Tommy Lasorda

Outside of his brief career as a player Tommy Lasorda will be remembered for being the manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1976 to 1996. Lasorda began playing baseball as an amateur with the Philadelphia Phillies in 1945 before eventually playing MLB for the Brooklyn Dodgers and the Kansas City Athletics during the mid-1950s.

After ending his playing career in 1960 Lasorda moved into coaching, eventually becoming the manager of the Pocatello Chiefs in the minor leagues. He gained more and more experience of managing teams during the late 1960s and early 1970s until he became the manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers in September 1976. Over the next two decades Lasorda managed the Dodgers in more than 3,000 games, winning two World Series titles (1981, 1988), along with four National League pennants, and eight division titles. He was named the National League Manager of the Year in 1983 and 1988.

Lasorda initially retired in 1996 and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame the following year. He then came out of retirement to manage the United States at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. The USA beat Cuba in the final of the tournament to win the gold medal, with Lasorda becoming the first baseball manager to win a World Series championship and an Olympic title.