Zack Minasian grew up like many young men in the 1960’s, loving baseball.
Lucky for Zack, having a father like Edward Minasian who worked as the banquet and catering manager at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles provided access to some big names in the sports and entertainment industries, including Tommy Lasorda.
Tommy, who would later go on to become a Hall of Fame baseball manager with the Los Angeles Dodgers for 20 years, started out his career managing the minor league Ogden Dodgers in the Pioneer League. A friendship was struck between Edward and Tommy, who requested Edward’s son, Zack, to spend the summer in Ogden, Utah running the clubhouse. Zack was only fifteen years old at the time.
The rest is history and baseball became part of Zack’s life and the family business.
Fifty-five years after that summer of 1968 with the Ogden Dodgers, Minasian wrote a memoir about this time which was recently published as Lasorda University: A Recollection of My Summer of ’68 with Tommy Lasorda and the Ogden Dodgers.
The book provides more than 100 photos and a rare glimpse into the magical season along with recounting many recollections from Lasorda including life and leadership lessons, as well as insights into Lasorda’s motivational tactics.