Tommy Lasorda Looks Back On Baseball Dreams
In 1945, an 18-year-old left-handed pitcher from Norristown, Pa., signed a baseball contract. It took him until 1954 to make it to the majors — and when he did, he was there for bits of three seasons, just 26 games. His career record? Zero wins, four losses.
On Tuesday, that pitcher — Tommy Lasorda — was at the National Portrait Gallery of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., staring at a life-size portrait of him by artist Everett Raymond Kinstler. It was unveiled on Lasorda's 82nd birthday.
"It's amazing, you know. A lot of great, wonderful things happened to me, but to have something like this happen is just unbelievable," Lasorda told NPR's Robert Siegel.
Of course, Lasorda didn't get to the Smithsonian — or to baseball's Hall of Fame, for that matter — on the strength of his curveball. He has spent 60 years in the Los Angeles Dodgers organization, 20 of them as manager: eight division titles, four pennants, two World Series championships.
But Lasorda didn't grow up dreaming of being a great big-league manager. He dreamed of playing.
"When I was 15 years old, I used to actually dream I was pitching in Yankee Stadium. Bill Dickey was my catcher. I looked over at Lou Gehrig at first. Right field was Babe Ruth, and center field was [Joe] DiMaggio. And then all of sudden I'd feel my mom shaking me and saying, 'Wake up Tommy, it's time for you to go to school.' I'd say, 'Why did my mom wake me up, it was so real.' Then I was warming up in the bullpen in Yankee Stadium [for real] and they called me in to pitch to Yogi Berra. And I said I'd been here many times, but in my dreams."
Lasorda says he pitched Berra out. And that was Lasorda's ultimate goal, he says — to continue to pitch in the big leagues.
"I started in the lowest league in baseball, and I worked my way all the way up to Triple A and then to the big leagues," Lasorda says. "I never reached the level that I thought I would reach as a player. But that's the way it goes. So then I started from the bottom as a manager, and I worked my way up to managing the Dodgers for 20 years."
Had he not been with the Dodgers — a great organization in the '40s and '50s — there might have been room for Lasorda to play in the majors. But Lasorda says his career path opened other doors.
"You know, we're all put here for a reason," he says. "And one little movement changes your way of life. For example, leaving spring training. I was on the Pueblo [Colo.] roster. And I went to the farm director, Fresco Thompson, I told him I'd like to go Greenville [S.C.] — same classification. And he OK'd it. Now if I didn't go to Greenville, I would never have met my wife. Changed my whole life."
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ROBERT SIEGEL, host:
In 1945, an 18-year-old left-handed pitcher from Norristown, Pennsylvania, signed a baseball contract. It took him until 1954 to make it to the Majors. He was there for bits of three seasons, all of 26 games. Career record: zero wins, four losses. And there he was today at the National Portrait Gallery of the Smithsonian Institution, staring at his own life-size portrait.
Mr. TOMMY LASORDA (Former Manager, Los Angeles Dodgers): That's amazing, you know? A lot of great, wonderful things happened to me, but to have something like this happen is just unbelievable.
SIEGEL: Tommy Lasorda didn't get to the Smithsonian — or to baseball's Hall of Fame, for that matter — on the strength of his curveball. He has spent 60 years in the Dodgers' organization, 20 of them as manager: eight division titles, four pennants, two World Series championships. Of course, Lasorda didn't grow up dreaming of being a great big league manager.
Mr. LASORDA: When I was 15 years old, I used to actually dream I was pitching in Yankee Stadium. Bill Dickey was my catcher. I looked over at Lou Gehrig at first, and right field was Babe Ruth, and center field was DiMaggio, and then all of sudden, I'd feel my mother shaking me and saying, wake up Tommy, it's time to go to school. I said, why did she take me away from that dream? It was so real. Then I was warming up in the bullpen in Yankee Stadium.
SIEGEL: For real.
Mr. LASORDA: Yeah, and they called me in to pitch to Yogi Berra. And I said, I've been here many times, but in my dreams, and faced Yogi.
(Soundbite of laughter)
SIEGEL: How'd you do?
Mr. LASORDA: I got him out.
SIEGEL: All the years before you made it up to the Majors, were you always confident that you'd have a career in the big leagues, or where there times when you felt I'd better find a job one of these days?
Mr. LASORDA: No, my goal was to pitch in the big leagues. That was my goal. I started in the lowest league in baseball, and I worked my way all the way up to AAA and then to the big leagues. And I never reached the level that I thought I would reach as a player, but that's the way it goes. So then, when I started from the bottom as a manager, and I worked my way up to managing the Dodgers for 20 years.
SIEGEL: You know, I was thinking, you've had such a long career with the Dodgers, 60 years with the…
Mr. LASORDA: Well, 60 years, yeah.
SIEGEL: And yet, if back in the '40s and '50s, you had been not in the Dodgers' organization, which was a great organization, but say, with the Phillies or the Pirates, somewhere at the cellar of the National League.
Mr. LASORDA: Well, I was with the Phillies.
SIEGEL: Maybe, you know, there was more room for playing in the Majors with those organizations.
Mr. LASORDA: Possibly.
SIEGEL: I know. Would it have been worth it?
Mr. LASORDA: You know, we're all put here for a reason, and one little movement changes your way of life. For example, leaving spring training. I was on the Pueblo roster, and I went to the farm director, Fresco Thompson, and I told him I'd like to go to Greenville, same classification, and he okayed it. Now, if I didn't go to Greenville, I would have never met my wife. Changed my whole life.
SIEGEL: And you've been with your wife almost as long as you've been with the Dodgers.
Mr. LASORDA: One year less.
SIEGEL: One year less.
Mr. LASORDA: Yeah.
SIEGEL: Just let me ask you about the portrait for a moment. Do you think that Mr. Kinstler has got the bat posed in such a way that it kind of narrows your trunk a little bit there and saying, he's got that set up well so that we're getting a good take on your midsection?
Mr. LASORDA: All managers wind up with those.
(Soundbite of laughter)
SIEGEL: Not just managers, actually. Congratulations on this.
Mr. LASORDA: Thank you very much.
SIEGEL: And happy 82nd birthday.
Mr. LASORDA: Thank you, that's right. I appreciate you doing this.
SIEGEL: Tommy Lasorda. His portrait, by Everett Raymond Kinstler, was unveiled at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington today, which is also his 82nd birthday.
(Soundbite of music)
MADELEINE BRAND, host:
You are listening to ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright National Public Radio.
