Former Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda, who is from Norristown, Penn., will have the newly refurbished baseball field at the University of Pennsylvania named after him, the school announced Wednesday.
The playing surface at Meiklejohn Stadium will be known as Tommy Lasorda Field once the renovation is complete. The project is being funded by a gift of more than $2 million from businessman Warren Lichtenstein, who graduated from Penn in 1987.
“I am honored to have a baseball field named after me in my home state of Pennsylvania and at the University of Pennsylvania,” the 92-year-old Lasorda said. “I am most thankful to my great friend, Warren Lichtenstein, and everyone at the University of Pennsylvania, for this unbelievable tribute and honor.”
Lichtenstein also paid tribute to Lasorda, a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame who led the Dodgers to World Series titles in 1981 and 1988.
“Tommy Lasorda has been a great mentor and coach and he has touched the lives of so many people around the world as the greatest ambassador for the game of baseball and the Dodgers,” he said. “Tommy and the Lasorda family have meant so much and done so much for Norristown and the state of Pennsylvania that it is only fitting to name Penn’s baseball field for him.”
Lasorda, who lives in Fullerton, has been with the Dodgers organization for more than 70 years as a player, scout, manager and front office executive.
He was originally signed by the Philadelphia Phillies in 1945, before reaching the big leagues as a pitcher with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1954.
He managed the Dodgers from 1976-96, and is currently special advisor to the chairman.