Legendary Dodgers Manager Tommy Lasorda is Dead
Professional baseball pitcher, coach and Hall of Fame Dodgers baseball manager Tommy Lasorda is dead at 93. Lasorda coached for the Los Angeles Dodgers from 1973 to 1976. After that, he managed the team until 1996. Lasorda died Thursday evening of a heart attack in Fullerton, California.
Lasorda guided the Dodgers to two World Series wins, four National League pennants and eight division titles.
Lasorda was possibly the most revered manager in the history of baseball. He loved the game and especially the Dodgers. He may have been the John McEnroe of managers, having a few public displays of obscenity-laden outbursts over the course of his career.
His strong, yet loveable personality led him to become a star off the baseball field as well. He appeared in the film Homeward Bound II: Lost in San Francisco, had a small part in the movie Ladybugs in 1992 which starred Rodney Dangerfield and appeared in sitcoms including Silver Spoons, Who's The Boss?, CHiPs, Hart to Hart, Fantasy Island, Hee Haw in 1977 and Everybody Loves Raymond in 1997.
In the late 80s into the 90s, you couldn't turn on the television without seeing Lasorda pitching Slim Fast. Lasorda's endorsement of the product was one of the company's most successful advertising campaigns.
His last public appearance was at Game 6 of the 2020 World Series held in Arlington, Texas.