LASORDA TRULY BLUE.

Byline: Karen Crouse

Tommy Lasorda clearly has been taken prisoner by his ego. With his induction into baseball's Hall of Fame two days away, the timing, while perhaps not coincidental, is regrettable.

The former Dodgers manager must have been brainwashed by his captor, Stu P. Id, into believing there's more to life than polishing baseball's tarnished image and doting on his wife, daughter and grandchild.

How else to explain Lasorda's recent lobbying through middleman Michael Milken, a Rupert Murdoch crony and baseball fan, for a larger role with the Murdoch-owned Dodgers?

If the Dodgers sale to the owner of Fox Sports is approved by 12 of the 15 National League owners, Lasorda reportedly is poised to bleed Dodger blue to become the team's general manager.

The concern here isn't Lasorda's qualifications for the job Fred Claire has held for 11 years. After 52 years in baseball, Lasorda has developed a discriminating eye for talent.

One worries if all that time in the limelight hasn't left Lasorda with a craving for the spotlight that is unhealthy for anyone, much less a husband/father/grandfather with a recent history of heart problems.

Lasorda, who turns 70 next month, retired from managing last year under duress after suffering a minor heart attack.

One of Lasorda's parting gifts was an executive title in the Dodgers organization, though no one's sure what his duties as a vice president include beyond schmoozing with the public.

That should be enough. Lasorda's greatest gift is his gab. He is a born communicator, a P.T. Barnum in a sport that lately has reeked of the stuff the circus animals leave behind. Baseball needs Lasorda to spread goodwill among fans fed up with labor strife, petulant players, churlish owners and a general creed of greed.

Too, after all the years he leased his heart and soul to baseball, Lasorda's family deserves his time and attention.

What his loved ones have gotten is a man who talks the talk then walks the other way. It's no secret that Lasorda has found semiretirement about as fun as a diet.

He sought the managerial position of the Tampa Bay Devils Rays and reportedly has let other teams know he's interested in being more than a front-office figurehead.

``I always think about that,'' Lasorda told Bloomberg News. ``I really do because I miss it terribly.''

During the 20 years he managed the Dodgers, Lasorda won seven division titles, four pennants and two World Series championships. His departure from the dugout has created a void in his life large enough to make the applause and acclaim he receives from the general public ring hollow.

That's understandable. But is angling for a title that will make him a player in the Dodgers front office the surest path to happiness and fulfillment? Lasorda seems torn between what he knows is the answer and what he has known for the past 52 years.

``I really and truly would love to be in the dugout again,'' Lasorda recently told Jim Gray in Inside Sports. ``It's a very sad and melancholy time for me. But I have to look at it in a different way as well - I gave up something that I loved very dearly for something that I love even more and that's my life and my family.''

Here's hoping Lasorda tapes that quote on the refrigerator and makes it his mantra, to be repeated whenever the Dodgers, Devil Rays or any other team comes calling.

It's true what Lasorda preached all those years about there being no ``I'' in team. If he looks closely, he'll find it there in family, in friends, in community.