Sunday Night Baseball: Dodgers Tom Lasorda 1978 Topps #189

This week Sunday Night Baseball remains in LA for a second consecutive weekend but moves across town to broadcast the Cardinals and Dodgers. Our companion column features Baseball Ambassador Tommy Lasorda

1978 Topps #189 Tom Lasorda

To me he has always been Tommy Lasorda, but the only Topps card that lists him as "Tommy" is his 1954 RC. The eleven Lasorda Manager cards in the Baseball Simulator Topps DB all list the Hall of Fame Manager as "Tom"

Lasorda was elected into the Hall of Fame as a manager by the Veteran's Committee in 1997. His HoF Credentials include 1599 career victories all at the helm of the Dodgers. The pinnacle of those Wins were World Series Championships in 1981 and 1988. During his 18 full seasons the Dodgers won seven division titles and four NL Pennants. In addition to those season Lasorda also at the Dodgers leading the NL West in 1994 prior to the seasons work stoppage. 

His Division wins in 1983 and 1988 won him the Manager of the Year award, an honor he received votes for six times during his career.

1978 Topps

I don't believe Topps will ever release a better looking manager card than 1978T. This is a subset I would like to cover at some point. The recent/archive photo combo is a terrific take on the manager card. 1978 was probably the last moment you could pair a Black & White photo with a color one on a trading card.

flip

1978 Topps #189 Tom Lasorda (b-side)

As you can see Tommy was born in nearby Norristown. Prior to becoming a Dodger Lasorda was initially signed by the Phillies and still has ties in the area.  His family used to own a Bar/Restaurant in Exton PA - among my regrets is never making it out to the eatery which is now Weso's

Baseball Ambassador
Every team should have a Baseball Ambassador, the Phillies have a few: Mike Schmidt, Dallas Green, Gary Matthews, and Greg Luzinski.

Tommy Lasorda at age 87 is less visible than he once was but at one time he fulfilled the ambassador role not just for the Dodgers but for all of Baseball.

We have chronicled several Baseball Ambassadors over the years and I am going to use this Tommy Lasorda posting as an index for those postings:

Phillies
Larry Andersen
Dallas Green
Greg Luzinski
Gary Matthews

Boston Red Sox - Johnny Pesky
Milwaukee Braves/Brewers - Johnny Logan
Minnesota Twins - Kirby Puckett
Pittsburgh Pirates - Bill Mazeroski
Pittsburgh Pirates - Dick Groat


Tommy Lasorda HoF Index
1978 Topps #189
 

Sources and Links
baseball-ref
Baseball Card Database
Weso's

Phungo 5 with Night Owl Cards - Guest Card Matt Kemp

This week the Phils face the Dodgers for the first time since the 2008 NLCS. To find out whats going on with the Dodgers we called upone the wisdom of Night Owl Cards. NOC covers a wide range of topics but centers around two areas, Cards photographed during night games and the Dodgers. I also enjoy the early 70s vintage on Night Owl's site. Night Owl was also an active participant and runner-up in the Spot The Sig! competition. Team Phungo thanks the NOC crew for their participation and would like to let everyone know that we are in the preliminary stages of putting together some interesting stuff for Spot The Sig! series 2 in the fall.

Here is Night Owl Cards Phungo 5.

1) Night Owl Cards features many in depth posts - on many varied subjects. Which takes longer finding the right cards for the post or writing up the copy?

Oh, probably writing up the copy. Since I’m an editor by profession, I’m particular about the way things are written, and I get paranoid that people who know I am an editor will see grammatical issues and call me on it. So I have to go over what I’ve written a few times. Plus, I like to give readers something to think about, so it takes some time to decide how to write something. As for finding the cards, I have a lot scanned and on file. But when something comes up unexpected, and I have to dig up a bunch of cards, that can be a royal pain in the bum.

2) There is a lot of talk about the Mets new stadium homaging Ebbets field - as a Dodgers fan on the east coast does this pique your interest in visiting the stadium?

It’s a little unsettling to me that the Mets are paying homage to Ebbets Field/the Brooklyn Dodgers. I’ve come across a lot of Mets fans. I don’t know many who are Dodgers fans. A bunch of them hate the Dodgers. I know back when the Mets first began that a lot of Brooklyn Dodgers fans became Mets fans. But that’s not so much the case anymore. So, nah, it wouldn’t make more interested than going to any other new stadium.

3) The Dodgers have a mess of quality young hitters (Kemp, Ethier, Loney) who do you think will ultimately emerge as the best of this group.

Oh, geez, it’s Matt Kemp. When he puts it all together – and I hope that’s “when” and not “if,” he’ll be a flat-out star. You’re already seeing what he can do a bit more this year.

2007 Upper Deck Rookie Sensations #RS-MK Matt Kemp

4) Who will be the Dodger players of the game for each of the three games in the Series - and give me one Blob - Phillie or Dodger.

For Tuesday, let’s say Randy Wolf. He’s gonna have a little extra motivation going back to Phillie. For Wednesday, I’d like to say Kershaw, but I don’t know how that’s going to go. I’ll say, Andre Ethier. For Thursday, I’m going with Juan Pierre. It’s JuanPierreWood now!

For the blob, Tuesday, it’ll be Matt Stairs, because I hold a grudge. Wednesday, it’ll be Russell Martin ‘cause I think the Phillies will win that. Thursday, I’ll go with Pedro Feliz. He’s an ex-Giant.

5) Are you a believer in the Tommy LaSorda Slim Fast Diet?

Have you seen Tommy the last few years? I don’t think it’s been working for awhile now.

Another fun and informative Phungo 5. Kudos for bringing up Randy Wolf. He is a Phungo house favorite and we are looking forward to seeing him back in town. I will award a 4 out 4 to Night Owl Cards for this one with the point for question 4 pending the blob predictions - I personally like Ethier he is a bit steadier for my tastes, but Night Owl is correct, Matt Kemp definitely looks like an every year All-Star in the making. The Dodgers should be a competitive club for several years and I am happy the Phils took advantage of their opportunity in 2008.

Thanks to Night Owl Cards for this weeks Phungo 5. If you want to look at a past Phungo 5 click here and you can find out what Waxaholic had to say about the Braves.