Lasorda Wakes With Quite a Jolt When He Hears the Shocking News

When Tom Lasorda came back from a week on the road observing the Dodgers’ minor league operations, he found a message late Thursday night to call Vince Piazza, his longtime friend.

Lasorda went to bed, figuring he’d talk to Piazza Friday morning after a good night’s sleep.

Lasorda should have called him back, because, as it turned out, the Hall of Fame manager wasn’t going to get much sleep anyway.

He was awakened at 5 a.m. by a radio station, asking what Lasorda thought of his organization trading Mike Piazza.

Lasorda replied with the word he would use over and over again Friday: “shock.”

To Lasorda, it was shocking to think of the player he had known since he was a kid, the player he had convinced a skeptical Dodger front office to draft in the 62nd round, the player Lasorda had seen grow and mature into the best catcher in baseball, wearing another uniform.

To others, considering Lasorda’s history with Piazza and the fact that Lasorda has been bleeding Dodger blue for 49 years, it was shocking that Lasorda had to learn of the deal from a radio station.

Still, Lasorda wasn’t about to rip the Dodger organization.

“It’s a bad day, a bad day,” he said. “They made him an offer he turned down. They feel like, if they can’t sign him, they are going to lose him to free agency without getting anything.

“He was sad. Mike loves the Dodgers. He wanted to stay here. The Dodgers wanted him to stay here. But they couldn’t get together.”

Piazza learned about the deal Thursday night after the Dodgers had lost to the Philadelphia Phillies, 4-0. Dodger Vice President Fred Claire informed the all-star catcher that a tentative deal with the Florida Marlins had been made.

Although he wasn’t required to do so, Piazza came to the ballpark Friday and hung around with teammates he would soon have to refer to as former teammates.

When the media began descending on Dodger Stadium on Friday afternoon, Piazza hid in Manager Bill Russell’s office.

That resulted in a bizarre scene in the hall separating the Dodger clubhouse from Russell’s office. With a media mob jamming the hall, cameras, microphones and tape recorders ready should Piazza emerge, two security personnel guarded the office, which was also locked as an added precaution should some bold reporter try to storm the door.

Security was so tight that Russell couldn’t get into his office until he got someone to unlock the door.

Inside, Piazza, who never did come out before the game, passed some of the time talking to his closest friend on the team, first baseman Eric Karros.

“We sat there and looked at one another,” Karros said. “He is one of my closest friends, the guy who is going to be in my wedding [in November].

“He doesn’t have any regrets. It is what it is. Baseball is a business.

“But he didn’t have a warning that this was going to happen. Nobody saw this coming. Anybody who says they saw it is full of it. I don’t care who they are or how close they are.

“This came out of nowhere. Whack! It’s unbelievable that it came to this. It’s sad.”