Skip to search.

Breaking News Visit Yahoo! News for the latest.

×Close this window

Big League Stew - MLB

Big League Stew

Wed Mar 24 11:11am EDT

An Italian team named itself after Tom Lasorda? Of course it did

By David Brown

One of my favorite Twitter accounts is that of Los Angeles Dodgers legend Tommy Lasorda. Nobody, I mean nobody, does a better job promoting the sport of baseball than Lasorda.

OK, so sometimes a little self-promotion comes along with Tommy's schtick. That's where the amusing part — unintentional comedy — comes in. Even those who might mock Lasorda can't wait for the next tweet from whoever's typing them in, which often comes with a redundancy about how he's "Italian and don't forget it." (As if we would.)

Earlier this week, Tommy reached into his photo archives and pulled out a gem: A 25-year-old photo of a ballclub in Tollo, Italy — where Lasorda's dad is from — that fashioned its uniforms after the Dodgers and even named itself "Tom Lasorda."

The Tollo Tom Lasorda. They're Italian, you know?

I just wish the photographer (perhaps Tommy himself) had gotten a wee bit closer so we could better make out the detail of the uniforms. As my shutterbug grandfather used to say about taking pictures, "Everybody's got feet."

Perhaps the most awesome part of the unis — other than the ridiculous inclusion of "Tom" and the tiny afterthought "Tollo" — is the proper spacing and capitalization of the last name. It's not "La Sorda," or even "LaSorda." No capital "S" and no space like "La Russa." I'd hate to see them have to go back to the tailor.

Hey, do I see a young Mickey Morandini in there? Back row, third guy from the left.

The team still exists; its coach wished Tommy a happy 58th wedding anniversary two years ago. However, he referred to his club as the "Tollo Baseball Team" and not "the Tollo Lasordas." So, who knows?

BLS H/Ns: Yahoo! Sports' own Maggie Hendricks, the Sporting Blog, Out of Bounds.

digg delicious

Related Articles

Launch Article Browser

Big League Stew

Add to My Yahoo! RSS

Related Photo Gallery

More MLB Photos »

Y! Sports Blog