In 1999, Major League baseball pitcher and manager Tommy Lasorda marked his 50th year with the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers organization, making it the longest tenure anyone has had with the team. In 1954, Lasorda broke into the major leagues as a left-handed pitcher for the Brooklyn Dodgers but after two seasons he was traded to the Kansas City Athletics and short thereafter retired from his playing days.

Eventually, Lasorda became the manager for Los Angeles's on September 29, 1976. He led the team to two consecutive National League championships in 1977 and again in 1978. He also led the Dodgers to two World Series championships in 1981 and 1988.His final game was a 4-3 victory over the Houston Astros on June 23, 1996 at the Dodger Stadium. The following day Lasorda suffered a heart attack and officially retired on July 29, with a compiled 1599-1439 record as a manager. His career ranks as 15th all-time in MLB history.Lasorda became an executive with the Dodgers after retiring. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1997 as a manager and in 2000, he was the manager of the gold medal United States Olympic team.

Lasorda managed eight players who won the National League Rookie of the Year award at the end of the season. These include; Rick Sutcliffe, Steve Howe, Fernando Valenzuela, Steve Sax, Eric Karros, Mike Piazza, Ra�l Mondes�, Hideo Nomo, and Todd Hollandsworth.

Lasorda has made appearances in TV ads for Slim Fast diet shakes, and Tums anti-acids and he also briefly owned a restaurant chain bearing his name.