On Valentine's Day, 1991, Eugene Pinkowski's phone rang. '"I guarantee you one fuckin' thing," he says. Her husband of 70 years. Peter Richmond of GQ spoke with Lasorda Sr. in 1992. I ask him what his dad would say if he were alive. I didn't want to show my familythat's my family away from my house. Meanwhile, Jo's death of birth, birthday, and zodiac remained a private record. In 1973, the Dodgers called him to coach for the big team, and he summoned his wife and his son and his daughter from Norristown, and they moved to Fullerton, Calif, a featureless sprawl of a suburb known for the homogeneity of its style of life and the conservatism of its residents. It'd be Eugene's mother, saying she just got a bracelet. You'd think it'd be hard on a macho Italian man. With the cigarette. And thats what happened with Tommy., Tommy Lasordas Death Starts a Conversation About His Son, https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/11/sports/baseball/tommy-lasorda-son.html. The legendary manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers has always denied his son was gay. He was very much like the old boy. After a professor wrote about the hierarchy of penises in the locker room, he was flooded with questions and pictures. They always allowed me to do exactly what I pleased. He managed the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1976 through 1996. Lasorda never back-tracked from that support. granddaughter . Perhaps it's because that was the first time that I looked at Bean as a man, not a baseball player, and I thought he was hot. On his head. When you get used to the easy life, it's hard to go out there. Tommy spent hours at the makeup table. He was cool in that. To match his blue waistcoat. And of course, back in the '70s and early '80s, I wouldn't admit to anything like that. So, when Burke became . In the piano. In sixteen years, the tone of the sermon has seldom faltered, at least not before this year. Powered by. I remember walking into the closet. Laura Lasorda has a brother named Tommy Lasorda Jr, also known as "Spunky." Unfortunately, her brother died on June 3, 1991, as a result of AIDS-related complications. When Spunky died of AIDS in 1991, Lasorda refused to publicly acknowledge the disease as the cause of death, insisting that his son had died of an unrelated case of pneumonia. There was nothing sexual about Tommy's fashion-posing. Lasorda doesn't answer. "If there's any sort of afterlife, Tommy is looking down and cheering. Tommy Lasorda, who managed the Dodgers for 21 seasons and won two World Series titles, died after he sustained a sudden cardiopulmonary arrest Jan. 7 at his home in Southern California. It is a major denial. As for the father, there's no question about the nature of the demon he's been prey to for the past two years. The wife of the Hall of Famer has died at the age of 91. Once, after a short stay in Brooklyn, he was sent back to the minors so the Dodgers could keep a left-handed pitcher with a good fastball named Sandy Koufax, and to this day Lasorda will look you in the eye and say "I still think they made a mistake" and believe it. The words are like fingers jabbed into my chest. Lounging on the floor. Former Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda died Thursday at the age of 93. Even though I knew in my heart what was going on, I also wanted to try, just like I do now, and look at the whole person., Pallone said that although Lasordas public comments about his son were horrible, he attributed Lasordas attitude to, among other things, a macho culture, a generational gap, a Catholic background and him being Italian, like my father was Italian. He added, Its a hard thing to accept a sons sexual orientation when it isnt what youre used to.. I even had the occasion to meet Garvey several times as a teenager, and as an adult, and even on those occasions, I didn't have a sexual interest in him. I was an encyclopedia and my young head was chock full of statistics. These 300 men did. In 1976, he was anointed the second manager in the Los Angeles Dodgers' nineteen-year history. I tell him his father denies the illness. Tommy left, and returned in flesh-colored underwear. The two were married on April 14, 1950 -- a 70-year union. They were married for 70 years until Lasorda's death on January 7, 2021. Official reports in the media of the time said Spunky died of pneumonia and severe dehydration, and focus more on how his father would deal with managing his baseball team than with the fact that his only son was gay. Hopefully that helped to move the tide along and maybe baseball culture will get better, Pallone said. Tommy Lasorda managed the Dodgers for 20 years, from 1976 to 1996, leading the team to two. Tommy was wearing white underwear. "And to accept the fact he's not with them and what the real reason is. The heart stops beating properly. I remember when he died. Facebook. He was 93. pic.twitter.com/fkPf67iH7h, "I bleed Dodger blue andwhen I die, I'm going to the big Dodger in the sky. "Tommy was a great storyteller, and he'd tell you stories of his dad in the minor leagues," Pinkowski says. "There are a lot of opinions about Tom junior, about how [his father] handled his relationship with his son," says Steve Garvey, who more than anyone was the onfield embodiment of Dodger Blue. Both strutted an impossibly simplistic view of the worldthe father with his gospel of fierce optimism and blind obeisance to a baseball mythology, and the son with a slavery to fashion that he carried to the point of religion. We first published these details ten years ago, in a review of a documentary about another baseball icon: Glenn Burke. And an outrageous kid from Fullerton, ready to take the world by storm, found himself dropped smack into the soupof a thousand other outrageous kids, from Appleton, and Omaha, and Scranton. Gender: Male Race or Ethnicity: White Sexual orientation: Straight Occupation: Baseball. He was still femininethat gets in your systembut there was no lust after men.". Tommy had a chemabrasion performed on his face, in which an acid bath removes four of the skin's six layers. The cause of his death is still unknown at this time. I also read in that paper that a lady gave birth to a fuckin' monkey, too. Jo Lasorda was. But baseballs culture has progressed since Lasordas days, said Dave Pallone, a former M.L.B. And he never back-tracked from denying his son. That seemed so out of character. He died of pneumonia.. Tommy had that good self-esteemwhere you figure that [his] parents did something right.". There had to be acceptance from his mom and dad. Sometimes Tommy had Pinkowski take pictures of them. "Tommy senior is, as far as I'm concerned, a tremendous man," says Pallone. The two loving parents tried to do as much for him as he chose to let them doJunior chose a path in life, and that's his prerogative. Jo Lasorda was 91 years . "He died of AIDS," Magno says. Tommy never ate. He starts to whistle. He was the second of five sons born to Sabatino and Carmella Lasorda. he says. The former Joan Miller met Tommy Lasorda at a minor league baseball game in her hometown of Greenville, South Carolina, where he was playing for the Spinners.. Tommy Lasorda, who spent seven decades in the Dodgers organization - first as a player in Brooklyn and then in Los Angeles as a two-time World Series winning manager - has died. I never brought them with me. "He walked around with a big smile on his face, as if everything was great because he had everything around him to prove it was great," Spheeris says. Tommy and his foot were a regular subject of conversation, often led by Tommy. But on the other side of that coin, Tommy was very generous person outside of the baseball field. And, after Pirates' great Roberto Clemente died, I had to search for new favorite ballplayer, and a year or two after Clemente's death, Steve Garvey, the first baseman of the Los Angeles Dodgers burst onto the scene, becoming the first write-in to earn a spot on the All-Star team mid-season in 1974, and at the end of the year, garnering the MVP award. From his friend Tommy. He became a regular at the Voight gym, attending classes seven days a week. Tommy had four toes on his right foot, the fifth lost in a childhood accident. That Magic plays again.". Their first son died at the age of thirty-three, though the cause of death is in dispute. "He was a teammate, we always got along well, he gave me one hundred percent effort, played right next to me. "Not too much surprises me in life anymore," Garvey says. Drank everything he wanted. Tommy Jr's death certificate listed his cause of death as "PROBABLE ACQUIRED IMMUNE DEFICIENCY . Miami Heat Star Fears Game in Washington: Im Not Leaving My Room. Lasorda died Monday evening at her Fullerton home. Tommy, says one friend, wanted to be like those women in soap operas who have their own businesses but never actually work at them. His haunt was the Rose Tattoo, a gay club with male strippers, long closed now. "He was a good, sensitive kid," says Dusty Baker, now a coach with the San Francisco Giants. "T. L. Jr." reads the directory outside the locked gate; beyond it, a half-dozen doorways open onto a carefully tiled courtyard. "It's just misplaced values. Whether the two dated or not is never clear, but their relationship was a direct f-you to Lasorda and the Dodgers, who presented a wholesome family values image. One of the most famous figures in sports sadly perpetuated a culture of shame. When Penelope Spheeris heard that Tommy Lasorda died on Thursday at 93, she knew many people would be touched by the sad news, particularly in Los Angeles. Let's get our values in the right place. In his green period, he was known to wear a green lam wrap and drink crme de menthe. Who's written the best piece about this?". So you try to look at the whole picture, especially then when I was a closeted gay man. Tommy had two done. Tommy loved the world of the Dodgers. Lasorda was entitled to his personal life, and his opinions and the privacy of his feelings, yet at a time when it would have helped so many of us to understand more about the real Tommy, Jr., that never happened, and I'm really sad about that. Perhaps, some members of her family still live there. He died of pneumonia.". I also came across the Lasorda story again while reading all about Bean, since most stories referenced Burke, and Lasorda's son, and I began to question Lasorda Senior's explanation. He was young, and because his father. However, cardiac arrest is not also a "heart . "I'm one of those gentlemen who liked him," says the man. "You lose your identity when you don't have to earn money, you know what I mean? It's a well-worn voice. No way. A heart attack (or myocardial infarction) refers to death of heart muscle tissue due to the loss of blood supply. Then the phone would ring. He was 93. It's funny that Tommy cites Magic, isn't it? He was also the guy . He is getting ready to go to the fantasy-camp barbecue. Because, really, aren't there too many theme parks to compete with in Los Angeles to manage your baseball team as anything other than another one? He came out publicly in 1982. Perhaps the lesson we can learn from Tommy Lasorda is that the days of denial and obfuscation about who you are seem almost antiquated, and hopefully are heading toward extinction. Thomas Charles Lasorda (September 22, 1927 - January 7, 2021) was an American professional baseball pitcher and manager. On Friday morning, the Dodgers released a statement saying Lasorda suffered. He occasionally held a job, never for long. TOMMY: I'm sure they would, but I'll take ANY PUBLICITY. Learn how your comment data is processed. Of the game. "I cried. Jo Lasorda, widow of Dodgers legend Tommy Lasorda, dead at 91 . A routine night is spent in the clubs, the bright ones and dark ones alike. In white. In a recent commentary piece for the Los Angeles Blade, Karen Ocamb, a former news editor for the publication, claimed that Lasorda had once acknowledged at a charity event that his son was gay and that he had died of AIDS. With some of his exceptionally beautiful women friends. Tommy Lasordas classic rivalry with the Phillie Phanatic Baseball was meant to be fun for everyone (1988)pic.twitter.com/oI3fnTePki, IB THE GAMBLER (@incarceratedbob) January 8, 2021. Tommy Lasorda always brought light to every room entered. ', "Then he said, 'Thank you for being so nice to me during my lifetime.' He was a very, very memorable person.. His clubhouse became a haunt for show-business personalities, usually of distinctly outsized demeanorSinatra, Ricklesand he himself became the beacon of a new mythology, leader of the team that played in a ballpark on a hill on a road called Elysian, perched above the downtown, high and imperious. She said Tommy Jr. didnt want people talking about his sexuality either, because he wanted to protect his fathers wishes. "I found him totally fascinating. Lasorda was 93, and tributes to the iconic manager have been pouring in, beginning with that of his beloved Dodgers. recent commentary piece for the Los Angeles Blade, strained Burkes relationship with his boss. 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No one interviewed for this story thought that Tommy wasn't gay; reactions to his father's denial range from outrage and incredulity to laughter and a shake of the head. One day, Tommy wanted to pose wrapped in a transparent shower curtain. Still, in recent years, several players, like Kevin Pillar and Yunel Escobar, and the broadcaster Thom Brennaman had to apologize for their use of homophobic slurs. Back in November, he was hospitalized in Orange County, California, and placed in intensive care. Call 1-800-GAMBLER. The first time I saw Tommy Jr. was a decade earlier. According to a Dodgers biography on Tommy Lasorda, Lasorda and his wife,. Tommy Lasorda was the Dodgers.. But I didn't cry in the clubhouse. ", "I'm in a position where I can help people, so I help people," Tom Lasorda says. Tommy Lasorda received many tributes after the news of his death spread on Friday. And so, on the odd night. Pallone, 69, said this in a phone interview on Friday evening, the day after Lasorda died of sudden cardiopulmonary arrest. He had had no sex for a long time. We didn't know how he could do that. In black and gray. though. Tommy often had beautiful women around him, Pinkowski recallsvaguely European, vaguely models. "He was as hungry as Madonna. It could have saved more lives than we can ever know. While his father was the Dodgers manager, Tommy Jr. befriended Glenn Burke, an outfielder on the team, which strained Burkes relationship with his boss. Garvey attended the memorial service for Alan Wiggins, his former teammate on the San Diego Padres, who died of an AIDS-related illness last year, after a seven-year career in the majors. A few years ago, as baseball was dealing with racial tensions, like other sports, some were calling on the Dodgers to sever ties with Lasorda because he supported former Dodger General Manager Al Campanis when, in the late '80s Campanis said that Black people "lacked the necessities" to be managers and front-office executives. I know what he died of. I don't mind at all, but I dress quitewell, I wouldn't say it's FLAMBOYANT because it's not intentional. There's a new generation of coaches today, like San Diego Loyal coach Landon Donovan, who pulled his team off the field after one of his players was subjected to a homophobic slur. In this judgmental, narrow-minded high school, he strutted his stuff.". Lasorda Jr., who was known by many as Spunky, was also gay and died of AIDS complications in 1991, though his father publicly denied his son's sexuality and the cause of his death. I remember really clearly the moment I first saw him: He was sitting alone on the edge of a sofa and everybody in there was like all punk and they were all dressed in black, but he was wearing a white suit, she said. On June 3, 1991, with his parents and his sisters at his bedside, in the apartment on the cool, flower-strewn street, Tommy Lasorda died. Since then, a few more players, umpires and officials have come out. They met at punk clubsthe blond man in custom-made suits, the striking woman in black cocktail dresses and leather boots. Where else would he go to get away from the grief? This is something he wanted. By ending the rumors, which did more harm than good, by coming forward with the truth? It looks awful") at the pedestrians diving out of the way. The complex also features Brooke Shields on its list of tenants. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images) . While a heart attack may cause cardiac arrest, the two terms do not mean the same thing, AHA states on their website: Heart attacks are caused by a blockage that stops blood flow to the heart. Lasorda is survived by his wife of 70 years, Jo, their daughter, Laura, and granddaughter Emily Tess. We laugh and we cry and we mourn today, the passing of the man who represented the Dodgers more than anyone in Dodger history, said Los Angeles Times journalist Bill Plaschke. says Magno. (Campanis was fired in 1987 for racist comments he made about Black people in a television interview.) Eugene captured them all. He would pay Eugene out of the house account his parents had set up for him. "You'd be surprised what agonies people have," Dusty Baker, the former Dodger, reminds us, himself a good friend of both father and son, a solid citizen in a sport that could use a few more. "That's Pete Reiser," Tom Lasorda says. Absolute Legend., READ NEXT: Miami Heat Star Fears Game in Washington: Im Not Leaving My Room. umpire who said he was fired in 1988 for being gay. Especially since the more I reported, the more obvious it became that this was a love story about a father and a son? He was preceded in death by Tommy Lasorda, Jr. who died in 1991, and the cause of his death was attributed to pneumonia. He was totally like a normal man. At the time of Garvey's ascension to prominence, the Dodgers were managed by long-time veteran Walter Alston, and in 1976, he was replaced by the colorful and showy Tommy Lasorda. He was friends with Tommy Lasordas son, Tommy Jr., and believed the team traded him for being gay. She said one reason she related so much to him was because her own brother, who was killed by a drunken driver in 1984, was gay, and many of his friends died of AIDS complications because the medical treatments were not as advanced as they are now. Lasorda had a sudden cardiopulmonary arrest while home . Baker spent last Christmas Eve distributing turkey dinners with the Shanti Foundation, an AIDS-education group in California. Everything was organized perfectly. In 1985, they didn't make it because Lasorda elected to have Tom Niedenfuer pitch to St. Louis's Jack Clark in the sixth game of the playoffs, against the odds, and Jack Clark hit a three-run home run. "There was an article one time. ", "He was really lonely," Pinkowski says. Then Tommy would spend all his money on himself. Anyone can read what you share. The director Penelope Spheeris met Tommy Lasorda Jr. at a punk rock club in the 1980s. On a night he was not at Rage, or the Rose Tattoo, he'd climb to the roof, the lord of well-tanned West Hollywood, and lose himself in the steady rhythm of bat hitting ballthe reflex ritual that only a man inside the game can truly appreciate. No cause of death was given. It's just intentionally ME. GettyFormer Los Angeles Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda looks on from the dugout as he serves as an honorary coach during the game against the San Francisco Giants at Dodger Stadium on September 22, 2011 in Los Angeles, California. The father and the son had that in common. John Casey is editor at large for The Advocate. But what if Tommy Sr., one of the most highly visible men in all of professional sports in those days, had simply acknowledged his son's sexuality and his cause of death? Tommy Lasorda, 93. Three to one. Jo Lasorda died at 8:59 p.m. Monday, according to the team. Final goodbye: Recalling influential people who died in . Read his introduction here. You shouldn't judge. . "He's dead." Mark Chambers departs gay basketball leadership after 30+ years in the sport. I was disappointed that someone as jovial, honest, and forthright like Lasorda would dispute the authenticity of his son. That's every individual's right.". ", "There's something wrong with hiding the truth," Penelope Spheeris says. I was a rabid baseball fan growing up. ; the fund for the former major leaguer with cancer in Pensacola: Tom showed up, talked Dodger Blue, raised the money. One of his closest friends compared it to Linda Blair's in The Exorcistthe scenes in which she was possessed. We had our differences on the field, but he was also fair. He was preceded in death by Tommy Lasorda, Jr. who died in 1991, and the cause of his death was attributed to pneumonia. He was generous off the field. On winter nights when he could not turn the heat on, Sabatino Lasorda would nonetheless present an unfailingly optimistic face to his family, and that was how Tom Lasorda learned that nothing could stomp on the human spirit if you didn't let it. He was a good player, a smart manager, and a fine ambassador for . Back in his suite, in the residence area of Dodgertown, I ask him if it was difficult having a gay son. People need to know these things. Tommy, Jr. ("Spunky", d. 3-Jun-1991 reportedly AIDS . After turning down the Dodgers marriage bribe, Burke decided to hang out more and more with Tommy Lasorda Jr. (Spunky), himself a gay man and the son of the teams manager, Tommy Lasorda. Lived For 93 Years. Tracked me down in a motel in Indiana, screamed over the phone, talked of how he thought we were friends, although our relationship had consisted of a half-dozen interviews over the years in which I quoted him and presented him in my newspaper exactly as he wanted to be presented, which did not cleave to my idea of friendship. . "No way. In the last two years of his life, Tommy's illness took its toll on his looks. Trans powerlifter JayCee Cooper wins discrimination suit against USA Powerlifting. Originally published in the October 1992 issue of GQ, as "Tangled Up in Blue." On occasion, Eugene would get a call from Tommy's mother: We don't need any more pictures this year. I never heard him say 'I want to do my own thing.' TOMMY: Because that's what I wantI do everything TO BE SEEN. Los Angeles Dodgers' legend Tommy Lasorda died Thursday night after spending seven decades with the MLB organization. Without it. Al Campanis, the Dodgers general manager at the time, offered Burke bonus money if he married something he later said was not a bribe but because the Dodgers encouraged family stability and maturity on their roster. Tommy wanting to shop or Tommy wanting Eugene to photograph his new look. In his office at Dodger Stadium, the father kept a photograph of Tommy on his desk. He had fond memories of their time together during and after their on-field days; Lasorda came on Pallones radio show once and told him that he should never have lost his umpiring job. "Nobody in their right mind is going to say it's not difficultI know how difficult it is for them to try and understand their son," Dave Pallone says. This is West Hollywood in the early eighties, where anything is not only possible but likely. I read that in a paper. Tommy with long hair. Your quality of life can be good, I say. He said, 'I want to thank you, because you made me look good.'". Until they have someone close to them afflicted. "He was typical Tommy. At Sunny Hills High School, in Fullerton, Calif."the most horrible nouveau riche white-bread high school in the world," recalls Cat Gwynn, a Los Angeles photographer and filmmaker and a Sunny Hills alumnaTommy Lasorda moved through the hallways with a style and a self-assurance uncommon in a man so young; you could see them from afar, Tommy and his group. I remember when he died. "Junior was the better hitter," recalls Steve Garvey. I ask Eugene if Tommy would have wanted this story written. On the late Tommy Lasorda's relationship with his son who was gay and died in 1991, at 33, . That's not the fuckin' truth. Chambers has touched the lives of countless LGBT athletes as a basketball leader, medal-winner and friend.