Tommy Lasorda

After leading his team to a gold medal at the 2000 Olympic games in Sydney, Australia, Lasorda returned to his duties as vice president at the Los Angeles Dodgers. He manages the team's public relations efforts and scouting activities, and helps to develop the organization's minor league teams.

Lasorda also acts as something of an ambassador for the sport. The close of 2002 saw him in Japan for the ninth time to scout for players and help Japanese players play the game right. "I'm a consultant, scout, general manager and a teacher all rolled into one," he said to Bill Gallo of the Daily News about his activities in Japan.

At home in the United States, Lasorda also spends time seeking to motivate young people to realize their full potential, not just in the area of sports, but in every aspect of their lives. "If you make up your mind what you want to be, you can be it," he told a group of youths in Omaha in the spring of 2002, wrote Cliff Brunt in the Omaha World-Herald. "All you have to do is pay the price. Nobody's going to hand it to you."