RIP Tommy Lasorda (1927–2021)

Dodger great and Hall of Fame manager Tommy Lasorda has died. He died late last night. Tommy was a lifelong Dodger, "bleeding Dodger blue", with 71 years in the organization. I'm glad that he lived to see us ("us" = The Dodgers) finally win another World Series. He was also great in The Baseball Bunch, which I watched as a kid.

To read some things about Lasorda, in addition to his Wikipedia entry above, here is some reactions from around the sports world (including the brilliant video of an infamous fight that he had with the Phillie Phanatic), and some lovely stories from Tim Kurkjian.

Naturally, no obituary of Tommy Lasorda would be complete without a montage of some of his classical meltdowns.

It's a sad day in the Dodger World. RIP, Tommy.

(Tip of the cap to Gregg Schneider.)

Update: This article in The Los Angeles Times has some memorable quotes by Lasorda.

28th Anniversary of Ejection from a Game of Expos' Mascot

28 years ago today, The Expos' mascot (Youppi!) got ejected from a game against the Dodgers, partly at the urging of Dodger manager Tommy Lasorda.

The antics that the Phillie Phanatic would pull with Tommy Lasorda were even funnier.

Invention of the High Five

I just read a very interesting article that discusses the invention of the high five. Tommy Lasorda plays a role in it (and not a positive one at all) and might even hold a key missing piece of the puzzle.

RIP Dick Williams (1929-2011)

Fall of Fame manager Dick Williams died on Thursday. The ESPN article to which I have linked goes through his whole career, but I remember him best as a manager for the San Diego Padres---and, in particular, for this sound bite. The comment that comes after the sound bite is something like "it was the fat little Italian."

In that particular incident, Williams was stating that Dodger manager Tommy Lasorda had ordered pitcher Tom Neidenfuer to plunk some Padre batters on purpose. Tommy Lasorda's response to that accusation is is one of the all-time classics. Here is another small part of the same tirade. I wish I could find the entire audio clip.

Dick Williams was also responsible for this short-but-sweet gem, which I believe might be part of his full comment about blaming Lasorda (though I'm not entirely sure about whether this one is from the same incident).

Some classic baseball tirades

I was reminiscing about some classic baseball tirades (especially several courtesy of former Dodger manager Tommy Lasorda), so I went to YouTube to find links to some of them.

For your listening pleasured, here is an audio medley of Lasorda going berzerk. There are a few classics missing, but his opinion of Kingman's performance and his comments about Kurt Bevacqua (and a few other famous clips) are all there. The pictures that accompany the medley are occasionally apropos.

Here is also a famous tirade by Lee Elia that starts in the middle, but has the best parts. For a complete description of this tired (and the unbleeped text) see the first book by Jay Johnstone (a former baseball player). This book had some problems with censorship because it included this...

I also tried to find a video of the famous battle of Carlos Perez versus the dugout watercooler on YouTube, but I wasn't successful. I remember seeing this live, and this is one is a beauty. If any of you ever find it posted online, please send me the link.

Update (4/29/08): Today is actually the 25th anniversary of Elia's tirade. This anniversary hadn't registered when I wrote this blog entry.