January 22, 2021
Don Sutton did not have the flash of Sandy Koufax, or the intimidating presence of Don Drysdale. He lacked the overpowering fastball of Nolan Ryan, and didn’t fill his mantel with Cy Young awards the way that Tom Seaver or Steve Carlton did. He never won a World Series or threw a no-hitter. Yet Sutton earned a spot in the Hall of Fame alongside those more celebrated hurlers just the same. He was one of the most durable pitchers in baseball history, as dependable as a Swiss watch.
Alas, durability does not confer immortality. Sutton died on Monday at the age of 75, after a long battle with cancer. Son Daron Sutton, a former pitcher and broadcaster in his own right, shared the news on Twitter on Tuesday:
January 12, 2021
On the heels of a year in which a record seven Hall of Famers died, the baseball world couldn’t get a full week into 2021 without losing another. Tommy Lasorda, the charismatic and voluble manager who piloted the Dodgers to four National League pennants and two championships during a run of 19 full seasons (1977-95) and two partial ones, died of cardiopulmonary arrest on January 7.
The 93-year-old Lasorda had returned home earlier in the week after being hospitalized since mid-November due to a heart condition. He had been the oldest living Hall of Famer since Red Schoendienst passed away on June 6, 2018; that title now belongs to 89-year-old Willie Mays.
Memories of Tommy Lasorda
By Mike Barhorst - Contributing columnist
Each year, the Lehman High School Foundation hosts a fundraising banquet. Typically there is a featured speaker who would not normally pass through the area, the presence of whom helps enable the sale of tickets for the evening’s affair.
Over the years there have been speakers representing various fields. Treasurer of the United States Katherine Ortega, football coaching legends W.W. “Woody” Hayes and G.E. “Bo” Schembechler, Army General Barry McCaffrey, Navy Admiral Thomas Lynch, White House Correspondent Helen Thomas and a host of others all spoke at the event during my tenure at the school.
MLB Trade Rumors
2:43pm CDT
The Philadelphia Phillies announced their finalized coaching staff for the 2021 season today. Just a couple of changes have been made to manager Joe Girardi’s staff that had not been previously announced.
Dave Lundquist will take over as the bullpen coach after previously serving as an assistant pitching coach the past couple seasons. Mike Calitri gets promoted to the Major League coaching staff as the quality assurance coach. Calitri joined the Phillies in December of 2017 as an advance scouting manager after eight years working in the Indians’ organization. Bobby Meacham will also return for a second season as a coaching assistant, adds Scott Lauber of the Philadelphia Inquirer.
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LOS ANGELES, CA - OCTOBER 26: Former Los Angeles Dodgers player and manager Tommy Lasorda throws the ceremonial first pitch prior to Game Three of the 2018 World Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Boston Red Sox at Dodger Stadium. (Photo by Eugene Garcia - Pool/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA Tommy Lasorda, the eternally optimistic Hall of Famer who managed the Los Angeles Dodgers for 20 seasons and led them to two World Series titles, is getting a fitting tribute this weekend.
The LAX pylons are drenched in Dodger blue and white as the city continues to mourn Lasorda, who died Thursday at age 93. The honor is being shared with longtime City Councilman Tom LaBonge, who also died Thursday, at age 67.