Tommy Lasorda Inducted into Canadien Hall of Fame
Tommy Lasorda used to be so miserable after a road loss that he would trudge back on foot to the hotel from the stadium.
But the former Los Angeles Dodgers manager was all smiles after being inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame this past Saturday.
Lasorda, who spent parts of nine seasons as a successful left-handed pitcher with the Montreal Royals in the Brooklyn Dodgers organization, went into the hall along with Intercounty Baseball League star Ron Stead, Alberta-based administrator Ron Hayter and New Brunswick native Larry McLean, a 6-foot-5 catcher who played more than 800 games in the major leagues.
"I had to be here -- as a manager, you succeed because of the contributions of your players -- but I am being honored for what I did on the mound," Lasorda said. "As I was packing at home, my wife asked me where I was going now and when I told her, she said, `You love baseball more than you love me.' I told her, `Yeah, but I love you more than football and basketball."'
Known best for managing two World Series winners in Los Angeles and still a loyal 57-year employee of the club, the 78-year-old Lasorda showed no sign of the long-term stress that eats away at baseball skippers while recalling the trials of leading a team without a devastating closer like Eric Gagne, whose 84 straight saves record he likens to Joe DiMaggio's 56-game hitting streak.
"If you won 102 games a year -- and that's a lot of wins -- you were still the most miserable person on Earth for the 60 days you lost," Lasorda said. "One time in Atlanta, we rallied in the top of the ninth to take a lead, then blew it with three pitchers making a total of $8 million. I started walking back to the hotel and a guy driving an ambulance stopped and said, `Tommy, you shouldn't be walking alone in this neighborhood.' I told him to get lost but he would just drive up a block ahead and wait for me.
"Finally, I just got in and he dropped me off in front of the hotel. There in the lobby was one of the pitchers who had blown the game. He saw me get out of the ambulance and started crying and hugging me because he thought his performance that day had sent me to the hospital."
Lasorda was given his Hall of Fame jacket by former Montreal manager Jim Fanning, who remarked how lean his old nemesis looked after years of being pitchman for weight-loss product SlimFast.
"I could lose more weight but I don't want to," Lasorda said. "It would make my nose look too big."
But the former Los Angeles Dodgers manager was all smiles after being inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame this past Saturday.
Lasorda, who spent parts of nine seasons as a successful left-handed pitcher with the Montreal Royals in the Brooklyn Dodgers organization, went into the hall along with Intercounty Baseball League star Ron Stead, Alberta-based administrator Ron Hayter and New Brunswick native Larry McLean, a 6-foot-5 catcher who played more than 800 games in the major leagues.
"I had to be here -- as a manager, you succeed because of the contributions of your players -- but I am being honored for what I did on the mound," Lasorda said. "As I was packing at home, my wife asked me where I was going now and when I told her, she said, `You love baseball more than you love me.' I told her, `Yeah, but I love you more than football and basketball."'
Known best for managing two World Series winners in Los Angeles and still a loyal 57-year employee of the club, the 78-year-old Lasorda showed no sign of the long-term stress that eats away at baseball skippers while recalling the trials of leading a team without a devastating closer like Eric Gagne, whose 84 straight saves record he likens to Joe DiMaggio's 56-game hitting streak.
"If you won 102 games a year -- and that's a lot of wins -- you were still the most miserable person on Earth for the 60 days you lost," Lasorda said. "One time in Atlanta, we rallied in the top of the ninth to take a lead, then blew it with three pitchers making a total of $8 million. I started walking back to the hotel and a guy driving an ambulance stopped and said, `Tommy, you shouldn't be walking alone in this neighborhood.' I told him to get lost but he would just drive up a block ahead and wait for me.
"Finally, I just got in and he dropped me off in front of the hotel. There in the lobby was one of the pitchers who had blown the game. He saw me get out of the ambulance and started crying and hugging me because he thought his performance that day had sent me to the hospital."
Lasorda was given his Hall of Fame jacket by former Montreal manager Jim Fanning, who remarked how lean his old nemesis looked after years of being pitchman for weight-loss product SlimFast.
"I could lose more weight but I don't want to," Lasorda said. "It would make my nose look too big."
posted by Blue Man | 11:47 AM
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