Tommy Lasorda: 'You have to know when to make the big change'

By Steve Dilbeck

March 23, 2012 12 AM PT

Right! Alas, it turns out Tommy Lasorda wasn’t talking about Dodgers ownership but … Ontario International Airport?

The Hall of Fame Dodgers manager for some reason is featured in a two-minute commercial sponsored by the city of Ontario, urging the city of Los Angeles to return the airport to local control.

“I believe whatever business you’re in, whether it’s in baseball or the airport business, you have to know when to make the big change,” Lasorda says.

The Ontario airport has been under L.A. control since 1967, but has reportedly lost a third of its traffic since 2006.

“I firmly believe, without a doubt, that Ontario International Airport should be under local control and not managed from a distant city,” Lasorda says.

Kinda like the Dodgers being run by a hedge fund king living on the East Coast.

Lasorda, by the way, lives in Fullerton, which is about 10 miles closer to Orange County’s John Wayne Airport.

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Tommy Lasorda: ‘You have to know when to make the big change’