RIP - Jo Lasorda

[HercDriver]

When I was a wee lad, running around Wrigley Field, there was a spot that a few kids knew about, where you could squeeze in under the stands, to the tunnel, leading to the field from the clubhouse. It was on the visitor’s side, and maybe about three or four kids could squeeze in there. The chicken wire had a few gaps in it, so you could slip your scorecard through there, and hope the players would sign it as they walked down the tunnel. Most of them pretty much ignored you, or didn’t have a pen, which of course, we’d forgotten also. Who brings a pen to the game? Anyway, I remember the Dodgers being in town, and going to a double header, because my dad was a Brooklyn Dodger fan, so we always tried to get to those games. I squeezed under there with my brothers, and waited for the Dodgers to come down the tunnel. Sure enough, here comes Lasorda, and he stops to talk to us. Now this is a dark tunnel, no press anywhere, and a few kids that he could easily ignore. But he doesn’t. And he has a pen. This was during Garvey’s consecutive game streak, because I remember him pulling Steve Yeager over to sign our cards. He says “Hey Steve, these kids think I should sit Garvey today, what do you think?” Yeager thinks it’s a bad idea, but La SOrda pretends like he’s thinking about. FInally he just laughs and tells us to have fun, and walks down the tunnel. But he spent probably five minutes with us, debating over Garvey in the lineup or not. That was fun then, but looking back, it just tells you the kind of guy he was. A guy who loved the game, a guy who loved the kids, and a guy who carried a pen. Lasorda will always be a favorite for me, even as a Cubs fan.

Cheers,
Geno