No manager was ever a bigger cheerleader for baseball or his major league team than super-enthusiastic Tommy Lasorda, who spoke of “bleeding Dodger blue” and spent decades with the club, including 20 years as manager. Author Colin Gunderson worked 12 of those as the team’s press coordinator and assistant to Lasorda. He draws on that experience and interviews with a host of former Dodgers to profile one of the most colorful personalities to ever grace a big-league dugout.
Here’s an excerpt from “Tommy Lasorda: My Way”:
[Pitcher Jerry Reuss remembering his arrival with the Dodgers in 1979] : "I sit down in Tommy’s office and the first thing he tells me is, ‘I love the Dodgers!’ and he went into that speech. Then he went into this thing about when he dies he still wants to work for the Dodgers. I’m getting the $10,000 speech, and I just joined the ball club. As he’s going on, it dawned on me that he really believes this. He was sincere.’
“Not long after that first meeting, Reuss received the first of many Lasorda hugs. ‘I never had a manager prior to Lasorda do that and I never had one after Lasorda to do that. He was the only one that was like that, to outwardly show affection to the players with a hug, but that all kind of played into who he is,’ said Reuss.”
