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I Live for This!: Baseball's Last True Believer |  | Author: Bill Plaschke
Creator: Tommy Lasorda
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Category: Book
List Price: $25.00
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Rating:  14 reviews
Sales Rank: 556540
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1st ed
Pages: 256
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 9 x 6.3 x 1
ISBN: 0618653872
Dewey Decimal Number: 796.357092
EAN: 9780618653874
ASIN: 0618653872
Publication Date: October 24, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
An award-winning sportswriter shows us one of baseball’s most famous and enduring legends as we’ve never seen him before, revealing the secrets of his amazing, unlikely success and his unvarnished opinions on the state of the game.
Tommy Lasorda is perhaps baseball’s most famous and popular figure. At seventy-nine, after twenty years of managing and fifty-seven years with one franchise, this Hall of Famer still suits up in Dodger Blue every day. He also keeps a travel schedule that would dizzy the most frequent of frequent fliers. The embodiment of the American dream, Lasorda went from a scrawny, overlooked Italian kid of average ability to become one of the world’s most recognizable baseball faces. And he fought for it every step of the way.
In I Live for This Bill Plaschke strips the veneer from one of baseball’s last living legends to show how grit and determination really can transform a life. We think we know this jovial manager from the rah-rah style that has always raised eyebrows in the world of baseball. Some view him as an anachronism. Some love him like Santa Claus. But there’s one thing they all agree on: Lasorda is a success.
With gleaming insight and remarkable candor, Plaschke takes us inside the day-to-day world of this baseball great to reveal a side of Lasorda that few people really know. And along the way, we’re treated to some of the most outrageous stories in sports. We also discover Lasorda’s unshakable opinions about what plagues baseball today.
Bravely and brilliantly, I Live for This dissects the personality to give us the person. In the end we’re left with an indelible portrait of a legend that, if Lasorda has anything to say about it, we won’t ever forget.
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 14
 Tommy Lasorda!!!! December 30, 2009
Joan M. Miller (Portland Or.)
They don't make 'em any better than Tommy Lasorda when it comes to managing professional baseball!! This book thrilled my Dodger junkie husband!!
I live For This August 30, 2009
Rodney A. Reindl (madera, ca usa)
Entertaining and insightful into Lasorda's personality. Wish there had been more of his experiences within baseball's Dodger history with Lasorda at the helm.
To know him is to love him. March 4, 2009
Michael Meisel (Cordova, TN)
Tommy has always seemed like one of those people you either love or hate.Needless to say, I've always thought he was awesome but after reading this book even those that say they hate him might find something to like.
It's pretty much a straightforward biography and clearly has no really earth shattering bombshells. With Lasorda what you see is what you get but that doesn't mean it's not entertaining and enlightening. The narrative covers his early years and struggles along with a lengthy ride up to the majors toiling away in the minors. Can't say the guy didn't pay his dues. The most salient thing that came through was his loyalty to the team. He really believes in what he preaches. There is also ample coverage of his time with the Dodgers and all the stories of the teams and players of those great years, 1988 being my favorite.
On balance, the writer gives what I consider to be a fair portrait of the man. Some critics would say a bit too easy on him, but as a fan I found much to make me admire him even more.
Lasorda Likeable & Unlikeable, Take Your Pick December 17, 2008
Craig Connell (Lockport, NY USA)
I had mixed feelings reading this book. I liked the first half of it, but after awhile I was thinking, "Gee, what a blowhard that Tommy Lasorda is!" I wonder how many of his players got sick of his rants and raves? Yet, what a great motivator and excellent manager was Lorsorda; a guy who would do whatever it took to get inside players' heads to make them much better on the diamond. The man who "bleeds Dodger Blue" is a combination psychiatrist/manager.
This book provides some real insights on how Lasorda worked his magic and made some good players into great players. He's loud, he's profane, he's obnoxious at times but he's no dummy and he's usually a nice guy, stopping for anyone who wants to talk and or ask for an autograph. His personality runs the gamut, that's for sure!
We read here where he's one of these celebrity worshipers but yet is an appreciative, humble man yet doesn't act like one himself. Los Angeles, with the nearby Hollywood, was a perfect setting for him.
Lasorda is the typical doting grandpa, and is passionate about family, food and the Dodgers. Author Bill Plaschke treats this baseball biography more like a comedy but it does let us in on Lasorda's loud and often humorous world. You get a good picture of the man's good and bad sides, which is good, too. Plaschke obviously likes him a lot but he doesn't hide Lasorda's bad traits, either. You'll laugh - and frown - a lot while you read this book.
 This Is The Worst Baseball Biography I've Read - Lasorda Is Deified By The Author November 22, 2008
Johnny Mullens (El Paso, AR)
I wasted my time reading this book. The author makes Lasorda appear to have no faults and makes ridiculous rationalizations of some of Lasorda behavior mentioned in the book. Examples are Lasorda expecting free meals in restaurants, starting a brawl as a minor league manager and having to be the center of attention as a story teller. The bird story is an example. Reading this book, the author must think Lasorda is the pope, even though stories about his favortism toward players and sudden unexplained changes in behavior toward players and former players.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 14
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