Happy 35th Anniversary, Tommy Lasorda/Dave Kingman rant! - MLB

A couple of weeks ago we celebrated the 20th anniversary of Hal McRae’s famous meltdown and the 30th anniversary of Lee Elia’s rant against the Cubs fans. Let’s mark the third in the Holy Trinity of Manager Meltdowns: 35 years ago today, someone asked Tommy Lasorda what he “thought of Kingman’s performance” after Dave Kingman hit three homers and drove in eight against the Dodgers. Tommy:

“What’s my opinion of Kingman’s performance?” Lasorda said. “What the (expletive) do you think my opinion is of it? I think it was (expletive). Put that in. I don’t (expletive) care. What’s my opinion of his performance? (expletive). He beat us with three (expletive) home runs.

“What the (expletive) do you mean, ‘What is my opinion of his performance?’ How can you ask me a question like that? I’m (expletive) off to lose a (expletive) game, and you ask me my opinion of his performance?”

Audio of it — and it is unedited and, of course, profanity-laced, can be heard here. If you play it at work and get fired it’s all on you.

A few years ago Lasorda gave his reaction to the fame his comments soon acquired. Even Burt Reynolds thought it was great. And in 1978, what Burt Reynolds thought about things mattered.

CINCINNATI — The Los Angeles Dodgers placed pitcher Noah Syndergaard on the 15-day injured list Thursday with a blister on the index finger of his right throwing hand.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said the timetable for Syndergaard’s return is unknown despite the 15-day designation.

“The physical, the mental, the emotional part, as he’s talked about, has taken a toll on him,” Roberts said. “So, the ability to get him away from this. He left today to go back to Los Angeles to kind of get back to normalcy.”

Syndergaard allowed six runs and seven hits in three innings against the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday night, raising his ERA to 7.16.

Syndergaard (1-4) has surrendered at least five runs in three straight starts.

Syndergaard has been trying to return to the player he was before Tommy John surgery sidelined him for the better part of the 2020 and 2021 seasons.

Roberts said Syndergaard will need at least “a few weeks” to both heal and get away from baseball and “reset.”

“I think searching and not being comfortable with where he was at in the moment is certainly evident in performance,” Roberts said. “So hopefully this time away will provide more clarity on who he is right now as a pitcher.

“Trying to perform when you’re searching at this level is extremely difficult. I applaud him from not running from it, but it’s still very difficult. Hopefully it can be a tale of two stories, two halves when he does come back.”