Tommy Lasorda

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Tommy Lasorda, who won two World Series titles during his 21 years as manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers and became an ambassador for baseball in retirement, died Jan. 7 in Los Angeles. He was 93.

Lasorda, a Catholic, died at a Los Angeles hospital shortly after suffering cardiopulmonary arrest at his home. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1997 the year after his retirement as manager, but he wasn't done as a skipper, leading the U.S. men's baseball team to a gold medal in the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney.

As a pitcher, Lasorda's baseball career didn't amount to much—an 0-4 career record with a 6.48 ERA over 58.1 innings in two seasons with the Brooklyn Dodgers and one with the Kansas City Athletics—but as a manager he won four National League pennants and 1,599 games, all with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The lifelong Catholic grew up in the Philadelphia suburb of Norristown, Pa., where he attended an Italian parish, Holy Savior.

Tommy Lasorda