Forget about bleeding Dodger blue. Tommy Lasorda now bleeds red, white and blue. And those two World Series rings he won as manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers? Lasorda says they wouldn’t be bigger than winning an Olympic gold medal.
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And who needs Ken Griffey Jr. and Barry Bonds when you’ve got Ernie Young and Mike Neill?
Lasorda is in all his glory these days, talking about the thrill of representing “Old Glory.”
The manager and the U.S. Olympic team got off to a good start Sunday, defeating Japan 4-3 in 13 innings, thanks to a game-ending home run by none other than Neill, a 30-year-old minor-leaguer in Seattle’s chain.
The U.S. won the longest game in Olympic baseball history when Neill’s homer set off a high-fiving, back-slapping celebration at home plate that was more of a relief than an outburst, since the United States had thrown away a chance to win it with two outs in the ninth.
Neill, who has spent most of a nondescript career in the minors, hit a full-count pitch for the deciding homer off Toshiya Sugiuchi, an industrial-league pitcher in Japan.
The U.S. players raised their arms in weary triumph and headed for home. Lasorda pumped his left arm and yelled, “All right, yeah! That’s No. 1!”
Lasorda is caught up in the spirit of the Olympics even if he could win the gold medal for blowing smoke. He is preaching pride, patriotism and democracy. He even injected some politics, saying he would like nothing more than to beat Cuba for the exiles living in Miami.
“This is bigger than the World Series,” Lasorda said. “It’s bigger than major-league baseball. We’re representing the entire United States. When we won the World Series, Dodger fans were happy, but the Giants fans weren’t. If we win here, the whole country will be happy for us.”
There is no denying that Lasorda is back in his true element for the first time since stepping down as the Dodgers’ manager in 1996. And he clearly is reveling in the challenge of trying to lead the U.S. team to gold. The U.S. won the bronze in Atlanta.
Cuba is the favorite, but defections of top stars to the United States has made the two-time defending gold medalists vulnerable. Despite Sunday’s loss, Japan also is a threat; it was the silver medalist in 1996. And the United States is expected to be a force. The Americans went 5-1 in pre-Olympics exhibitions.
“Our theme is, we didn’t come 10,000 miles to lose,” Lasorda said.
The last time he managed a group of minor-leaguers, it was in the Dodgers’ farm system and he had players such as Steve Garvey, Ron Cey and Bill Buckner. By contrast, the U.S. team is composed of a mix of promising but untested young prospects, career minor-leaguers and onetime World Series MVP Pat Borders, who played in the minors for Tampa Bay this year.
No matter, says Lasorda, turning up the smoke machine full throttle and proclaiming, “If you give me this club and put them in the major leagues with me as their manager, we’d be in the Fall Classic in two years.”
Probably not, but the team is better than the collection of college players who competed in Atlanta. Still, Lasorda’s task would be easier if he could draw from the likes of Griffey and Bonds to go against the top stars playing for Japan and Cuba. But that’s not going to happen, and Lasorda says it’s just as well.
“I don’t think I would enjoy having those guys,” Lasorda said. “I like having these guys. I like their desire and enthusiasm.”
Much of the desire and enthusiasm comes from the non-stop talking Lasorda.
“He’s the perfect manager,” said Neill, an outfielder. “He’s helped us come together as a family.”