R.I.P. Tommy Lasorda

His cup was half full.

Rest in Peace 

10/16/11 was the the day my friend Dan Wheldon was killed. I met and chatted with Coach Lasorda in the pits at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway before the race. My credentials were hanging on my neck with my full name printed on it. We were working in the next pit over from the Target crew, of which Tom was an owner. Suddenly I hear my last name shouted from probably fifty feet away. I turn but don't immediately recognize who is calling me. Seems it's an old guy in a straw sun hat. So I walk over a few and a few steps later I realize who this is. Okay, this is weird. This guy (at eighty something years old) either could read, or overheard my name being spoken from a distance, and processed it immediately. 

So he asks me if I'm related to (one of my great uncles, this obscure minor league ballplayer from the 50's), and my jaw just drops. I tell him yeah, he's kind of a celebrity in our family, and that I actually have his Bowman baseball cards. Tom proceeds to talk about the half of a season he played with my uncle when baseball started back up after the war, and some very nice stories about the times he spent with some of the people in my family. Apparently they became pretty good friends, and coach was so excited to talk about those memories. He was very kind, his quick wit left such an impression on me, and a chance meeting ended up really being a silver lining on an otherwise very dark day.

He may not have been the best Dodger player to wear the uniform, but he was definitely the most proud.

R.I.P. Coach

awesome story man!

RIP Tommy, glad we got another one for ya.

Let's Go Dodgers, Let's GO!

vin's sweet wife also recently passed.

I was going to crack wise here about Lasorda shilling for Slim Fast back in the 1990s, but I just can't do it after reading your post, Bss. Very cool story, and it brings me back to a time when I thought baseball was all that really mattered.

RIP Tommy Lasorda.

Nice story Bss. 

Klondike, thanks for posting. That was what I thought of when I saw he'd passed. I imagine he thought that was funny.

RIP

Always Loved TOMMY For Many Years.......RIP Tommy.

DODGER BLUE

Ah, Tommy Lasagna. How we loved to hate you.

One of the best design flaws of Candlestick Park was that while the visiting team dugout was on the 3rd base side of the field, the door to that team's clubhouse was down the far end of right field and there was no tunnel, so visiting players always had to walk to & from their locker room all the way across the field.

In the '70s & '80s, when Giants fans had little to get excited about, giving Lasorda two earfuls every time he'd take that long walk across the field was about as much fun as we'd have, and Lasorda just egged it on. It would have been easy for him to make the walk with most of the team, but he would usually wait and come out alone, and the roar of derision would grow as he waddled along, and he loved every minute of it. Even after a loss he'd wave at the crowd while taking the most foul abuse possible.

Hard not to like a guy like that.

Growing up in Pasadena, was a huge Dodgers fan, and Tommy, Love or Hate him, was a total class act, personality, and great ambassador for the game, i'll always cherish my memories of him at the games,

RIP Tommy!!!  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESzi8eoX7Tc

One of the best ambassadors of Baseball ever. Growing up a Met fan it was hard to like him. 

Funny, I liked individual Dodgers but hated the team and I put that on Tommy.

GREAT story, BSS. Tommy was one of a kind. Great guy and will be missed.  

Growing up a Giants fan, I always hated Tommy Lasorda.  But I always respected him for his love of the game.

RIP Tommy.

Thanks for the stories folks.  This is a fine thread.