th to tie the game.
Los Angeles quickly responded. Dodger Vin Scully described the scene as Dodger right fielder Mike Marshall led off the bottom of the 8th.
“Fifty-five thousand, two-hundred and eight have filled Dodger Stadium and they’re looking at a gem. A 4-4 tie in the bottom of the eighth.”
As the Todd Worrell pitch reached the plate, Marshall swung hard and lifted the ball into the air.
“High fly ball into right-center. (Andy) Van Slyke and (Willie) McGee. And it’s going to be…over the wall!”
The fans went wild. Lasorda put a bear hug on Marshall at the top step of the dugout. The Dodgers were now just three outs away from forcing Game 7.
Dodger closer Tom Niedenfuer struck out St. Louis pinch hitter Cesar Cedeno to start the 9th. Willie McGee singled and stole second to put the tying run in scoring position with one out. After an Ozzie Smith walk, Tommy Herr moved the runners to second and third on a groundout.
With runners on second and third with two out, Jack Clark stepped to the plate. In the regular season Clark owned .393 on-base percentage and a .502 slugging mark. He also slugged a team-leading 22 homers.
Rather than put Clark aboard and create a force play at every base, Lasorda instructed Niedenfuer to go after him.
On some levels the move made sense. Clark was 1-for-his-last-7 in the Series including a strikeout two innings earlier against Niedenfuer.
The Dodger power pitcher toed the rubber and eyed Clark, a dead-red fastball hitter. Believing Clark would expect an off-speed pitch, Niedenfuer decided to throw a fastball low and away.
Unfortunately for Niedenfuer and the Dodgers, the pitch was belt-high and caught too much of the plate.
Hunting a heater, Clark swatted the offering into the left-field pavilion for a three-run home run. The only long ball in Clark’s 55 career postseason plate appearances gave the Cardinals a two-run lead they never relinquished.
Shown here is Clark’s autographed Topps rookie card from 1977.
On his 75th birthday, Tommy Lasorda writes about the '88 World Series
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
On his 75th birthday, Tommy Lasorda writes about the '88 World Series
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 the time to send this letter on his 75th birthday.
A grateful Tommy Lasorda reflects on his Hall of Fame induction
Here 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
A grateful Tommy Lasorda reflects on his Hall of Fame induction
Here 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 Hall of Fame. It was one of the proudest days of my life! Best wishes. Sincerely, Tommy Lasorda, Senior Vice President”.
A four-time pennant winning skipper with two World Series titles, Lasorda finished his managerial career with a 1,599-1,439.
After retiring as manager, Lasorda was a press box fixture as executive VP
The summer after his Hall of Fame induction Tommy Lasorda was a frequent visitor in the Dodger press box. An executive vice president with the team, Tommy loved to banter with the scribes. In this photo a happy and healthy Lasorda poses with ESPN SportsTicker reporter Jim Smiley who covered Lasorda&
After retiring as manager, Lasorda was a press box fixture as executive VP
The summer after his Hall of Fame induction Tommy Lasorda was a frequent visitor in the Dodger press box. An executive vice president with the team, Tommy loved to banter with the scribes.
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 and 23 overall.
Tommy autographs the photo and dates it August 12, 1998. That night’s contest took place on an 81 degree night in sunny Los Angeles where the Dodgers fell to the Florida Marlins 3-2.
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 […]
