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Saturday, October 27, 2007 |
No Embarrassing Questions, Please: The Times Reviews Plaschke's Lasorda Bio
Allen Barra managed to slog through Bill Plaschke's Tommy Lasorda biography, and today's Times has the result, a disappointing but predictable stew of half-truths and unasked questions. Take these paragraphs, revealing for what they don't tell us:
In one of the many great stories in "I Live for This! Baseball's Last True Believer" by Bill Plaschke with Tommy Lasorda, the young Tommy, on his way to a 13.50 ERA with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1955, is summoned to the Dodgers executive office. "Tommy, if you were general manager of this team," asked Buzzie Bavasi, "who would you cut?" Lasorda replied: "I would cut that Sandy Koufax kid."Well, not really, something literate Dodger fans have known for a while now, thanks to more searching books like Glenn Stout's The Dodgers. Unfortunately, one gets the immediate impression that Barra was signed to do a book review on this one volume, and had some prior knowledge of Lasorda's son, another blemish on the former Dodger skipper's career. A book that fails to mention Lasorda's role in the Delino DeShields/Pedro Martinez and Paul Konerko/Jeff Shaw trades isn't likely to pursue the uglier details of its subject's career. Lasorda is an interesting, charismatic, and central figure of the franchise in Los Angeles, and it's too bad that the job of writing his life story as it really happened will fall to someone else.That's the only bad advice Lasorda has offered in more than half a century in big league baseball.
Labels: books, dodgers, history
Comments:
I'm not sure what is meant by his son being a "blemish" on Lasorda's career but I'm going to assume you felt like I did that Tommy Lasorda's denial of his son's sexuality and death from AIDS was, on its face, abhorrent. That was before I read Peter Richmond's article in GQ. Now, I have a completley different take.
It remains one of the most moving pieces of journalism I have ever read because of what it does not do. It does not devle into melodrama, judgment or ill-informed opinion yet the article invites anyone who reads it to feel a wonderful drama and then pass judgment and give opinions.
My opinion is that Tommy Lasorda and his wife Jo had a deep and abiding love for their son. Tommy Jrs sexuality was obvious to nearly everyone who met him (Richmond backs this up extensively) but Tommy Sr., I think, put it out of his mind and was, by all accounts, a wonderful father. He was a constant presence at little league games, always welcoming of his son before and after big league games and he was at his bedside as his son was dying from AIDS.
It's clear to me after reading the article that Lasorda loved his son. It is also clear from his words that he is angry at the suggestion that his son was gay and died from AIDS. Sportswriter Frank Deford said Lasorda hated Richmond for writing the article but participated in the creation of it anyway. I'll echo Deford's take that the article praises both father and son without making a clear statement of praise or denunciation for either man. It is a searing portrait of what could accurately be described as a gay man raised by what could be accurately described as a homophobic father and the love both had for each other did more than transcend the inevitable conflict; it eliminated the conflict, made it a non-issue. It only came up after every parent's nightmare; when the child dies first.
There is much to criticize Lasorda for his decisions as a baseball man, particularly in the front office. But I must say, after reading the article, I admire him as a father.
It remains one of the most moving pieces of journalism I have ever read because of what it does not do. It does not devle into melodrama, judgment or ill-informed opinion yet the article invites anyone who reads it to feel a wonderful drama and then pass judgment and give opinions.
My opinion is that Tommy Lasorda and his wife Jo had a deep and abiding love for their son. Tommy Jrs sexuality was obvious to nearly everyone who met him (Richmond backs this up extensively) but Tommy Sr., I think, put it out of his mind and was, by all accounts, a wonderful father. He was a constant presence at little league games, always welcoming of his son before and after big league games and he was at his bedside as his son was dying from AIDS.
It's clear to me after reading the article that Lasorda loved his son. It is also clear from his words that he is angry at the suggestion that his son was gay and died from AIDS. Sportswriter Frank Deford said Lasorda hated Richmond for writing the article but participated in the creation of it anyway. I'll echo Deford's take that the article praises both father and son without making a clear statement of praise or denunciation for either man. It is a searing portrait of what could accurately be described as a gay man raised by what could be accurately described as a homophobic father and the love both had for each other did more than transcend the inevitable conflict; it eliminated the conflict, made it a non-issue. It only came up after every parent's nightmare; when the child dies first.
There is much to criticize Lasorda for his decisions as a baseball man, particularly in the front office. But I must say, after reading the article, I admire him as a father.
By the by, the above was written by "Suffering Bruin." I'm a teacher and I have a blog but it's a blog created by my real name--Mr. Landon (first name Clay or Clayton). Now that I've finally figured out how to post here, I thought I'd introduce myself to the readers of one of the very best baseball blogs on the internet.
Lasorda always gets the lion share of the blame in the terrible trade of Pedro. But sadly who were the other Dodgers in positions of authority to fight it?
My memory says that Fred Claire, GM at the time was for it.
My memory says that Fred Claire, GM at the time was for it.
Rob,
Thanks for the repost of Jon's wonderful article, many had their hand in that bad trade...Why in my mind in judging Lasorda as a manager is always difficult, but in comparison to recent Dodger manager's, he actually begins to shine more brightly, despite his obvious faults.
Thanks for the repost of Jon's wonderful article, many had their hand in that bad trade...Why in my mind in judging Lasorda as a manager is always difficult, but in comparison to recent Dodger manager's, he actually begins to shine more brightly, despite his obvious faults.
Tommy's behavior over his son's death is not the real tragedy. The cowardly avoiding of accurately reporting the circumstances of the death by the vile and compromised LA TIMES is what was contemtible.
THEN as now, they were in bed with the Dodgers and towed the company line. The son of the most popular man in the city died in the midst of THE major American health crisis of that time period and the city's paper of record just shrugged.
-Rev.HF
THEN as now, they were in bed with the Dodgers and towed the company line. The son of the most popular man in the city died in the midst of THE major American health crisis of that time period and the city's paper of record just shrugged.
-Rev.HF
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