Baseball fans worldwide are mourning the loss of legendary Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda, who passed away on Friday at the age of 93. Lasorda managed the Dodgers for 21 years, guiding them to two World Series championships in 1981 and 1987. He was also named Manager of the Year two times in 1983 and 1988. Many in the baseball industry paid their respects on Twitter.
Lasorda was born in Norristown, PA, on September 22nd, 1927. He graduated from Norristown High School in 1944. He signed with the Philadelphia Phillies as an undrafted free agent in 1945. He would join the US Army for two years and missed the 1946 and 1947 seasons. Once he was done with Army, he returned to baseball in 1948 with the Schenectady Blue Jays, a former Class-A team of the Philadelphia Phillies in the Canadian-American League.
A year later, the Brooklyn Dodgers drafted him from the Phillies organization and played for the South Carolina League’s Greenville Spinners. In 1950, he would move up to the Dodgers Triple-A team called the Montreal Royals. Lasorda made his Major League debut on August 5th, 1954. His only start for Dodgers came on May 5th, 1955, and lasted an inning after throwing three wild pitches.
After his Dodgers career ended, he was sold to Kansas City Athletics, formerly known as the Philadelphia Athletics. That same year, the Athletics traded Lasorda to the New York Yankees. He would play 22-games with the Yankees Triple-A team called the Denver Bears for two seasons before returning to the Dodgers, now in Los Angeles in 1957 but was sent to Montreal. He played for three more years before being released in 1960. That same year, he became the Dodgers scout. From there, the rest of history.
Lasorda spent six years as the Dodgers scout before becoming a manager to Dodgers Rookie League team called the Pocatello Chiefs and then the Ogden Dodgers for two years. In 1972, he managed the Albuquerque Dodgers and won the PCL championship that same year. He would manage another team called the Tigres del Licey and led them to the 1973 Caribbean championship and would lose to Caracas.
Also, in 1973, he finally returned to the Dodgers as the third base coach. He would be the third base coach for three years before becoming the Dodgers manager in 1976 after Walter Alston retired and managed the last four games of the season.
In 1977, the Dodgers won the NL West division with a 98-64 record in his first full season and would beat the Philadelphia Phillies 4-1 to advance to the World Series. They would lose the New York Yankees 4-2. This was the start of Lasorda’s legacy with the Dodgers.
The following year, the Dodgers would again win the NL West with a 95-67 record. The team would once again defeat the Philadelphia Phillies 3-1 before being defeated again by the Yankees 4-2. The Dodgers would not make the playoffs in 1979 and had a 79-83 record. The Dodgers faced stiff competition from the Phillies, Reds, Astros, Braves, and Pirates.
The Dodgers would rebound in 1980 and finished in 2nd place in the NL West with a 92-71 record but missed the playoffs. Back then, only the division winners played in the playoffs. In 1981, the Dodgers began a magical run. MLB had split the season by halves, something you see today in Independent baseball. The Dodgers won both halves, qualifying for the playoffs.
The Dodgers defeated the Houston Astros in the divisional round and the Montreal Expos in the NLCS. Standing in their way was the New York Yankees, and Lasorda’s Dodgers would finally conquer the Yankees 4-2 to win the World Series for the first time since 1965.
In 1982, MLB went back to the other playoff format where teams had to win the division to get into the playoffs. That same year, the Dodgers finished 88-74, good for second place behind the Atlanta Braves. The Dodgers would win the NL West in 1983 but would lose to the Phillies in the NLCS 3-1.
The Dodgers would miss the playoffs in 1984 with a 79-83 record. In 1985, the Dodgers were right back in the playoffs and would lose the NLCS to the St. Louis Cardinals 4-2. After 1985, the Dodgers would miss the playoffs for two seasons. Then in 1988, Lasorda’s Dodgers were right back in the hunt, winning the NL West title with a 94-67 record. This time, Lasorda faced another former team he played for, the Oakland Athletics. The Dodgers took care of the Athletics 4-1 to win the World Series championship.
After the championship, the Dodgers would miss the playoffs for seven years despite once having over 90 wins. In Lasorda’s final years, he led the Dodgers back to the playoffs, losing twice in the NL Divisional Round in 1995 to the Reds and his last season in 1996 against the Atlanta Braves. Lasorda would retire after the 1996 season. His overall record was 1599 wins, 1439 losses, two ties, and winning the NL Pennant four times and two world championships.
Lasorda would stay with the Dodgers shortly after retiring as the Vice-President of the team. He was elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1997. He would come out of retirement to manage the United States baseball in 2000 and won the Gold Medal. He would stay involved with the Dodgers and the Los Angeles community for the rest of his life.
Outside of baseball, Lasorda made television and movie appearances from CHiPS, Hart to Hart, Everybody Love Ramon, and more. Lasorda will be remembered for years to come. Here at BGMSportsTrax would like to send our condolences to Lasorda’s fans and family.
