Thomas Charles Lasorda (September 22, 1927 – January 7, 2021) was an American professional baseball pitcher and manager. He managed the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1976 through 1996. He was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame as a manager in 1997.
Lasorda played in MLB for the Dodgers in 1954 and 1955 and for the Kansas City Athletics in 1956. He coached for the Dodgers from 1973 through 1976 before taking over as manager. Lasorda won two World Series championships as manager of the Dodgers and was named the Manager of the Year of the National League (NL) twice. His uniform number 2 was retired by the Dodgers.
Tommy Lasorda Cause of Death
On June 3, 2012, at age 84, Lasorda was hospitalized in New York City after suffering a heart attack. The heart attack was not considered to be overly serious. On November 8, 2020, Lasorda was hospitalized for heart problems and was reported to be “in serious condition” in intensive care. The Dodgers didn’t make the announcement public about his hospitalization until a week later. On December 1, 2020, Lasorda was taken out of the intensive care unit as his condition continued to improve. After being released from the hospital on January 5, 2021, he entered sudden cardiac arrest at his home two days later and was rushed back to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead that night. He was 93. Numerous buildings in Los Angeles were illuminated in blue in tribute to Lasorda, including City Hall, Staples Center, and the Banc of California Stadium; at Dodger Stadium, flags were flown at half-staff.