Lasorda Suffered a Heart Attack

Dodger Manager Tom Lasorda underwent an angioplasty Wednesday to unclog a heart artery after doctors revealed that he had suffered a heart attack .

Lasorda, 68, had the procedure at Centinela Hospital Medical Center in Inglewood. His cardiologist said his heart is now working “very well.”

Lasorda, initially thought to be suffering from an ulcer, is expected to be hospitalized for several days. It is not immediately clear how long he will be away from the team.

“You’d have to say that it was a heart attack,” Dr. Anthony Reid said. “There was a small amount of heart muscle damage. Fortunately, the artery that was involved was still open and there was blood being received by heart muscle.

“That heart muscle was in jeopardy, but it’s improved and normalized as best as it can with this procedure. The heart’s working very, very well.”

Team physician Michael Mellman said additional tests showed the heart problem and a blockage of distal right coronary artery. The blockage was opened by angioplasty.

Lasorda is baseball’s senior manager is terms of age and service. He missed Tuesday night’s game against Chicago, helping coach Bill Russell make out the lineup card from his hospital bed.

“We’re glad he will be back eventually,” Russell said before Wednesday night’s game. “The timetable’s not set yet, but everything went all right today and we’re very pleased at that.”

Earlier, Lasorda’s wife, Jo, had said her husband was doing well but reported that doctors would not let him go “until they test everything.”

Jo Lasorda said her husband began feeling abdominal pain Sunday night, and the two went to see Mellman the next morning.

“We went to Dr. Mellman’s on Monday thinking we’d be home by lunch,” she said.

Instead, Lasorda was admitted to the hospital. Jo Lasorda said she spent Monday night as well as most of Tuesday at the hospital. She said Mellman told her husband, “Now, you’re in my ballpark.”

The Dodgers begin a seven-game trip in Denver against the Colorado Rockies on Thursday night.

Russell managed Tuesday and Wednesday nights against the Chicago Cubs.

Lasorda is in his 20th full season as manager of the Dodgers. He had never missed a game because of health reasons during his previous 19 seasons.