Baseball Legend Tommy Lasorda Remembers Reagan

This is a partial transcript from "HANNITY & COLMES", June 16, 2004, that has been edited for clarity.

ALAN COLMES, CO-HOST: Last Friday evening, close friends and family of President Ronald Reagan (search) gathered to lay him to rest at his presidential library in California.

Among the mourners was our next guest, former L.A. Dodgers manager and baseball legend Tommy Lasorda (search).

Tommy, thank you so much for being here.

TOMMY LASORDA: Thank you very much.

COLMES: You were very close to Ronald Reagan?

LASDORDA: Very, very close to the family. And really, some of the most memorable moments that I spent with him I will never ever forget.

The first time I ever met him was at Frank Sinatra's (search) house when he was the governor.

And then the second time I met him was, I was going -- I was the master of ceremonies at the Italian American Sports Hall of Fame in Chicago. I went up the elevator at the hotel and the door opened. There with Johnny Grant and President Hubbard of USC.

And I said, "What are you guys doing?" They were here with Reagan. It was about six days before the election.

Now here they all come out of the room and he sees me, comes over and gives me a hug. And he says, how is everything, fine. I said how do you feel? You got a big one coming up, and so you've to go get them.

He said, "If I don't make it," he said, "could you get me a job as a sportscaster."

COLMES: I bet he would do great calling the Dodger games.

LASORDA: That's right.

SEAN HANNITY, CO-HOST: Tell it to Vince Scully.

LASORDA: Then I have been to Washington and I spent time with him.

One that we really enjoyed, both my wife Jo and I, is when they invited us to spend the night with them at the Sentry Plaza Hotel...

COLMES: Really?

LASORSA: ... the night of the election for the second term.

COLMES: In 1984?

LASORDA: Yes. That was -- that was just so great.

COLMES: Was he a big Dodger fan?

LASORDA: Yes. He was a great Dodger fan and great baseball fan. And one day I was in the Atlanta, and the Secret Service evidently saw me, and the first thing I know I got a call from Cathy Osborne, his assistant, and she said, the president wants to see you.

So I go into his suite, just him and I. And he takes his shoes off and he puts his feet up on that little round or whatever you call it. And he and I spoke for about two and a half hours, no interference or anything.

And I said to him, you know, "You're a great president. But the thing that I feel that you did so great for our country is you brought pride back into our country. You built up the military.

People stopped burning their draft cards. People stopped demonstrating. Because you made everybody feel that we should be proud people, living in the greatest country in the world, the land of opportunity."

And that's what I think he did that was so outstanding. Of course, you know, telling them to bring the wall down and other great things.

HANNITY: Great. You know something, we were talking just before you came on. How many championships did you win?

LASORDA: I won -- I managed in four World Series, won eight divisional titles and two world championships.

HANNITY: Unbelievable. You don't wear your world championship ring. You wear your hall of fame ring.

LASORDA: That's it. You know why?

HANNITY: Why is that?

LASORDA: Do you know why? Because there are only four people who can walk around this great nation of ours with this ring on. That's Spark Anderson, Earl Weaver, myself and Al Lopez.

Baseball has been played over a hundred years. And there are only 14 managers in the hall of fame. This is very, very special. It's a tough, tough fraternity to get into.

HANNITY: You're a special guy. You one time you said about one of the players that using drugs, it's not a weakness. It's a character issue. I will never forget that.

LASORDA: I went on national television -- went on national television I and said I'm sick and tired of people saying that taking drugs is a sickness. When you put something of your own free will in your own body knowing that it's harmful against the body, it's against the law and all it will do is lead you down the path of destruction, that is a weakness.

COLMES: Tommy, wish we had more time.

LASORDA: Thank you. Thank you very much.

HANNITY: You're a great American.

LASORDA: Thank you.

COLMES: If I shake your hand I get to touch the ring, which I -- Thanks very much.

HANNITY: Why don't you kiss it?

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