After the passing of Tommy Lasorda in January 7, 2021, Orange County native and cultural historian Roberto Angotti proposed to Fullerton Mayor Bruce Whitaker that the city pay tribute to the Lasorda family and the late and great Dodger legend by adopting Tollo as its Sister City and honoring Tommy Lasorda every year on his birthday. The Fullerton City Council unanimously approved the motion. Angotti then traveled to Italy to get a signed letter of intent from Tollo Mayor Angelo Radica.
Tollo, Italy and Fullerton, California officially became Sister Cities in honor of Tommy Lasorda on September 22, 2021. Tollo is a charming town in the Abruzzo region of Italy, about 16 miles from the coast near Pescara and surrounded by beautiful views of the Adriatic Sea to the west and the Maiella Mountains to the east. Although Tollo is world-renowned for its food and wine traditions, the small town of 4,000 inhabitants is also known for its connection to the late and great global baseball ambassador Tommy Lasorda, who lived in Fullerton, California for nearly sixty years and whose parents hailed from this quaint Italian mountain village.
Fullerton paid tribute to the Lasorda family on September 22, 2021 when it celebrated its inaugural Tommy Lasorda Day. Attendees included Mike Scioscia, Eric Karros, Mickey Hatcher, Lenny Randle, Jim Hill, Vince Ferragamo, Fred Dryer, Laura Lasorda, Ann Meyer Drysdale, Drew Drysdale and Joe Buscaino.
Former Dodger catcher and two-time MLB All-Star Mike Scioscia, who played for Lasorda on two World Series winning teams before leading the Angels as manager to a 2002 World Series championship title, represented the Italian American Baseball Foundation at Tommy Lasorda Day.
Scioscia said: “Tommy was the most competitive person I ever met in my life. I think that anyone who played for him felt the same way, but that is what it took for us to become world champions and he knew it and he instilled it in all of us. He made us better baseball players, but most important, made us better men.”
Tollo Mayor Angelo Radica and the Tollo City Council assembled in the Municipal Council Chambers in Tollo (Chieti) on October 25, 2021 to approve and sign the Sister City relationship with Fullerton, California in honor of Tommy Lasorda and his Tollo-born parents Sabatino and Carmella Lasorda.
The online video conference call included Fullerton Mayor Bruce Whitaker, the Fullerton City Council, Fullerton Sister City Association President Michael Oates and Sister City International Ambassador Roberto Angotti. In addition to members of community attending the town hall meeting, Tollo Baseball and Softball Coordinator Graziano Primavera and players from his teams were also in attendance. Tollo broke ground in building a youth baseball and softball field in Italy named in honor of Tommy Lasorda and celebrated the opening of the diamond in May 2022.
It was a weekend of smiles, emotions and memories in early May 2022 in Tollo, Italy for Laura Lasorda, daughter of Tommy and Jo Lasorda. Accompanied with an entourage of friends and family, Laura Lasorda visited Tollo tracing the ancestral roots of her grandfather Sabatino Lasorda, who left this small town known for its fine Abruzzese cuisine and wine in the province of Chieti to look for a better life in the United States.
WIth Laura Lasorda and Sister City ambassador Roberto Angotti serving as witnesses inside Tollo City Hall, Tollo Mayor Angelo Radica signed the official Sister City agreement with Fullerton, California on Saturday morning, May 7, 2022. Fullerton celebrated its inaugural “Tommy Lasorda Day” on September 22, 2021, when Fullerton Mayor Bruce Whitaker officially signed the Sister City covenant.
Despite the afternoon rain, Tollo Mayor Angelo Radica and Laura Lasorda cut the ceremonial ribbon to the new baseball and softball field named after Tommy Lasorda, whose eternal smile stands out in the large mural depicting him created by artist Antonello ‘Macs’ Piccinino. The unsung hero in preparing the diamond for this special occasion was Alessandro Flisi of Flisi Field, who spent countless hours away from his family in Parma during the Easter holiday to make sure Tommy Lasorda field was completed in time for the unveiling.
Poste Italiane got the party started when revealing a specially-designed one-day postage stamp seal commemorating Tommy Lasorda Day at the diamond before Lasorda t-shirts, hats and cake were distributed to all those in attendance. Celebrants were treated to a series of emotionally-driven speeches during the festivities.
Laura Lasorda said, “The first feeling I feel, being here with you is that of gratitude for having given me and my family, the one who is here with me and the one who looks at us from heaven, this beautiful moment. Returning to the homeland of my grandparents is a bit like closing the circle and makes me understand how it is from here that the values that my father passed on to us and that his parents passed on to him originate. I am sure that from today, in my father’s name, the people who will be able to make an important contribution to the growth of baseball, not only here, but in Italy, have come together.”
Tollo Mayor Angelo Radica said, “Today is a historic day for Tollo. I would say the second most important ever after the one in which Tommy Lasorda visited us. This field is our commitment, not only by the Tollo City Administration, but it is also our commitment to Tollo Baseball and Softball. The promise and commitment we make today is to make it live through the activity of many boys and girls. Finally, the dream of those who started their passion for baseball over 40 years ago on the occasion of Tommy Lasorda’s visit has come true and young people can play and grow on a field dedicated to them. I want to thank all those who contributed to the realization of the project. I would like to mention the City Council who understood and supported it, the Councilor of the Abruzzo Region Silvio Paolucci, who gave us an important hand in overcoming some difficult moments, and Tollo Baseball and Softball President Ezio Della Nebbia and coach Graziano Primavera, both of whom worked very hard to make our dream came true.”
On October 10, 2024 a large delegation from Fullerton, led by former Mayor Bruce Whitaker, Laura Lasorda, Roberto Angotti, filmmaker and producer/director of Italian American Baseball Family as well as official ambassador and promoter of the Sister City agreement between the two cities, and members of the Fullerton Sister City Association traveled to Italy where they were guests of Tollo Mayor Angelo Radica to celebrate the Sister City agreement and bridge the cultural connection across the Atlantic.
Tollo Mayor Angelo Radica said, “I am very happy to welcome the Fullerton delegation. Tommy Lasorda is the most important and famous citizen of Tollo. The story of Tommy Lasorda represents the ‘American dream’. Lasorda never forgot Tollo. When he came to Tollo, in 1979, a square packed with people welcomed him. One day, secretly, he decided to come by car to better visit Tollo, a town he loved very much.”
Mayor Radica continued, “When it was possible to create the connection between Tollo and Fullerton, we immediately said ‘yes’. With Bruce Whitaker, we signed the Sister City agreement between Tollo and Fullerton online. Today, we are dedicating a small space where there will be all the most beautiful and important objects related to Tommy Lasorda and donated to us by Laura Lasorda. Thank you for being here and thank you Federation Italiana Baseball Softball, for supporting this initiative from the start. Today, for Tollo and Fullerton, it is not a point of arrival but a point of departure.”
“It is a great pleasure to be here with you”, said Bruce Whitaker, Fullerton Mayor city at the time of the signing of the Sister City relationship. “Almost four years ago, in a conference call on zoom, we united our cities through the signing of a Sister City agreement. We are proud to be united together with your beautiful municipality of Tollo. When Tommy Lasorda passed away in early 2021, our countries and the world were in the midst of the Coronavirus pandemic. The lockdown prevented us from honoring our Tommy in the best way. Tommy represents many characteristics of both of our small cities, along with the competitiveness inherent in many Italian athletes for whom we have a lot of respect. We thought it was very important to remember and commemorate Tommy by taking him as an example of our city, very oriented towards baseball, and establishing every September 22nd as Tommy Lasorda Day in Fullerton.”
Bruce Whitaker continued, “Tommy preferred Fullerton to Hollywood, where he lived a few blocks from my house, in a working-class area. He lived in our city for 58 years, until he passed away. Tommy Lasorda had a global impact, he was the global ambassador for baseball and that is why we honor him. His passion, his enthusiasm for the game of baseball, and his respect and love for the fans, are unmatched. We are very proud to be part of his legacy and we are happy to share it with Tollo, the place where his father Sabatino and his mother Carmela are from. It is a pleasure to be here, to share with you this bond that will forever unite our cities.”
After the welcoming ceremony in the Tollo Council Chamber and exchanging gifts and awards, the day continued at Tommy Lasorda Field, which was inaugurated in May 2022, where the Tollo Dodgers and Macerata Angels U12 teams played an exhibition game. The Tommy Lasorda Museum was unveiled to the Fullerton delegation later that night. The museum represents a tribute to the extraordinary life and career of the National Baseball Hall of Fame Manager.
The Fullerton Junior Ambassadors, a group of teenage students selected by the Fullerton Sister City Association to represent the city at home and abroad, recently returned from a tour of Italy. The delegation began its travels in Rome and spent a day at the Vatican during the Jubilee Celebrations before meandering through Florence. Then it was off to Sister City Tollo for an action-packed program.
Tollo welcomed the Fullerton Junior Ambassadors with open arms from June 26-27, 2025
The gracious Italian hosts in Tollo opened their homes where the Fullerton students stayed as special guests. Relationships were built quickly and naturally as they played baseball together, ate, drank and toured through the beautiful city. The Fullerton delegation was introduced to the land, places of worship, multiple museums, a castle and amazing food. Then Tollo planned a party for the whole community in the town square, complete with a traditional parade re-enacting the siege of the Turks. When it was time to depart for the next adventure to the Amalfi Coast, the Fullerton Junior Ambassadors asked if it was possible to cancel that leg of the tour so that they could stay longer in Tollo with their new friends.
Immediately after the Fullerton Junior Ambassadors departed Tollo, this post appeared on Tollo Baseball and Softball Facebook site (Translated from Italian to English).
Tollo & Fullerton together in the name of Tommy Lasorda ( Laura Lasorda ).
This second meeting with the friends of Fullerton ended with tears of emotion. In less than 48 hours, our kids and their families found themselves caught up in a whirlwind of emotions, in the concoction of so much, too many things to do and damn little time on their hands! We hosted some wonderful people that we will always keep in our hearts.
A profitable exchange and hopefully a very long lasting one. Enthusiasm is through the roof just imagine repeating this adventure, why not, this time with Fullerton playing at home.
It’s undeniable that the struggle to carry on this project in the months, especially in the last few weeks has been a lot… but really, it was absolutely worth it, because we gained something that cannot be bought or sold: a deep connection that embraces the soul.
Before leaving Tollo, the Fullerton Junior Ambassadors extended their invitation to reciprocate and host an Italian Junior Ambassador Delegation in Fullerton next summer. The Fullerton Sister City Association will be looking for families to welcome students from Tollo to stay their homes sometime in July 2026.
The Fullerton-Tollo Sister City relationship hopes to foster global citizen diplomacy. Whether Italian, of Italian descent or not, individuals can make a difference in building international relationships and promoting peace. In addition to Tollo, Fullerton is also Sister City to Fukui (Japan), Morelia (Mexico), Seongnam and Yongin (South Korea). Celebrate Fullerton Sister Cities Fukui and Tollo at the Big A on August 2, 2025.
mlbblogger 