So Cal's All-Time Roster: No. 2
No. 2:
Our pick:
==Tommy Lasorda, Dodgers manager (1977-'96)
He actually wore No. 27 as a player on the Dodgers from '54-55, and then sported No. 52 more famously as the third base coach from '73 to '76. When he took over as manager in 1977, the change came forever.
"Who ever could have dreamed that the son of an Italian immigrant from Norristown, Pennsylvania, who was the third-string pitcher on the high school baseball team, would end up managing the Dodgers for 20 years?" Lasorda wrote on his MLB.com blog the other day on the occasion of his 80th birthday celebration. "Who ever could have dreamed that a guy like me who has never stepped foot in college would give six commencement addresses and have six honorary doctorate degrees? Who ever could have dreamed that I would shake hands with Presidents Nixon and Ford? Hug President Carter? Befriend Presidents Reagan and Bush? Meet President Clinton and George W. Bush?
"Who ever could have dreamed I would hang out with the great Frank Sinatra and Don Rickles and travel the world with them? Who ever could have dreamed that I would join a fraternity of only 15 managers to make it to the Hall of Fame? As I stood at the podium in Cooperstown making my induction speech I told the story of when I was 14 years old. I would actually dream that I was playing for the Yankees and pitching at Yankee Stadium. I would look around the diamond and see Bill Dickey, Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth. Than I would feel my mother shaking me, saying, 'Wake up Tommy. It's time to go to school.' Why didn't she leave me alone? Why couldn't I stay in the dream? It was so real! Standing on that stage in Cooperstown with all the greatest baseball players in the world behind me, I said, 'I thank God for all of this, and it won't be too long before I feel my mother shaking me, telling me to wake up because it's time to go to school.' I have lived a dream. Thank you."
That's Tommy, full of No. 2.
The other No. 2s:
==Adam Kennedy, Angels ('00-'06)
==Leo Durocher, Dodgers coach ('61-'64)
==Derek Fisher, Lakers ('96-'04, '07-)
==Morley Drury, USC football (’25-’27)
==Steve Smith, USC football ('03-'06)
==Darryl Henley, UCLA football (’85-’88); Rams (’89-94)
==Cobi Jones, UCLA soccer ('88-'91)
==Bobby Valentine, Dodgers ('69-'72)
==Bobby Bragan, Hollywood Stars (PCL)
==Bobby Crosby, Long Beach State baseball ('99-'01)
==Danielle Scott, Long Beach State women's volleyball ('90-'93; retired by the team)
Sports Illustrated's choice for the all-time No. 2: Secretariat, over Derek Jeter and Lasorda
Did we miss anyone?
You've got our vote, now let's see yours: