[ad_1]
Dodgers legend and Hall of Fame manager Tommy Lasorda died of a heart attack Thursday night, according to the team. Lasorda, 93, had only recently been released from hospital after a month-long stay that included time in the intensive care unit.
“Lasorda suffered a sudden cardiopulmonary arrest at his home at 10:09 pm,” the team said. “He was rushed to hospital with ongoing resuscitation. He was pronounced dead at 10:57 pm”
MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred made the following statement:
“Tommy Lasorda was one of the best managers our game has ever known. He loved the life of Dodger. His career started as a pitcher in 1949 but he is, of course, best known as the manager of two champions. World Series and four pennants. Winning clubs. His passion, success, charisma and sense of humor have made him an international celebrity, a stature that he has used to develop our sport. Tommy has hosted players from Dodger from Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Japan, South Korea and beyond – making baseball a stronger, more diverse and better game. He served Major League Baseball as a global ambassador for the first two editions of the World Baseball Classic and led the US team to gold at the Sydney 2000 Summer Olympics. Tommy loved family, the United States, the national hobby and the Dodgers, and he made them all proud during a life of socks memorable eball.
“I am extremely fortunate to have developed a wonderful friendship with Tommy and I will miss him. It seems fitting that in his final months he has seen his beloved Dodgers win the World Series for the first time since his birth. 1988 team. On behalf of Major League Baseball, I extend my deepest condolences to his 70-year-old wife, Jo, and their entire family, the Dodger organization and their generations of loyal fans. “
Lasorda had led the Dodgers for a two-decade period, from 1976 to 1996. Under his leadership, the Dodgers won two World Series (1981 and 1988), four National League pennants and eight division titles. Lasorda himself has won two manager of the year awards and managed four all-star games. His 1,599 managerial victories rank 22nd all-time in Major League Baseball history (albeit second in Dodgers history), and he was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1997. The Dodgers then retired his No.2 jersey. Lasorda also won a gold medal as manager of the 2000 United States team at the Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia.
After retiring from management, Lasorda held various front-office positions with the Dodgers, including as special advisor during the 2020 season. This coming year would have marked his 72nd season with the Dodgers franchise, dating back to their days in Brooklyn. During this time, Lasorda managed, trained, spotted and pitched.
While much of Lasorda’s legacy relates to his days after the game, he made 26 major league appearances over a three-year span in the 1950s. He wasn’t particularly good – he finished with a 6.48 ERA and a walk-to-go ratio of 0.66 – but he got acquainted with then-Dodgers manager Walter Alston, whom he then served as the third base coach of the team. (Lasorda and Alston are the only managers to have spent an entire career of more than 20 seasons with one team.)
Under Lasorda’s watch, the Dodgers have become a player development machine. He has led nine Rookie of the Year award winners, including Rick Sutcliffe, Fernando Valenzeula, Steve Sax, Eric Karros and Mike Piazza, which the organization drafted and signed at his request.
Despite Lasorda’s success, it should be noted that he was never credited for implementing a strategic wrinkle. Bill James, in his seminal book on Managers, noted that he was not sure how Lasorda had changed the game, concluding: “If you are a Dodger fan and you know the answer to this question , I’d be interested to hear about that. “
To all of Lasorda’s glory on the pitch, he’s been involved in a number of horrific incidents off the pitch. In 2014, he said during a television appearance that he hoped V. Stiviano, the ex-girlfriend of former Clippers owner and Lasorda friend Donald Sterling, would be hit by a car after recording Sterling making racist comments. Lasorda was more recently involved in a 2018 incident that was filmed, in which he asks a fan where they are from before asking them to “go back there.”
Lasorda also refused to accept and acknowledge that her son, Tom Lasorda Jr., was gay and had AIDS. Lasorda Jr. died at age 33 and Lasorda Sr. argued she was due to pneumonia. “My son was not gay. No way. I read that in a newspaper. I also read that a lady had given birth to a monkey f ——. This is not the truth, ”he once told GQ Magazine.
[ad_2]
Source link