Congratulatiosn to Gary Nickels.  Gary is one of the best scouts in the game of baseball, and he will finally be recognized as such. 

Gary, who is the Dodger's Midwest Scouting Supervisor, will be inducted into the Midwest Scouts Association Hall of Fame on November 7 and the Mid Atlantic Scouts Association Hall of Fame on November 14. 

The 2009 season is Nickels' 38th as a scout, and seventh in his current position. Notable current Dodgers drafted under his supervision include Chad Billingsley, Clayton Kershaw, Scott Elbert, Blake DeWitt, Cory Wade, and A.J. Ellis. His scouting territory includes Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota.

The Midwest Scouts Association Hall of Fame induction will occur at the Midwest Scouts Association Banquet at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri. He will be inducted along with Mike Radcliff of the Minnesota Twins and Bill Bryk of the San Diego Padres during the event's dinner at 7:00 p.m.

The Mid Atlantic Scouts Association (MASA) Hall of Fame induction will take place at its annual banquet at Ripken Stadium in Aberdeen, Maryland.  Nickels' name will also be added to the Hall of Fame plaque which hangs permanently at Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore, Maryland.

Nickels worked for four clubs prior to joining the Dodgers in 2003. From 1999-2002, he served as the San Diego Padres' Pro Scouting Director following nine years in Baltimore as the Orioles' Scouting Director (1991-98) and Midwest Supervisor/Crosschecker (1989-90). He also was the Chicago Cubs' Midwest Region Supervisor from 1982-88 and got his start in baseball as an Administrative Assistant, Scouting (1972-75) and Area Scout (1976-81) for the Philadelphia Phillies.

The Dodgers have sterted the NLDS off in the right way going up two games to none against the St. Louis Cardinals.  While being up by two games is a whole lot better than going into St. Louis 1-1, it doesn't mean that the dodger can play any less hard, or let up in any way.  In fact, they should play like this game matters as much as if they were down two games.  If we lose tomorrow then we face Carpenter and possibly Wainwright again.  To be a champion you have to beat the best, and that is what we are doing, but you have to be able to finish out a series, and that is what we must do tomorrow in St. Louis.

Dear Fans,

I know I'm only 82 years old but I have signed up for a Twitter account.  Now It will be like we are always together because I'll be keeping you up to date with where I am, what I'm doing, who I am talking to and what I'm eating...

So sign up now to be my follower:

www.twitter.com/TommyLasorda

I would like to take a moment to congratulate Sheriff Lee Baca and everyone under his command for doing a continuously great job for the people of Los Angeles County.

The motto of law enforcement here in Southern California is to protect and serve, and I would like to share a quick story with you about how two sheriff's did just that for me.

I was driving home after a game and it was pretty late at night.  I had to pull off the freeway to fill up on gas and I had to do so in a bad neighborhood.

When I got out of the car to pump the gas and to reach for my money two sheriffs approached me wondering what I was doing there.  They asked me if I was all alone, and I told them that I was.

Upon hearing it they told me to stay in the car and that they would pump the gas for me, just to be safe.

To those two sheriffs I say thank you very much.  You went out of your way to help me, and in doing so upheld the integrity and values of the L.A. County Sheriff's Department. 

You see, sometimes doing the littlest things go the longest way and in this case I hope that by those two gentleman being considerate enough to pump my gas they realize how happy and grateful they made me feel.

I would like to welcome Jim Thome and Jon Garland to the Dodgers. 

Both acquisitions are great as they are great players who will add a lot to our ballclub as we come down the strech.  Jim is a heck of a guy and a future hall of famer who has more career home runs than Reggie Jackson.

I would also like to congratulate Ned Colletti on his hard work.  He is doing everything he can to improve the ballclub and I hope his labors produce tremendous results.

The 39-year-old Thome, a five-time All-Star, ranks 12th on baseball's all-time home run list with 564.  He has hit 20 or more homers 15 times in his 16 full Major League seasons, including 23 in 2009.  The left-handed hitter has also hit 30 or more homers 12 times, 40 or more six times, and 50 or more on one occasion in 2002, when he clubbed a career-high 52 with Cleveland.  The Illinois native hit at least 40 homers in four straight seasons from 2001-04, including a National League-leading 47 with Philadelphia in 2003.

Thome also ranks 39th on baseball's all-time RBI list with 1,562.  He has logged at least 100 RBI in nine seasons, including six years in a row from 1999-2004.  He was a three-time RBI champ in the American League during his time with Cleveland, driving in 120 runs in 1997, 127 in 1999, and 122 in 2002.

Among active players, Thome ranks third in home runs behind only Ken Griffey Jr. (625) and Alex Rodriguez (576).  Also among active players, he ranks fifth in RBI, seventh with a .558 slugging percentage, and tied for sixth with a .405 on-base percentage.  He leads active players with 1,619 walks and his 2,134 hits rank 13th.  He also ranks 21st in baseball history in slugging percentage and 10th in walks.

Thome is one of only nine players in baseball history to accumulate 500 home runs, 1,500 walks, and 2,000 hits, joining Barry Bonds, Harmon Killebrew, Mickey Mantle, Mel Ott, Babe Ruth, Mike Schmidt, Frank Thomas, and Ted Williams.

Garland has won at least 10 games over the last seven seasons and currently has eight wins with Arizona this year. From 2002-2008, the right-hander averaged nearly 14 victories per season and won a career-high 18 in both 2005 and 2006. 

In the 2005 playoffs with the Chicago White Sox, Garland won Game 3 of the ALCS against the Angels, firing a complete game four-hitter. In Game 3 of the 2005 World Series vs. the Astros, Garland allowed just two earned runs over 7.0 innings in a game the White Sox would win in 15 innings.   

Garland was originally drafted by the Chicago Cubs in the 10th round of the 1997 First-Year Player Draft and was traded as a minor leaguer from the Cubs to the white Sox in 1998. Following eight seasons on the South Side, Garland was traded to the Angels before the 2008 season and went 14-8 in Anaheim last year. this season, Garland is 8-11 with a 4.29 ERA in 27 starts, but owns a 3.86 ERA in nine starts since the All-Star break.

The durable right-hander has been on the disabled list just one time in his career, missing only 15 days in 2003 with Chicago. Garland has tossed 1,793.0 career innings, including 1,606.1 since 2002, which ranks ninth in the Major Leagues over that time. 

Since his debut in 2000, the Valencia, California native has gone 114-100 with a 4.45 ERA in 305 career games (285 starts). The 29-year old was a 2005 American League All-Star and his and his 68 wins since 2005 rank 11th in the Major Leagues over that time.     

Garland is a 1997 graduate of Kennedy High School in Granada Hills, where he was a two-time All-State Player of the Year and a high school All-America. 

Here it is, boys, the Lasorda Cup. 

The team who wins this cup is the team who wins the Lasorda Elite Games, which is a high school baseball tournament of the premier players from the western part of the United States.

There are four teams of players who are invited by our scouts, and it gives the players a great opportunity to play baseball at beautiful Dodger Stadium.

I'm looking forward to working with the players and seeing what they are made of.

Last weekend my granddaughter, Emily, won a few blue ribbons at her equestrian competition and I couldn't be any prouder of her.

She loves riding horses, and she has worked very hard to get good at it.  She has sticktoitiveness, as the more people tell her that she can't do something she does everything in her power to show you that she can.

I love her very, very much and am a very proud grandfather.

Congratulations, Emily.  Pop Pop and Mom Mom love you very much.

I am in Chicago for the 2nd Annual Tommy Lasorda Open.  It is a golf tournament that benefits the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame.

I just got word from Taiwan that the 16 and Under Team USA just won the Gold Medal in an international tournament.

They beat Cuba 7-6.

If you look closely at the picture you will see a rope across the knees of the players in the front row.  When I gave them a motivationla address while they were training in Fullerton before going abroad  Itold them that if they all get on one end of the rope and pull together that they could pull the rest of the teams with them.

It looks like they took my advice.

Congratulations to the players and coaches!

How sweet it is; the fruits of victory!

Last night I went to Bamonte's in Brooklyn.

I've been going there for decades, as have many people because it has been around for 109 years.  They are now on the fourth generation of Bamonte's running the place, with a fifth generation being raised in the art of Italian cooking.

If you want Italian food like mama used to make, go to Bamonte's.

If you want to be treated like a friend when you dine, go to Bamonte's.

If you want to know what it was like to be from Brooklyn, go to Bamonte's.

If you want a piece of Brooklyn Dodger history, go to Bamonte's as many of the Boys of Summer took the trolley there after games.

If you want to know why I think it is the best Italian in New York, go to Bamonte's.

Speaking of the Boys of Summer, tonight at KeySpan Park in Brooklyn I will be inducted into the Brooklyn Dodgers Hall of Fame.  To have my name mentioned with those guys, some of the best guys to ever wear the Dodgers uniform, some of the best guys to ever play the game, is very special for me.  I played for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1954 and '55, and what an amazing experience it was to play in front of the fans at Ebbetts field and be a part of one of the best eras in baseball.

Last night I had dinner at iL Mulino in the West Village.  It was outstanding.  I would like to thank Brian Gallighan and his lovely wife Deborah for hosting my family.  The pasta was delicious and the Lasorda Wine was a perfect pairing.  Brian and Deborah have a beautiful family as they are raising three well-mannered boys, Robert, Gregory and Grant.  A note to the scouts here on the East Coast: keep your eye on Robert.

The chefs and founders of iL Mulino are two brothers from Italy.  In fact, they were born and raised in L'Aquila, the regional capital of the mountainous countryside of Abruzzo, Italy. Abruzzo is my father's home region, so you know the food has to be outstanding.

We also had the pleasure of dining with Chief Joseph Esposito of the NYPD.  He has been on the force for over 30 years and Chief of the Department for nine.

I told him the story of when we used to come into New York to play the Mets at Shea Stadium.  I would holler to the police officers guarding the dugouts to hold their heads up high because they represented the second greatest police force in America.

They'd holler back, of course.

Well, after one game the clubby told me there was a group of police outside waiting for me.  I went out and they presented me with an old, scuffed-up ball that they all signed and it said, "To Tommy Lasorda, the second greatest manager in all of baseball."

I got a laugh out of that.

After their heroics during 9/11 I have to bump them up into the number one slot.  With all due respect to law enforcement everywhere, I have to commend the NYPD for their bravery in face of danger and for their commitment to serving and protecting despite the grave danger that faced them.

They are my heroes.

Below is the news release the Dodgers put out about me today.  This Sunday I am being inducted into the Brooklyn Dodgers Hall of Fame.

To be enshrined with the Boys of Summer is a great honor that I will cherish forever.  I played in Brooklyn with those guys.  I made lifelong friendships with them and am very appreciative to have my name mentioned alongside theirs:

LASORDA TO BE INDUCTED INTO BROOKLYN DODGERS HALL OF FAME

This Induction Marks Lasorda's 14th Hall of Fame

LOS ANGELES - Hall of Fame manager and Special Advisor to the Chairman Tommy Lasorda will be inducted into the Brooklyn Dodgers Hall of Fame.  The induction ceremony will take place at KeySpan Park, home of the Brooklyn Cyclones this Sunday, August 16 during a special ceremony.  The day will begin at 3 p.m. EST with a news conference at KeySpan Park, followed by a tour of the Brooklyn Baseball Museum where Lasorda will be inducted.  From there he will go out on the field for the pregame ceremony and address the crowd.  The game starts at 5 p.m.

As part of Lasorda's 60-year career with the Dodgers, he played in parts of two seasons for Brooklyn (1954-55) as a left-handed pitcher.  After being called up from one of the Dodgers' three Triple-A affiliates, the Montreal Royals, Lasorda made his Major League debut on August 5, 1954 against the St. Louis Cardinals.  Lasorda finished the '54 season with the Brooklyn Dodgers and continued with them through the middle of the '55 season when he was sent back to Montreal to make room on the roster. 

Although Lasorda went 0-4 with a 6.52 ERA in his Major League career, he went on to manage the Los Angeles Dodgers for 20 seasons (1977-96) and was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1997, joining fellow Brooklyn Dodgers Jackie Robinson, Duke Snider, Pee Wee Reese, Leo Durocher, Roy Campanella, Burleigh Grimes, Dazzy Vance, Zack Wheat, Walter Alston, Wilbert Robinson, Walter O'Malley, Branch Rickey, and Larry MacPhail.

This enshrinement marks Lasorda's 14th Hall of Fame.  Most recently, he was inducted into the Inland Empire 66ers Hall of Fame on August 1 and the Ogden Professional Baseball Hall of Fame on July 10.  He was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame on August 3, 1997 after winning eight division titles, four National League pennants and two World Series championships (1981, 88). 

Lasorda has also been inducted into the Pacific Coast League HOF (2006), Canadian Baseball HOF (2006), Italian American Sports HOF (1989), California Sports HOF (2006), Montgomery County Coaches HOF (2002), South Atlantic League (2001), Albuquerque Baseball HOF (2007), and the Louisiana Italian American HOF (1985), the Cleveland Italian American HOF and the Rhode Island Italian American HOF.  Later this year Lasorda will be enshrined in the Philadelphia Sports HOF (November 12).

Boy did they surprise me!  The good people of Midland came out to see the Loons play and see me have my number (2) retired. 

They also renamed a part of Dow Diamond after me, as it is now called Lasorda's Laning.  What an honor!

After all the fanfare, which was very humbling, I had the opportunity to address the sold-out crowd.  I thanked them for their support of the Loons, and their support of me and the Dodgers. We are very fortunate to be affiliated with such a first class organization.  

I would also like to congratulate Juan Bustabad and his coaches on the outstanding job they are doing preparing the young ball players to make it to Dodger Stadium.  Keep your eye on the players on this Loons team because in a few years you will see quite a few of them in the big leagues.

My next stop is New York.  On Sunday I am being inducted into the Brooklyn Dodger Hall of Fame.

Midland is a great town.  The people here have tremendous spirit coupled with kindly hospitality.  And they love Dow Diamond!

So do I, because the Loons are a good, young team with lots of talent so the fans here get to see exciting, aggresive baseball at a world-class, minor league ballpark, Dow Diamond.

In fact, RHP Nate Eovaldi went 1-0 with a 1.35 ERA (3 ER/20.0 IP) in five July games (three starts)...as a reliever, he has a 0.79 ERA (2 ER/22.2 IP) in seven appearances...overall, the Texas native is 2-4 with a save and a 3.18 ERA (29 ER/82.0 IP) in 21 games (14 starts)...the 19-year-old entered the season ranked as the Dodgers' No. 10 prospect according to Baseball America.

And Tony Delmonico, a catcher who comes from a great Italian family batted .316 with four homers and 15 RBI in 27 games... overall, he ranks second on the club with a .285 average, nine homers, and 43 RBI in 100 games...the 22-year-old entered the season ranked as the Dodgers' No. 19 prospect according to Baseball America.

Today I attended and spoke at the Loon's monthly luncheon for premier season ticket holders.

And I've heard that before tonight's game the Loons have a surprise for me...

I'm not sure if you know this, but the circumference of the earth is 24,859.82 miles.  Well, as you can see by my odometer above I have traveled enough miles since January 1, 2009 to go around the world four times.  And it's only August!

For the next few days I am in Midland, Michigan, home of the Great Lakes Loons, which is one of our single-A affiliates.  We partnered with the Loons in 2007, and since we affiliated I have made more speecahes and appearances than the mayor.  The people in Midland think I live there.

Did you know that Dee Gordon, the Dodgers' No. 7 prospect according to Baseball America, leads the Midwest League with 61 stolen bases, 11 more than his closest competitor...he also leads the circuit with 137 hits, 17 more than his closest challenger...Gordon, 21, leads the ML with 82 runs scored as well...the left-handed hitter, who was a mid-season Midwest League All-Star, is tied for sixth in the league with a .310 average...he was selected by the Dodgers in the fourth round of the 2008 draft?

Did you know that Tony Delmonico is batting .407 (22-for-54) with three homers and 11 RBI in his last 15 games to raise his average to .285 from .264...the Dodgers' sixth-round selection of the 2008 draft is also batting .336 (37-for-110) in 31 games beginning July 1 after hitting just .224 (15-for-67) in 19 games in June?

Did you know that Nate Eovaldi has allowed just one earned run in 10.0 innings in his last three games (one start), and has a 0.91 ERA (5 ER/49.2 IP) in his last 12 games (six starts)...the Dodgers' 11th-round selection from the 2008 draft has allowed just one home run in his 79.0 innings of work overall...he is 2-4 with one save and a 3.30 ERA in 20 games (13 starts)...the 19-year-old is the Dodgers' No. 10 prospect according to Baseball America?

With future Dodgers like these our organization's future is bright.  I would like to congratulate De Jon Watson, Chris Haydock and their staff of minor league managers, coaches and roving instructors for the outstanding job they do.

They are charged with taking young players and making them better.  It sounds obvious, but to train a youngster to be a big leaguer cna be tough, and our farm system does a great job of teaching them the Dodger way of playing baseball.