It took the greatest LHP to knock me off the ’55 Brooklyn Dodgers:

Jon Soo Hoo

Here is the story that aired yesterday afternoon on 790 KABC as part of the Lasorda at His Best series presented by Skechers:

This is my claim to fame.  I was summoned to the office of Buzzie Bavasi.

“I got bad news,” Buzzie said.

“What’s wrong, Buzzie,” I replied.  “Is one of your relatives sick?

“I’ve got to cut one guy from this club,” he said.  “And I’m going to have to cut you.”

“Buzzie, I won 18 games last year in triple-A,” I said.  “What do I have to do to prove to you and the manager that I can pitch here in Brooklyn?”

“Look Tommy, I’ve got a tough job,” he said.  “If you were sitting in this chair who would you get rid of?”

And without hesitation I said Koufax.

At that time he couldn’t hit a barn door 60 feet away with a baseball.

“Look Tommy,” he said.  “The rules of baseball provide that if you give a player a $4,000 bonus they have to stay on the Major League roster for two years.  So Koufax stays, and you must go.”

And now I can say that it took the greatest left-hander in the history of baseball to knock me off of that Brooklyn club.

And I still think they made a big mistake!