Tommy Lasorda joins the collection of the National Portrait Gallery

Photo by Warren Perry

Today, baseball great Tommy Lasorda became part of the collection of the National Portrait Gallery. The former manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers also celebrated his eighty-second birthday at NPG with many other baseball greats and the current commissioner of major league baseball, Bud Selig.

Selig said that Lasorda was the perfect ambassador for baseball. Steve Garvey, one of the greatest first baseman ever to play the game, said of his old boss, Lasorda, “It is truly fitting that baseball’s national treasure is now part of the Smithsonian’s collection of treasures.”

Lasorda led the Dodgers to two world championships in 1981 and 1988. Later he served as manager of the first U.S. baseball team; that same team won a gold medal in Sydney, Australia, in the 2000 summer Olympics.

The new image of Tommy Lasorda was painted by Everett Raymond Kinstler. Kinstler’s work is in many major American collections and he is also represented in the NPG collection with his images of, among others, Katharine Hepburn, Gerald Ford, and Arthur Ashe. Of his portrait of Lasorda, Kinstler commented, “I know Tommy bleeds Dodger blue, and I tried to represent him as such.”

Tommy Lasorda by Everett Raymond Kinstler is now on display in the “New Arrivals” exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery.

Thomas Charles Lasorda / Everett Raymond Kinstler / Oil on canvas / National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution

Comments

[Acai]

Tommy was once of my favorite players as I was growing up. It is great to see his inclusion in the gallery. He deserves it.

[First Class Fashionista]

I wish I could afford to purchase the entire Tommy Lasorda collection for my DAD.

[Robin Huber]

Wow Tommy Lasorda was one of my heroes back then. It is good to see that he is being recognized.

[Amega Wand]

Tommy was a great player & deserves his recognition. What a place of honor!