Moon, Lasorda gave the game another shot
By Mark Langill
It was frustration 63 years ago that caused Wally Moon and Tommy Lasorda to nearly quit professional baseball, long before they became the Dodger icons who today will be celebrated on Opening Day in Los Angeles. Both are participating in the ceremonial first pitch.
How would history on the West Coast have changed if Moon, the All-Star outfielder whose “Moon Shots” at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum highlighted a 1959 World Series championship season, and Lasorda, the Hall of Fame manager still bleeding Dodger blue at age 89, had decided not to give baseball one more shot.
Both Moon and Lasorda were rookies in 1954, but they differed in confidence levels. Moon never imagined the Cardinals would make room for him by trading Enos Slaughter, a popular veteran outfielder and future Hall of Famer, to the Yankees prior to the season opener. Moon, who today celebrates his 87th birthday, was ready to pack his bags and become a teacher when Cardinals manager Eddie Stanky informed him that he indeed had made the Opening Day roster. Moon homered in his first Major League at-bat off Cubs lefty Paul Minner, christening a solid 12-year career with St. Louis and Los Angeles through 1965.
Lasorda, meanwhile, always displayed the bravado that allowed a №3 pitcher on a two-man pitching staff in high school to believe he was still headed to the Major Leagues. The only trouble was finding an executive or manager who agreed with Lasorda’s personal scouting report.
After a 17–8 record with Triple-A Montreal in 1953, along with three playoff wins and various postseason honors, Lasorda informed Dodger general manager Buzzie Bavasi he wasn’t returning to the minor leagues. Bavasi offered to set up Lasorda at a Montreal brewery for $125 per week. Lasorda wasn’t a math major in school, but realized a “real job” wouldn’t match his scheduled $9,000 salary at Montreal.
Lasorda eventually made his MLB debut with Brooklyn on Aug. 5, 1954, and he pitched nine innings in four relief appearances under first-year manager Walter Alston, whom Lasorda would succeed as manager in September 1976. Lasorda made his first and only career start with the Dodgers against St. Louis on May 5, 1955 at Brooklyn’s Ebbets Field. Lasorda walked Moon to open the game and his wildness continued as he uncorked three wild pitches in the inning, which tied a Major League record. Moon advanced a base on each wild pitch, capped by a collision at home when Lasorda tried to tag him.
“I got the ball just before Moon got there, and I blocked the plate with my leg,” Lasorda wrote in his 1985 autobiography, “The Artful Dodger.” “I figured if Moon wants to score, he’s gonna have to go right through me. He went right through me, ripping open my knee. Somehow, I managed to finish the inning without any more runs scoring, and hobbled to the bench. I took a seat in the corner. My kneecap was slashed and bleeding badly, so I put my glove over it to make sure nobody saw it. I’d waited too long for this opportunity to let a cut leg cost me a chance to break into the Dodger rotation.”
Lasorda wanted to go back onto the field for the second inning, but teammates Don Newcombe and Russ Meyer dragged him to the clubhouse when manager Walter Alston signaled for Clem Labine to enter from the bullpen. Lasorda never made another start for Brooklyn. He made three relief appearances and was famously bumped from the roster in June to make room for bonus baby Sandy Koufax, who was coming off the disabled list. The Dodgers sold Lasorda’s contract to the Kansas City Athletics the following spring.
“If my attempted hustle that day in Brooklyn helped launch one of baseball’s most successful and colorful managerial careers, so be it,” Moon wrote in his 2010 autobiography “Moon Shots.” “I’m happy I could move Tommy’s career to bigger and better things.”
