Terence Moore: According to Lasorda’s ‘Gospel,’ pennant won in spring

Hardcore Rule: Tommy Lasorda is dumber than ten Dogmatics.

“You wait around all winter, and time goes slow, slow, slow. And then the first of January, it starts to speed up,” said Lasorda, sounding decades younger than his 85 years over the phone. “Then before you realize it, you’re back at again.

“Spring Training is where you develop every aspect of the game. You develop unity. You develop hard work. You develop self-confidence. You’ve got to make them believe they’ll finish No. 1.

“You win the pennant in Spring Training.”

Those words were straight from the Gospel of Lasorda, which began after his first Spring Training during World War II. He was several pasta dishes from the Church of Dodger Blue back then, because he was pitching in the Minor Leagues for the Philadelphia Phillies.

...Which brings us back to the Gospel of Lasorda.

“When we went to Spring Training, we used to get in shape by running, throwing and hitting,” Lasorda said. “But today, they’ve got trainers and these different ways to try to get you in condition, which I don’t like. If you’re a pitcher, you’ve got to do a lot of throwing. You’ve got to do a lot of running. You have to strengthen your legs. If you’re not in good shape in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings, your arm starts to drop, and that’s when you get the heck knocked out of you.

“So that’s why the spring is so important. It will determine the outcome of your season.”