TOMMY LASORDA QUOTES II

American baseball player & manager (1927- )

Yeah, but I love you more than football and basketball.

TOMMY LASORDA

to his wife who claimed he loved baseball more than her, The Gigantic Book of Baseball Quotations

Tags: love


When I was 14 years old, I went with my father to visit some family. This guy said, "Sam, you have five sons -- which one of those sons do you like the best?" I thought my father would say me! He thought for a moment, and then he raised his hand, and said, "which one of those fingers do you like the best?"

TOMMY LASORDA

"A Thoughtful Sitdown with the Best. Manager. Ever.", Thrillist

Tags: fathers


I walk into the clubhouse and it's like walking into the Mayo Clinic. We have four doctors, three therapists and five trainers. Back when I broke in, we had one trainer who carried a bottle of rubbing alcohol and by the seventh inning he had drunk it all.

TOMMY LASORDA

Sports Illustrated, May 29, 1989


When you're not playing up to your capability, you gotta try everything, to motivate, to get them going. All of them have to be on the same end of the rope to pull together. It's playing for the name on the front of the shirt, not the back. Individualism gets you trophies and plaques. Play for the front, that wins championships. I try to remind them of that.

TOMMY LASORDA

Los Angeles Daily News, July 14, 2013

Tags: teamwork


Baseball is like driving, it's the one who gets home safely that counts.

TOMMY LASORDA

attributed, The Gigantic Book of Baseball Quotations

Tags: baseball


The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in a man's determination.

TOMMY LASORDA

attributed, Winning Words: Classic Quotes from the World of Sports

Tags: determination


About the only problem with success is that it does not teach you how to deal with failure.

TOMMY LASORDA

The Artful Dodger

Tags: success


I bleed Dodger blue and when I die, I'm going to the big Dodger in the sky.

TOMMY LASORDA

attributed, Confessions from Left Field: A Baseball Pilgrimage


I love doubleheaders. That way I get to keep my uniform on longer.

TOMMY LASORDA

attributed, Winning Words: Classic Quotes from the World of Sports


I found out it's not good to talk about my troubles. Eighty percent of the people who hear them don't care and the other 20 percent are glad you're having trouble.

TOMMY LASORDA

attributed, The Gigantic Book of Baseball Quotations


The only way I'd worry about the weather is if it snows on our side of the field and not theirs.

TOMMY LASORDA

attributed, Great Quotes from Great Sports Heroes


I managed the Dodgers for 20 years. It's hard to believe that there are only four guys in the history of baseball who managed the same team for 20 years or more. One was owner of the team, Connie Mack. Another was part owner of the team, John McGraw. Then there was my predecessor, Walter Alston, and me. It's amazing. In the 20 years I managed the Dodgers, 210 managers were fired.

TOMMY LASORDA

interview, American Sportscasters Online


I was told to stay away from pasta and bread for two weeks. Not eating pasta? That'll kill me. Anything else, but why pasta?

TOMMY LASORDA

Los Angeles Daily News, July 14, 2013

Tags: eating


I believe managing is like holding a dove in your hand. If you hold it too tightly you kill it, but if you hold it too loosely, you lose it.

TOMMY LASORDA

The Artful Dodger


Caltech honored me -- they named an asteroid after me. There's only two of them up there with names. One of them is Walter Cronkite. The other is Tommy Lasorda.

TOMMY LASORDA

Los Angeles Daily News, July 14, 2013