Longtime Los Angeles Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda has died at the age of 93, the team announced yesterday.
Per the Dodgers, Lasorda suffered a sudden cardiopulmonary arrest at his home at 10:09pm on Thursday night and was transported to the hospital. He was pronounced dead at 10:57pm.
The Hall of Fame manager had just been released from the hospital on Wednesday after being admitted on Nov. 8.
Lasorda, who managed the Dodgers from 1976-96, attended the team’s decisive Game 6 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Oct. 27 in Arlington, Texas. That win clinched the franchise’s first World Series title since 1988.
“I am extremely fortunate to have developed a wonderful friendship with Tommy and will miss him,” MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said. “It feels appropriate that in his final months, he saw his beloved Dodgers win the World Series for the first time since his 1988 team.
“On behalf of Major League Baseball, I send my deepest sympathy to his wife of 70 years, Jo, and their entire family, the Dodger organization and their generations of loyal fans.”
Lasorda compiled a 1,599-1,439-2 record in 3,040 games over 20-plus seasons as the Dodgers’ manager.
“My family, my partners and I were blessed to have spent a lot of time with Tommy,” said Mark Walter, Dodgers owner and chairman.
“He was a great ambassador for the team and baseball, a mentor to players and coaches, he always had time for an autograph and a story for his many fans and he was a good friend. He will be dearly missed.”
Lasorda’s Dodgers won the National League pennants in 1977 and 1978 in his first two full seasons but lost both World Series to the New York Yankees. Lasorda’s teams won the World Series in 1981 and 1988, and won eight division titles.
He was the National League Manager of the Year twice (1983, 1988) and managed four All-Star teams.
“In a franchise that has celebrated such great legends of the game, no one who wore the uniform embodied the Dodger spirit as much as Tommy Lasorda,” Dodger president and CEO Stan Kasten said. “A tireless spokesman for baseball, his dedication to the sport and the team he loved was unmatched. He was a champion who at critical moments seemingly willed his teams to victory. The Dodgers and their fans will miss him terribly. Tommy is quite simply irreplaceable and unforgettable.”
 Lasorda was enshrined in the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1997.