New Pact Gives Raise to Lasorda

After 41 years with the Dodgers, Manager Tom Lasorda needed only 20 minutes Sunday to agree to a two-year contract extension through 1992.

Lasorda met with Dodger owner Peter O’Malley and Vice President Fred Claire at 9 a.m. Sunday. They agreed to the deal in time for Lasorda to attend 9:30 a.m. Mass.

The deal is believed to be worth about $1.15 million, compared to a two-year, $1-million deal that expires at the end of the season.

“I told them I wanted to come back more than they wanted me,” said Lasorda, who is in his 14th year as Dodger manager. “Like I’ve said all along, it is a privilege and an honor to manage here.”

When this extension expires, Lasorda will be 65. O’Malley said he did not know whether this would be Lasorda’s last managerial contract.

“I don’t know whether he will continue to manage,” O’Malley said. “That has not been discussed.”

Said Lasorda: “I’m not thinking ahead . . . I may be crazy, but I love my job.”

Since last winter, O’Malley has been saying that he would deal with Lasorda’s contract before it became a distraction.The firing of New York Mets’ Manager Davey Johnson last week, and the ensuing rumor that Lasorda would be a candidate to manage the Mets next season, made it a distraction.

“Like I’ve said all along, I want to do this before speculation about other jobs become a factor,” O’Malley said. “The main thing was, Tommy said he does want to manage, he doesn’t want my job, or Fred’s job, or anybody’s job. He looks great, he is still enthusiastic, there was never any question about doing this.”

Lasorda leads all major league managers in years of continuous service. Since he joined the Dodgers as manager, the other 11 National League teams have gone through 66 managers, or an average of six per team.

During that time, Lasorda has won 53% of his games, 1,122-981. He has become the third winningest active manager, behind Sparky Anderson, who has 1,780, and Whitey Herzog, who has 1,270.

During the 1980s under Lasorda, the Dodgers were the most successful team in the National League with four division titles, two pennants and two world championships. Despite recent hard times, featuring one world championship but three fourth-place-or-worse finishes in the last four years, Dodger officials agree that he can still manage and motivate.

“Everybody has good days and bad days, and bad weeks, and bad years, but you don’t change for the sake of change,” O’Malley said. “Tommy has done the job, continued the tradition . . . and as the game has changed, he has rolled with it, handling the pressures and demands very well.

“Even if we were in sixth place right now, there would be no question he would come back. His future is bright.”