Sun never sets on Tom Lasorda's empire

On the way to the cemetery, the hearse got stuck going up a hill, forcing everyone to retreat toward the funeral home, my first thought with a laugh: Lasorda.

When it comes time for the Big Dodger in the Sky to call on him, and I would imagine none of us will still be around to see it, I picture him dragging his feet, stopping that hearse and yelling, "Hey, where you going? I've got one more appearance to make."

The guy is 80-plus and still living life with the enthusiasm of a youngster. Let's see the Energizer Bunny eat like Tom Lasorda and keep on going.

Last month he made 22 appearances, received nine awards and spoke to everyone from a group of admirals and generals at an Air Force Base in Omaha to the Harvard-Westlake High football team.

He also went to Las Vegas for the Professional Bull Riders finals -- bull a word some might associate with Lasorda -- because he has an ownership interest in one of the circuit's bulls, of course, De Ja Blue.

You would think by now they would've run out of rotary clubs or Italian Hall of Fames, but Lasorda on Tuesday received the same medal previously given to a concert pianist who tried to avoid the press, Mr. Sulu from Star Trek, and a soldier reportedly involved in the execution of prisoners on the Bataan Death March.

The Emperor of Japan sure has some varied interests.

Now I've never met the emperor or seen him talk to Oprah or Ellen, and really my only experience in these matters is "The Last Samurai" with Tom Cruise.

Right away I'm thinking Lasorda is going to have to drop to his knees, bow and then try to stand up like Cruise, realizing as I type this sentence -- I'm comparing Lasorda to Cruise.

Anyway, I went to the ceremony eager to see what Lasorda might have in common with a pianist trying to avoid publicity all her life, a friend of Spock's and someone who went into hiding after World War II for fear of being charged with war crimes.

First person I run into is Dylan Hernandez, our Dodgers beat reporter, who has a Japanese mother, speaks the language and vacations on occasion in the Land of the Rising Sun.

I ask him whether the emperor is still alive and he says, "I think he's dead."

A few seconds later, he says, "He's alive."

Then he says, "I have no idea."