the tommy lasorda managerial tree

with the brewers' firing of manager (and former dodger) ron roenicke the other day (he was replaced by another former dodger, craig counsell), i decided to finally finish pulling this post together.  in football, i used to hear a lot about the bill walsh coaching tree - all of the people who coached under bill walsh who went on to become head coaches themselves.  that tree is then expanded to include coaches under those head coaches who became head coaches, and so on.  my take on the tommy lasorda managerial tree is in regards to his players - not coaches, and this post will just look at the first tier of major league managers who spent some time playing under one thomas charles lasorda.

here's the man himself on a 2004 upper deck sp authentic card

that notes his managerial triumph in the 1982 all-star game in montreal while using a photo from about 20 years later.  incidentally, he had four future big league managers playing under him on that '82 all-star roster - dusty baker, tony pena, pete rose, and ray knight.

i'm focusing on his dodger players, however, and when tommy took over the dodgers late in the 1976 season, he had three future major league managers on his roster at that time:

dusty baker

davey lopes

and bill russell

who replaced lasorda during the 1996 season.

over the next 20-years, lasorda managed another 9 future managers.

johnny oates

ron washington

mike scioscia

ron roenicke

phil garner

 glenn hoffman

who took over for russell in 1998

kirk gibson

willie randolph

and juan samuel

this list does not include players such as bobby valentine, whom tommy managed in the minor leagues, nor does it include players such as joe ferguson, tommy john, gary carter, rick dempsey, mike marshall, or steve yeager who played in the majors under tommy and later managed in the minor leagues.

with the firings of kirk gibson last year and roenicke this year, scioscia is the only active manager to have played under lasorda. however, it is yet conceivable that this tree sprouts some new branches in the future, as such former "lasorda" dodgers and minor league managers bobby mitchell, brett butler, and tim wallach are currently working for big league teams as an instructor (mitchell) or big league coaches (butler and wallach).

and, in case you are wondering, bill russell's managerial tree's first tier consists solely of chip hale.

here's to more lasorda style hugs in the dugout!

some 1978 topps dodgers returned to the flagship in 2001

topps finally began printing cards of managers in 2001, after not quite a decade of neglect.  as a result, there were offical topps cards of three members of the 1978 topps dodgers to add to my collection.

first up, davey lopes.

lopes had spent his time since retiring as a player coaching for the rangers, orioles, and padres before getting the call from the brew crew to become their manager for the 2000 season.  here's the back of lopes' card, which i scanned because he's blowing a bubble

which he has been known to do, from time to time.  of course, it was rick rhoden, and not lopes, who represented the dodgers back in the bubble blowing contest of 1975.  back to baseball - the brewers regressed in lopes' second year at the helm, finishing at 68-94 (five games worse than they had been in 2000) and in fourth place of the nl central.

dusty baker

baker's giants finished the 2001 season at 90-72, good enough for second place in the nl west, 2 games behind the eventual world champion diamondbacks, and 3 games behind the wild card champion cardinals.  dusty had his team 2 games out with 3 to play when the dodgers rolled into town for the final series of the season, and the blue won the first two games of the series to seal the giants' fate.

johnny oates

it was oates, by the way, that lost to kurt bevacqua in that 1975 bubble blowing contest.  i don't know if he was still blowing bubbles in 2001, but oates was still managing the rangers - for the first few weeks of the season, anyway.  the rangers got off to a slow start in 2001, despite having signed alex rodriguez to the richest contract in history up until that point.  oates was on shaky ground (the owner had said as much), and the team had a record of 11-17 and a 5 game losing streak when oates resigned on may 4, 2001.  just a few months later, oates began having difficulty speaking and was subsequently diagnosed with a brain tumor.  oates eventually lost his fight with cancer on december 24, 2004.

here is the yearly tally of appearances to date:

baker 19 (1971-1987, 1993, 2001)
burke 2 (1978-1979)
cey 16 (1972-1987)
davalillo 14 (1963-1974, 1978-1979)
forster 16 (1972-1987)
garman 8 (1971-1973, 1975-1979)
garvey 17 (1971-1987)
goodson 6 (1973-1978)
grote 15 (1964-1976, 1978-1979)
hooton 15 (1972-1986)
hough 23 (1972-1994)
john 26 (1964-1989)
lacy 16 (1973-1988)
lasorda 19 (1954, 1973-1974, 1977-1981, 1983-1993)
lopes 17 (1973-1988, 2001)
martinez 9 (1971-1976, 1978-1980)
monday 18 (1967-1984)
mota 18 (1963-1980)
oates 14 (1972-1981, 1991-1993, 2001)
rau 9 (1973-1981)
rautzhan 2 (1978-1979)
rhoden 16 (1975-1990)
russell 18 (1970-1987)
smith 17 (1967-1983)
sosa 10 (1974-1984)
sutton 23 (1966-1988)
yeager 15 (1973-1987)

teams represented so far: 24 (dodgers, indians, colt .45's, pirates, white sox, astros, mets, a's, red sox, angels, expos, cardinals, braves, cubs, orioles, giants, phillies, yankees, rangers, tigers, padres, brewers, mariners, marlins)

a 2000 topps card that should have been for the 1978 topps dodgers

once again, there were no managerial cards in the topps flagship set, so i decided to make one featuring those members of the 1978 topps dodgers who managed in 2000.  that would be, of course, johnny oates, dusty baker, and davey lopes, who was hired by the brewers in november of 1999.

i scanned some cards from the set as seen below

but once again decided to take an easier route and use a prospects card

i modified it a bit, just so the text could be read, and came up with this card that should have been

dusty led the giants to the national league west title in 2000, with the no-cals winning 95 games and finishing 11 games ahead of the second place giants.  unfortunately (or, fortunately if you are a dodger fan) the giants lost in the nlds to the wild card champion (and eventual national league champion) mets. still, he won his third national league manager of the year award.

oates, on the other hand, had a rough go in 2000.  the rangers dropped from first to last place in the american league west in 2000, winning only 71 games. even so, oates was kept on the job and led the team into the 2001 season.

lopes was brought in to replace interim manager jim lefebvre following a 74-87 season in 1999 which saw the brew crew finish 5th in their second season in the nl central, just as they had in their first.  the good news is that lopes led them to a third place finish in 2000, however the team posted a record of 73-89.  not really an improvement at all.  however, like oates, lopes remained on the case for 2001, when topps decided to bring manager cards back for our enjoyment.

topps cards that should have been for the 1978 topps dodgers in 1998 and 1999

topps didn't include managers in their 1998 or 1999 flagship sets, which means that it's up to me to make cards for dusty baker, johnny oates, and bill russell - the three members of the 1978 topps dodgers who were filling out lineup cards in 1998 - and for baker and oates who were the only ones who survived the 1998 season to manage in 1999.

i scanned some 1998 topps cards to work from - chan ho park for the dodgers,

mark gardner for the giants,

and bobby witt for the rangers

but then i decided that  the background behind the name would be too time consuming to replicate, so i scanned a prospects card instead

i changed "prospects" to "managers" and wound up with this 1998 topps card that should have been

i put oates up top because his team performed the best in 1998, in terms of division placement.  he led the rangers to a first place finish in the american league west with an 88-74 record.  it was the second postseason appearance for the franchise (both with oates at the helm), but they were swept in the alds for the second time.  baker's giants actually had the best record of the three teams managed by members of the 1978 topps dodgers; they finished at 89-74 but were 9.5 games behind the first place padres.  the giants' 'extra' game was a one-game playoff against the cubs to determine the wild card winner.  the cubbies won that game 5-3, ending the giants' season in game 163.  finally, bill russell had the dodgers at 36-38 and 12.5 games out of first when he was fired in late june.  the team played better (47-41) behind interim manager glenn hoffman, but they actually lost ground and finished in third place in the nl west with a 83-79 record and 15 games behind the padres.

for 1999, i didn't even bother to scan cards for the giants or rangers.  this 1999 topps raul mondesi card that was languishing in my scanned folder

reminded me that it would be easier to go the prospects card route again for the 1999 card that should have been.  so, i scanned one

and wound up with this

glenn hoffman makes an appearance, as he replaced bill russell during the 1998 season, but was himself replaced by davey johnson by the time the 1999 season started, let alone the time (2001) that topps got around to making manager cards again.  the only hoffman card that i know of featuring him as the team's manager comes from the 1998 mother's cookies (or was it keebler?) set, which is the photo i used.

as for baker and oates and their teams in 1999, the giants finished 86-76, a full 14 games behind the nl west champion arizona diamondbacks and 10.5 games behind the wild card champion mets, but 9 games ahead of the rival dodgers.  the rangers, on the other hand, won the american league west with a 95-67 record, but were swept in the alds by the eventual world champion new york yankees.

1997 cards that should have been for the 1978 topps dodgers

first of all, a heartfelt thank you to all of the veterans of our armed forces.  i'll be trying to meet up with one of my friends who served and buy him a beer.  in the meantime, let's take a look at some cards that topps failed to make in 1997.

i understand that they were printing smaller sets following the downturn in sales thanks to the players' strike a few years earlier, but i have to believe that most collectors would have preferred a 1997 topps tommy lasorda managerial final tribute card over a john mabry highlight.

to make matters worse, upper deck actually did give lasorda a card in their 1997 set, although it was a checklist

i went a step further and gave my lasorda card that should have been a back

with his complete major league managerial stats.  lasorda, of course resigned from managing during the 1996 season due to health concerns following a heart attack.  his replacement, bill russell, led the team to the wild card berth, although the dodgers were swept in the nlds for the second straight season.

speaking of russell, he too gets a card that should have been

as do johnny oates

and dusty baker

i used photos from each of their mother's cookies cards, by the way.

in his only full season as a manager, russell led the 1997 dodgers to a second place finish in the nl west with a 88-74 record.  the dodgers were 4 games out of the wild card (won by the eventual world champion florida marlins), but only 2 games behind baker's giants.  oates, meanwhile, had the rangers at 77-85, 13 games out in the american league west.

no managerial cards in 1996 topps meant no cards of 1978 topps dodgers

once again, topps did not include managers in their flagship set in 1996, so i was once again shut out.  18 years later, here are the 1996 topps cards that should have been.

tom lasorda

the 1996 topps design is a weird one thanks to the inset 'phantom zone' photo.  the gradient shading used in the name box makes it tough to read when scanned, too.  i should have used a lighter color for the name text.  here's a real 1996 topps card of jose offerman for reference.

note that national league teams have the green shading of the inset photo/name boxes, while american league teams use red. topps would take this color scheme to a whole new level in 1997, in which there were no managerial cards either.

anyway, back to tommy - he did receive a card from someone in 1996 (other than mother's cookies, whose image i used to create the topps card up top).  upper deck gave lasorda a checklist as a managerial salute

recognizing that 1996 would be his 20th season managing the dodgers.  it also turned out to be his last. with the dodgers at 41-35 and two games up in the national league west after beating the astros on june 23, 1996, tommy had a heart attack the following day. it was an off day, of course, and tommy drove himself to the hospital.  he underwent surgery a couple of days later, and officially retired from managing in july.  we'll get to who took over in a bit.

dusty baker

baker had the giants at 68-94 for the season, bad enough to finish last in the national league west, 22 games behind the dodgers, who finished 1 game behind the first place padres.  they weren't the worst team in the league, however, as the phillies finished at 67-95.  baker survived the firing of general manager bob quinn at the season's end, and would return to the giants with better luck in 1997.

johnny oates

over in the american league west, the rangers won their first division title in 1996.  yes, they were in first place when the 1994 players' strike began, but this was the first time they actually advanced to the postseason.  oates had the team at 90-72, their second best win total in franchise history, and 4.5 games ahead of second place seattle.  unfortunately, the rangers lost in the division series to the yankees, three games to one.  oates was voted a co-manager of the year for the american league in 1996, sharing the award with joe torre whose team defeated oates' rangers in the playoffs.

there was no traded set in 1996, and even if there were, there wouldn't have been managerial cards included i am sure.  still, the man who took over for tom lasorda in 1996 deserves at least a 1996 topps card that should have been.

bill russell

the longtime dodger shortstop had been groomed for this moment - serving as bench coach to lasorda and managing in the minor leagues - and he led the team to a 49-37 record after taking over for lasorda. unfortunately, the padres played better ball during that stretch and overtook the dodgers by sweeping the season ending series between the two teams to finish one game up in the west.  this meant that the dodgers were the wild card winner, and so they got to play the braves and were swept in the playoffs for the second straight season.

the 1978 topps dodgers in 1995 were nonexistent

and so it came to pass that the last of the 1978 topps dodgers to be an active player in major league baseball, charlie hough, whose 25-season career ended with a need for a hip replacement in 1994, did not receive a card from topps in 1995.  1995 was the first topps flagship set without a member of the team of my youth since 1962.  that's crazy business, but that's what happens when you put manny mota's and charlie hough's careers together.

anyway, here's the 1995 topps charlie hough card that should have been

it turned out ok.  the '95 design is tough to play with.  plus, the photo selection could have been better - hough's throwing a fastball in that photo, not a knuckler.

here's the back, with all the career stats befitting a final tribute

i did my best with the diamond vision inset.  the only thing not represented at all on the back is the topps watermark under the stats.  here's the back of dave weathers' 1995 topps card that i used as a base for the hough

i lifted it from comc as i was too lazy to go dig for one in the basement.

while topps ignored hough, upper deck gave him a spot on the checklist.  no 'final tribute' shield, but still.  here's his 1995 upper deck card

with a knuckler grip photo!  and the back

hough went out with four straight losing seasons, but finished with an even 216-216 record.

upper deck came through again with a card for hough in their 1995 collector's choice set - front

and back

nice to see the full career stats, plus a photo of hough with a batting helmet on!

now that the 1978 topps dodgers as players are finished, we will be left with just 1978 topps dodgers as managers (except, perhaps, for the random flashback or some other type of subset card).  in 1994, there were again three 1978 topps dodgers managing in the majors, and they, once again, were not recognized by topps in the following year's set.  so, i made a 1995 topps card that should have been for tom lasorda

and, just like with the 1994 cards that should have been, i didn't care much for it.  i decided instead to use the mid-year all-star card from 1995 topps traded (hello hideo nomo!)

and do something along those lines for the managers.

lasorda again shares space with dusty baker, who was in his second year of managing the rival giants

1995 was lasorda's final full season as the dodgers' manager.  he guided them to a 78-66 record in the shortened season (remember, the start of the season was delayed by the lingering players' strike) and won another national league west division title in the process.  it was the dodgers' first trip to the postseason since 1988 when they won it all, but this time they were swept in the nlds by the reds, three games to none.  as for baker's giants, they finished in last (fourth) place in the newly realigned nl west, 11 games behind lasorda's club.

as for the other member of the club, johnny oates was fired by the orioles and so moved on to manage the rangers in 1995.  i put him on a card with the guy who replaced him in baltimore, former dodger phil regan

in his first year in texas, oates led the rangers to a 74-70 record, finishing four games behind the mariners and angels, who sat tied atop the american league west at the end of the 144 game schedule.  so, technically, after the one-game playoff, the rangers were 4.5 games back, but still, oates helped the club that was 10 games under .500 when the strike began in 1994 turn things around.  as for the orioles, they finished behind the red sox and yankees in the al east, and were 3 games behind the rangers in the wild card standings.

i've got more managerial cards that should have been to make for 1996 so stay tuned...