Fullerton To Celebrate Tommy Lasorda Day To Honor Dodgers Legend

FULLERTON (CBSLA) – The city of Fullerton, where Tommy Lasorda resided for the better part of seven decades, will honor the Los Angeles Dodgers legend next week.

Fullerton has declared Sept. 22, which would have been the Dodger manager's 94th birthday, as Tommy Lasorda Day.

Lasorda and his family resided in Fullerton for 68 years.

Among the events planned is a sister city signing ceremony with the Italian city of Tollo, where Lasorda's family is from.

The city will also plant an Italian olive tree next to its magnolia, flowering cherry and black pine trees, which symbolize Fullerton's relationships with its other sister cities of Morelia, Mexico, Fukui, Japan and Yongin, South Korea.

"The city of Fullerton celebrates Tommy Lasorda, a 68-year resident of southwest Fullerton, a baseball ambassador of worldwide renown, a notable celebrity and highly recognizable personality, member of the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame who earlier this year, in his own words 'went to meet the big Dodger in the sky,'" Fullerton Mayor Bruce Whitaker said in a statement last month.

Lasorda passed away in January at the age of 93 after suffering a heart attack.

His accolades are astounding. He managed the Dodgers for 21 seasons from 1976 to 1996. He won two World Series titles in 1981 and 1988, and has 1,599 career wins as a manager, 22nd all time.

Lasorda was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1997, his first year of eligibility. That same year, the Dodgers retired his No. 2 jersey.

In the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games, Lasorda returned to managing, leading Team USA to the gold medal.

He continued to work for the Dodgers organization well into his 90s as a scout and later, special advisor.