Monday, May 5, 2008

Dodger Blue

I just finished reading "I Live for This! Baseball's Last True Believer" a memoir by L.A. Times columnist Bill Plaschke with Tommy Lasorda.

A little background - I grew up outside of L.A. proper, in the San Fernando Valley - and I was a huge Dodger fan. I still claim them as my favorite team even though I now live in Texas and don't even follow baseball any longer. Some childhood habits you just don't break.

Anyhow, as Dodger fan during their heyday, this book was a walk down memory lane. I remember many of the major game situations and famous players he talks about. Wow. I wiped several tears as I read through this fascinating and quite revealing portrait of a man. Quite a different picture than the one I held just from watching him on TV managing his team.

For any Dodger fan, especially, but baseball fans in general, this is a great book.

And just FYI for you Dodger fans, the Dodgers have never even made it back to the Worlds Series under any subsequent manager since their memorable win under Lasorda's leadership back in 1988. He even brought our long-shot Olympic baseball team to a gold medal in the 2000 Summer Olympics.

He'll be 81-years-old this year, and Dodger Blue still runs through his veins, but his age is catching up with him. And it will be a sad day in baseball when he moves to Dodger heaven. Baseball and our country will be a worse place for the loss.

3 comments:

K.M. Saint James said...

Got to admit, I'm not a baseball fan. At least not on TV.

When we were teenagers, my dad's company had season tickets to the Rangers -- right above their dug-out. Going out to the game, yelling and cheering, eating the dogs and messy nachos, now that I enjoyed.

L.A. Mitchell said...

What a varied book list you have. Must make you a very seasoned conversationalist when not around writers :)

Jen FitzGerald said...

Thanks, L.A., although I don't know how much sense my conversations make, as much of the info gets jumbled once it's in my brain.

But your comment make me laugh, and for that, I thank you.