ROANOKE TIMES Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times DATE: Thursday, March 6, 1997 TAG: 9703060064 SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-2 EDITION: METRO SOURCE: FROM BALTIMORE SUN AND ASSOCIATED PRESS REPORTS
Lasorda, Fox Wells headed to Cooperstown
For perhaps the first time in his 52-year baseball career, Tommy Lasorda was speechless.
He held the telephone to his ear and tears welled in his eyes Wednesday as Edward Stack of the Baseball Hall of Fame relayed the news. Lasorda, the man who bled Dodger blue until his heart nearly gave out last season, will be enshrined in Cooperstown on Aug.3, a few months after health problems forced him to end his 20-year managerial career.
``I am deeply overwhelmed,'' Lasorda mumbled into the phone. ``Tell all the guys thanks.''
Lasorda, 69, was selected by the Hall of Fame's Veterans Committee for 1997 induction along with late Chicago White Sox second baseman Nellie Fox and Negro leagues star Willie Wells. They join pitcher Phil Niekro, who was elected by vote of the Baseball Writers Association of America in January.
If not for the two heart attacks he suffered last year, Lasorda still might be managing the Dodgers. He became eligible for induction the day he announced his retirement, bypassing the usual five-year waiting period because he is older than 65. Lasorda, 69, had the shortest wait for induction since the Hall altered its rules to give Roberto Clemente immediate entry after he died in a 1972 plane crash.
LENGTH: Short : 37 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: ASSOCIATED PRESS. Tommy Lasorda holds court at the Losby CNBAngeles Dodgers' camp Wednesday in Vero Beach, Fla., after learning
he had been elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Lasorda managed
the Dodgers for 20 years.