Letters: Farewell to Tommy Lasorda, the ultimate Dodger

Jan. 8, 2021 5:23 PM PT

Tommy Lasorda bleeds Dodger Blue in heaven now forever.

William David Stone
Beverly Hills

At a time when we need a person to bring us back to feeling a sense of pride in America, we mourn the loss of Tommy Lasorda. A man who always made us feel better about ourselves whether we were Dodger fans, sports fans or just ordinary fans of the American way of life.

I am a retired superintendent of schools from the Downey Unified School District. Back in the 1980s at the opening of a Little League baseball season, Tommy came to give a short speech and spend about 20-30 minutes and throw out the first pitch. He spent over two hours talking to every kid there, sharing stories and signing autographs. Tommy also took pictures with anyone and everyone who wanted one.

I have one taken with him that hangs in my home and brings me a great deal of pride in the fact that for a moment in time I was honored to meet a man of high integrity and greatness who was truly a role model of us all.

Edward A. Sussman
Fountain Valley

I’ve been a longtime Angels fan, saw my first professional baseball game in 1966, Angels vs. Washington Senators at Angel Stadium. Never liked the Dodgers, until Tommy Lasorda became the manager. He was the managers manager, he was a players manager, he managed a baseball team like it should have been.

Steven DeMont
Orange

Please, please Tommy, before you go, serenade us one more time with your opinion of Kingman and Bevacqua.

Marty Zweben
Palos Verdes Estates

Coach Bill?

Well, Bill Plaschke is back to coaching the Rams. This time he wants Sean McVay to abandon Jared Goff and stick with John Wolford. He opines that Wolford’s athleticism gives the offense “a chance to breathe,” and his team management will create more “flow.”

Might I add that the Rams scored zero offensive touchdowns against Arizona and the key play of the game was Troy Hill’s 84-yard pick-six? Goff beat Seattle once, Wolford has played one game. Please, Bill, go back to running the Chargers.

Ralph S. Brax
Lancaster

I can’t believe Bill Plaschke was allowed to write an article saying the Rams should replace Jared Goff with John Wolford.

Why didn’t someone in the sports department explain to him that Seattle would have a week to defense him? And you would be replacing a two-time Pro Bowl player with a 67% completion rating and 90 QB rating, with a guy with a 57% completion rating, and 64 QB rating, a guy who’s never even thrown a touchdown.

Yes, Wolford did good, but let’s not lose our marbles.

Steve Baker
Los Angeles

It is nice to see a new quarterback leading the Rams. After watching Jared Goff throw interceptions and fumbling on key plays we now have a quarterback who’s not afraid to take on a defense and can run for the first downs. Hopefully John Wolford starts against the Seahawks in the playoffs.

Ron Halpern
Ventura

When the Rams get to the Red Zone the name should be changed to the Twilight Zone.

Tom Parsons
Cambria, Calif.

No pomp here

On Sunday, Anthony Lynn summed up the season by saying, “I think we’ve done a good job here under the circumstances.” He was fired the next day because, well, he apparently was “the circumstances.”

Mario Valvo
Ventura

Would someone please explain to me how Clay Helton does it? No college football coach over the last decade has done less with more and yet, not only does he keep his job, and except for a single down year, he has successfully recruited at the highest levels. I know he’s supposedly a nice guy, but the boosters dislike him, we know where nice guys finish, yet he’s still standing.

By the way, I’m not complaining. As a Bruin alum he’s our only saving grace.

Allan Kandel
Los Angeles

So UCLA athletic director Martin Jarmond is lauding “the team’s upward trajectory.” I really don’t think that a win percentage going from 25% to 33% to 42% is a “trajectory” to get excited about — or even to laud. Chip Kelly’s first three years having been the worst for any Bruin football coach in nearly a century isn’t resume material, either.

And Jarmond “obviously … wants to win more games than we lose.” You’re really aiming high on that one. I strongly doubt J.D. Morgan ever uttered that inanity. Even Dan Guerrero never said anything that lame. Finally, defensive coordinator Jerry Azzinaro “has drawn widespread criticism.” When a coordinator does so poorly that his name recognition becomes notoriety, then perhaps a change is overdue.

Frederick Glasser
Orange

Thanks to Larry Scott for making Pac-12 football irrelevant this season. He delayed the season two months over COVID concerns for the players. What he really did was play catch-up with an inferior six-game schedule with no room to reschedule games. And wound up with Oregon and Colorado bumbling through their bowl games. Maybe we could bundle Larry Scott, Clay Helton, and Mike Bohn together and trade them to another conference as a package.

John Moore
Redondo Beach

During the playoff game between Alabama and Notre Dame, the crowd images were brief. The huge majority of spectators shown seemed unburdened by those intrusive suffocating masks. Yes, the total number of attendees appeared restricted. But some prevention science is not optimal science.

Do the College Football Playoff and the NCAA support and create super-spreader events?

This national teaching opportunity was lost, and very likely will be a contributor to hospital burdens.

Rod Hartman MD
Woodland Hills

Even calling it the Rose Bowl could not eliminate the odoriferous smell coming from AT&T Stadium between Notre Dame and Alabama.

There is only one Rose Bowl game, and it’s played at the Rose Bowl ... in Pasadena! At least we were spared the stench this year. “The Granddaddy of Them All” wouldn’t have changed those diapers.

Jeff Corliss
Rancho Mirage

After Trevor Lawrence’s performance in the Sugar Bowl ... maybe the New York Jets knew something.

Richard Whorton
Studio City

RIP, Westy

Sad to read about Paul Westphal’s passing in your paper. I didn’t play basketball for the USC varsity when they went 24-2 with Westphal, I played basketball in the USC Dorm League. Coach Bob Boyd allowed me to watch the varsity practice, which was fine, but the real entertainment occurred when Westphal and teammate Dana Paget played HORSE after practice. Paget was probably the best shooter on the team, but Westphal had the acrobatic moves, and could score with either hand. Advantage Westphal! RIP.

Vaughn Hardenberg
Westwood

The fair sex?

I enjoyed your article on girl dads. However, it is odd that you chose to highlight a quote from Zach Randolph, who said “The boys you can be a little rough with. The girls, they have you wrapped around their finger.” It is precisely this kind of misguided stereotype that promotes different treatment between men and women, in sports, school, and the workplace.

Instead of showing the independent strength of females, you reinforced the idea that men should be regarded as more competitive and women as more manipulative. Both of my kids were rough when it came to sports; and both are smart, intelligent, and honest in the workplace. Are they boys or are they girls?

Ron Mossler
Northridge

Stand-up guys

You remember as a kid, the clown that you could hit, it would fall over, and then pop back up? That’s how I describe the coaching lives of Steve Sarkisian and Lane Kiffin. They must have more lives than two cats combined.

Chris Sorce
Fountain Valley

Well, it took only 15 years, but Texas finally gave Steve Sarkisian his due for giving the ball to LenDale White instead of Reggie Bush in the 2006 Rose Bowl.

Brian Lipson
Beverly Hills

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