Here's the promo blurb from Houghton Mifflin's web-site regarding L.A. Times columnist Bill Plaschke's upcoming book, "I Live for This! Baseball's Last True Believer," written with Tommy Lasorda. The $25 book, with a 75,000 print run, will be in bookstores on Oct. 24.
"An award-winning sportswriter shows us one of baseball’s most famous and enduring legends as we’ve never seen him before, revealing the secrets of his amazing, unlikely success and his unvarnished opinions on the state of the game.
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"In 'I Live for This' Bill Plaschke strips the veneer from one of baseball’s last living legends to show how grit and determination really can transform a life. We think we know this jovial manager from the rah-rah style that has always raised eyebrows in the world of baseball. Some view him as an anachronism. Some love him like Santa Claus. But there’s one thing they all agree on: Lasorda is a success.
"With gleaming insight and remarkable candor, Plaschke takes us inside the day-to-day world of this baseball great to reveal a side of Lasorda that few people really know. And along the way, we’re treated to some of the most outrageous stories in sports. We also discover Lasorda’s unshakable opinions about what plagues baseball today.
"Bravely and brilliantly, I Live for This dissects the personality to give us the person. In the end we’re left with an indelible portrait of a legend that, if Lasorda has anything to say about it, we won’t ever forget."
No word as to whether the book addresses Lasorda's alleged connection with Jody "Babydol" Gibson, the Hollywood "Super Madam" who claimed that Lasorda was once a client. Lasorda denied this in an article written by the Times' Chuck Philips in February: "I have never heard of this woman and don't know why she would accuse me of something like this," Lasorda said in a statement issued by his attorney, Tony Capozzola. "But if she prints these lies, I intend to sue."
