On September 22, 2021, Tollo, Italy became Sister City to Fullerton, California in honor of National Baseball Hall of Famer Tommy Lasorda, who had lived in Fullerton since the Los Angeles Dodgers headed west in 1958, won two World Championships, four National League championships, eight division titles, and amassed 1,599 victories as Dodger manager. His father, Sabatino Lasorda, was an Italian immigrant hailing from Tollo (Chieti) in Abruzzo, Italy. He and his wife, Carmella Lasorda, raised Tommy and his four brothers in Norristown, Pennsylvania.
Since its inception on September 22, 2021, Tommy Lasorda Day celebrates the life and legacy of this legendary Italian American as well as the two-year-old Sister City relationship between Fullerton, California and Tollo, Italy. The Fullerton Sister City Association program began in 1964 when the Fullerton Chamber of Commerce decided to explore the possibility of adopting a Sister City. The Chamber of Commerce’s search was inspired by the late President Eisenhower’s People to People program, which was created in 1956 to increase tolerance and understanding through direct contact of individuals with people from different cultures.
Fullerton currently has five Sister Cities: Morelia, Mexico; Fukui, Japan; Yongin and Seongnam, South Korea; and Tollo, Italy. An Italian olive tree is among the Fullerton Friendship Trees planted in the City Hall garden in honor of the Tollo Sister City relationship.
The Tommy Lasorda Day Celebration in Fullerton gets better every year. Last year’s Lasorda Legacy Baseball Author Roundtable at Fullerton Museum Center was a smashing success. This year promises to be just as memorable. Be sure to mark your calendar to join us on Friday, September 22, 2023 at 4:00 pm at the Fullerton Sports Complex, 560 East Silver Pine Street in Fullerton and celebrate the Sister City relationship between Fullerton and Tollo.
Having just returned from the Tommy Lasorda Day Celebration in Italy, Laura Lasorda will be on hand promptly at 4 pm to present the Tommy Lasorda Public Service Hero Award to a deserving Fullerton civil servant. Steel Sports representatives, who will be hosting assemblies earlier in the day at various middle schools in Fullerton to ignite inspiration and encourage students to foster self-belief and realize that with dedicated effort, they can transform any dream into reality, will also be there to promote the Tommy Lasorda philosophy “You Gotta Believe.”
The Tommy Lasorda Day Celebration is free to the public. In association with Golden Hill Little League, the Fullerton Sports Complex will host baseball games between Fullerton Little League teams and local high school teams. There will also be live music by Anything for Salinas, a Selena tribute band, from 6:30-8:30 pm plus food trucks, craft and vendor booths as well. Blankets and lawn chairs are encouraged.
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