Feb. 19, 2002
A special night for the South Bend-area baseball community was capped Monday with a stirring address from baseball Hall of Famer Tommy Lasorda, who served as a the keynote speaker for the Notre Dame baseball program’s “Opening Night Dinner” at the Joyce Center Fieldhouse.
The soldout event – originally slated for the 600-seat Joyce Center concourse area – was attended by more than 1,000 supporters, whose admission price included becoming the first season ticket holders in the history of the Notre Dame baseball program (season tickets may be ordered by calling 574-631-7356).
Lasorda was well-received throughout the event and stayed on hand for a full hour after the dinner to sign autographs for the overflow crowd.
Those in attendance included the Joyce Center’s namesake, former executive vice president Rev. Edmund P. Joyce, C.S.C., and 1944 Notre Dame graduate Frank Eck, whose generosity towards the Notre Dame baseball program has included construction of Eck Stadium in 1994 and the indoor hitting and pitching facility at Eck Stadium in 2000. Eck shared some of his memories with the gathering, recounting the history of the stadium’s construction, and he was presented with a ceremonial framed poster from Notre Dame captains Steve Stanley and Andrew Bushey (who also presented Lasorda with a stylish leather Notre Dame jacket from adidas).
Lasorda ‘s comments included a mixture of hilarious stories from his days as the Los Angeles Dodgers, followed by a message to the young children in attendance to always “love and respect their parents” and praise to the parents for attending the event with their children, with a charge to the parents to always support their children “especially in the tough times.”
The baseball legend ended his speech with a challenge to the current Notre Dame baseball players to make the most of their opportunity at achieving an education “at one of the best institutions in the world.”
The night included a ballpark-style dinner and also featured two Lasorda videos, one highlighting his days with the Dodgers (accompanied by Frank Sinatra’s “My Way”) and the other recapping the U.S. gold-medal-winning performance at the 2000 Olympics (accompanied by Lee Greenwood’s “Proud to be an American”).
Attendees also had the chance to receive autographs from the current Notre Dame players prior to the dinner and each of the 35 players sat with the fans at individual tables after being introduced to the group. Some 35 pieces of sports memorabilia also were awarded as door prizes, including several Lasorda autographed items, a Los Angeles Dodgers game jacket, and Al Kaline commemorative autographed baseball from the first game at Comerica Park and several Joe Montana autographed items (including a Notre Dame football jersey and ND football).
Lasorda also helped conduct practice for the Irish earlier in the day and said that he was impressed with the character of the Notre Dame squad.
The evening was played out against a backdrop of two largescreen televisions showing the tape of Danny Tamayo pitching Notre Dame to a 7-0 victory over Mississippi State at the 2000 NCAA Regional at Starkville, Miss.
Notre Dame opens its season Friday against Missouri in the University of New Orleans Classic.