Third Annual Tommy Lasorda Day Festival Being Hosted By City of Fullerton

The city of Fullerton is hosting the third annual Tommy Lasorda Day Festival to honor the former Los Angeles Dodgers manager and franchise legend.

The festival begins on Friday, September 22, at 4 p.m. PT at the Fullerton Sports Complex. It’s located at 560 East Silver Pine Street, Fullerton, CA 92835. The festival has again been organized to celebrate the legacy and birthday of the Hall of Fame manager.

The street fair event is a free celebration that will include food trucks, craft and vendor booths, and live music by Anything for Salinas, a Selena tribute band.

Lasorda lived in Fullerton for much of his life before he passed away at the beginning of 2021. The city of Fullerton declared September 22 as Tommy Lasorda Day later that year.

To go along with the festival, the Lasorda family, in partnership with Steel Sports, is hosting assemblies at various middle schools in Fullerton “to ignite inspiration and encourage students to foster self-belief and realize that with dedicated effort, they can transform any dream into reality.”

Lasorda’s famous philosophy of “you gotta believe” is the inspiration for the assemblies.

Tommy Lasorda’s managerial career

Lasorda spent 21 seasons as Dodgers manager, beginning in 1976. He was the skipper for four National League pennants and two World Series titles with the franchise.

Lasorda was named National League Manager of the Year in 1983 and 1988, and maintained a vocal presence in the Dodgers organization even after his retirement. Lasorda often was seen in his last years in his signature seat at Dodger Stadium.

His larger-than-life personality, including the celebration of Kirk Gibson’s walk-off home run in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series is as iconic as Lasorda’s battle with the Philadelphia Phillies mascot, the Philly Phanatic.