Top 60 All-Time Greatest Jays: #22 Ernie Whitt
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Ernie Whitt was born June 13, 1952, in Detroit, Michigan, not far from Tiger Stadium. The
Red Sox picked him in the 15th round of the 1972 amateur draft, one pick before Jason Thompson, a terrific first baseman for the Tigers and
Dodgers. Ernie was blocked from making the Red Sox by future Hall of Fame catcher Carlton Fisk and was left unprotected in the 1976 expansion draft, and we grabbed him up.
Whitt got 41 at-bats in our first season and got into a couple of games in 1978. In 1979 he spent the whole season in the minors, then in 1980, he was finally given a role in the majors at the age of 28. Ernie was the left-handed half of a catching platoon with
In November 1976, Dave Lemanczyk was enjoying himself immensely in the warmth of Puerto Rico, hanging on the beach, surfing and eating lobster â and playing some baseball. When he left the states to go south to hone his pitching skills, he was a Detroit Tiger. When he returned to the mainland he was a member of the expansion Toronto Blue Jays. A teammate (on his Puerto Rican team) came up to me one day and said, What s up, Blue Jay? recalled Lemanczyk. I was like, Really?
Yes, really. After three-plus seasons with the Tigers, Lemanczyk was taken by Toronto in the expansion draft. Three months later, in February 1977, he was in Dunedin for the Blue Jays first spring training camp. By then he had already had a contract disagreement with his new management. When he was in Puerto Rico he was in the process of being traded to another team that would have paid Lemanczyk an extra 30K that winter. But the Blue Jays told him no go â we don t want you to wear out your righ
Tommy Lasorda found old-school success in an age of rapid change
The MLB Network looks back at some of the most memorable moments of Tommy Lasorda’s life and career, as we mourn the loss of the one of the game’s biggest personalities and greatest enthusiasts, who dies at the age of 93. | January 8, 2021, 2:28 PM
January 8, 2021, 2:28 PM
Tommy Lasorda lived an outsized life larger, certainly, than the average, soft-tossing journeyman pitcher and he was equally comfortable leading with his chin or his heart, threatening a punch or offering a hug. Always in Dodger Blue.
Lasorda, who passed away Thursday night at the age of 93, is the 22nd winningest manager of all time, holder of a 1,599-1,439 record compiled over 22 seasons, all of them spent with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Lasorda’s death came just 72 days after the Dodgers wrapped up their first World Series win since he led them to the 1988 World Series. He said at one point during that drought that “God could take (