Former Los Angeles Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda has passed away after suffering a sudden cardiac arrest at his residence on Thursday, the team has revealed via an official announcement.
Tommy Lasorda was hospitalised under intensive care back on 8th November due to heart issues. On the first day of December 2020, the veteran was taken out of intensive care as he was making steady improvements.
Tommy Lasorda suffered a cardiac arrest at his home on Thursday night
After spending more than a month in the hospital, Lasorda returned home on January 5th. Unfortunately, two days later, the 93-year-old sustained a cardiopulmonary arrest around 10 pm on Thursday night and was immediately rushed back to the hospital in Orange County, California, where he was pronounced dead at 10:57 pm.
“Tommy Lasorda was one of the finest managers our game has ever known. He loved life as a Dodger,” MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred was quoted on the club’s official website, “his passion, success, charisma and sense of humor turned him into an international celebrity, a stature that he used to grow our sport.”
Irreplaceable and unforgettable: Dodgers lament the passing of Tommy Lasorda
The death of the club icon has brought a gloomy atmosphere in the Dodgers dressing room, as the club hierarchy mourned Lasorda’s demise.
“He was a great ambassador for the team and baseball, a mentor to players and coaches,” Dodgers chairman and owner Mark Walters lamented Lasorda’s passing, “he always had time for an autograph and a story for his many fans and he was a good friend.”
“In a franchise that has celebrated such great legends of the game, no one who wore the uniform embodied the Dodger spirit as much as Tommy Lasorda,” said Stan Kasten, the president and CEO.
“A tireless spokesman for baseball, his dedication to the sport and the team he loved was unmatched. He was a champion who at critical moments seemingly willed his teams to victory. The Dodgers and their fans will miss him terribly. Tommy is quite simply irreplaceable and unforgettable.”
Revered as a legend in the Dodgers contingent, Tommy Lasorda took the team to clinch two World Series titles in 1981 and 1988 during his time at the helm for two decades.
A former pitcher, Lasorda also played for Dodgers from 1954 to 1955, back when the team was based in Brooklyn, and later for Kansas City Athletics in 1956. He became the National League Manager of the Year twice, in 1983 and 1988.
