Tommy Lasorda shares life lessons during National Prayer Breakfast Published March 1, 2011 By 2nd Lt. Laura Balch Nellis Public Affairs NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE, Nev. -- Members and friends of the Nellis community gathered to participate in the 2011 National Prayer Breakfast and to hear Tommy Lasorda speak at the Nellis Club Feb. 23. The National Prayer Breakfast is an annual tradition that allows people from a variety of faith backgrounds to break bread and pray together. This year, select individuals led the 300-person audience in a handful of prayers that focused on the pursuit of peace, protection, security, happiness, prosperity, justice and freedom for all members of the United States and its allies, and especially the military members and elected officials serving the nation. The main attraction of this year's breakfast was the speech given by the guest speaker, Tommy Lasorda. In his introduction of Mr. Lasorda, Chaplain (Maj.) Julian Gaither described Mr. Lasorda's impressive background as the 20-year manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team. Chaplain Gaither also relayed a popular quote often used to describe Mr. Lasorda. "On the field, he was the most hated manager in baseball; off the field, he was the most loved," said Chaplain Gaither. During the course of Mr. Lasorda's speech, breakfast attendees learned why that saying so accurately depicts the former Dodger's manager. Through his many regaling stories, he shared his passion for the game and his players, and he taught his audience a few life lessons that can apply to all people, on and off the field. His first lesson was straightforward: get the job done. Mr. Lasorda made it very clear that he was not always working with the best and brightest. After telling a story about how one of his players came up with a strategy to hit the ball to center field 60 percent of the time, to left field 40 percent of the time and to right field 40 percent of the time, Mr. Lasorda expressed his feelings in this concise statement. "You've got to win with them - somehow, someway... you've got to do it." After poking fun at his players a bit more, Mr. Lasorda explained that, sometimes, he had to deal with good players who were stuck in a rut and were performing poorly. This led to lesson number two: motivation is key. "Everybody in this country, from the President of the United States all the way down to the guy with the lowest job, at some time, is not doing their best," Mr. Lasorda said. "You've got to motivate them." As a manager, Mr. Lasorda knew it was his responsibility to motivate his players so they would perform at their peak level. In a conversation he had with a player who wasn't performing at his best, Mr. Lasorda frankly pointed out the problem to his player, who replied that he was trying. "Sometimes, you don't play this game up to your capabilities," Mr. Lasorda said. "I can get a truck driver to try, but I don't win championships with try-ers. I win with do-ers." The final lesson that Mr. Lasorda revealed to his audience dealt with the importance of perseverance and believing in oneself. "In everybody's lifetime, there's going to be a door that closes," he explained. "If you focus on that closed door, you're not going to notice the one that opens...You've got to believe in whatever it is that you want. It could become a reality." Toward the end of his speech, Mr. Lasorda thanked all military members for their service and voiced his appreciation for all that the military is doing. "I don't care if you're a democrat, a republican or an independent," said Mr. Lasorda. "What I do care about is that we all pull together. This is the United States. We've all got to get on one end of the rope and pull together because we've got the greatest military in the world and we should never fear anybody. We should respect others, but we should never fear them." To wrap up the event, Mr. Lasorda requested his National Prayer Breakfast audience to do one thing before he concluded his speech. "When you go to bed tonight and lay your head down on your pillow, thank God for all the good things in your life and say a prayer for me and the Dodgers."
