OUT OF THE DUGOUT, INTO GOOD HEALTH; LASORDA'S HEART ATTACK TOLD THE SKIPPER NOW'S THE TIME TO STOP BEING SUCH A HOT DOG.

Byline: Jenifer Hanrahan Daily News Staff Writer

Tommy Lasorda's limo driver looks back over his shoulder.

``Tommy,'' he says. ``I might need you in a minute.''

Lasorda glances out the back window at the blue and red flashing lights. Before the car stops, before the stone-faced motorcycle cop who was only too pleased to stop the plush, air-conditioned chariot doing 46 mph in a 35 can say, ``License and registration please,'' Lasorda swings open the door.

A few years ago, a spectator might have expected this baseball legend to charge from the car red-faced and temples pulsing, raging at an unfortunate authority figure - umpire, cop, whoever - who tried to keep him from his team's destination.

But after a heart attack last year, this most-famous former Los Angeles Dodgers manager, who hung up his cap in July, is playing a whole new ballgame.

If his nearly flat belly and easy demeanor are any indication, it seems Lasorda's reputation as an Alka-Seltzer popping, Pepto-Bismol swigging, high-strung guy who downed 112 oysters in one sitting and never said no to a meatball has retired too.

``Having a heart attack put the fear of God in me,'' Lasorda said. ``I'm just trying to do everything right.''

So when he stepped up to bat for his limo driver, Lasorda's booming voice remained gentle, soothing, calm.

``It was really my fault,'' Lasorda told the motorcycle cop. ``I was asking him to hurry because we are running late.''

``Don't I know you?'' the officer asked.

Moments later, Lasorda and his entourage were on their way, ticket-free.

And nowadays, Lasorda has a new pitch. As spokesman for the American Heart Association and Merck pharmaceutical company, he touts a low-fat diet, low-stress lifestyle, regular exercise and regular check-ups to prevent heart disease, which kills more than 1 million Americans a year.

``We need to get the message out to the people in the country,'' Lasorda said. ``I thought I was indestructible. If I did the things then that I'm doing now, I never would have had a heart attack.''

At lunch at the unbelievably-upscale-for-a-gym Sports Club L.A. (which actually has valet parking), Lasorda ordered a nonfat bean burrito and a salad with nonfat yogurt dressing. Typically, he sticks to fruits and vegetables, plain baked potatoes and pastas. Nothing fried. No dairy products. He rarely eats meat, even the lean kind.

``I don't eat anything that eats anything - not chicken, turkey, fish, nothing,'' he said.

Still, his gastronomic legacy lives on. The world watched in the early '90s when, as a pitchman for Slim Fast, he shed nearly 50 pounds, only to gain it back.

The Stage Deli sells a Tommy Lasorda sub, a triple-decker with turkey, salami, Swiss cheese and Russian dressing.

At Paul's Kitchen, a Chinese restaurant in downtown Los Angeles and a favorite Lasorda greasy spoon, $8.30 buys the Tommy Lasorda Special: wonton soup, egg rolls, asparagus with beef, sweet-and-sour-shrimp, fried rice, spare ribs, and chashu or barbecued pork.

But nowadays, owner Ken Ng can attest: Lasorda is no cheater.

``Before, he used to eat a lot,'' Ng said. ``Now, I cook for him vegetables, steamed rice, chicken noodle soup, everything low-salt, no oil, no sugar. He looks pretty good now, better than before.''

In fact, if he ever has cause to slip into his slim-fitting No. 2 uniform again, he'd look positively svelte.

For nearly five decades in baseball, Lasorda's exercise consisted of throwing batting practice and swimming occasionally in the off-season. Now, he rides a stationary bike 30 to 40 minutes a day and walks on a treadmill for 15 to 20 minutes. He'd go longer if it wasn't for his ``bum knees.''

As a result, his weight dropped from 220 to 195 pounds. His cholesterol level, at a dangerously high 250 when he went into the hospital, has fallen to a desirable 150.

Still, he's not going to let his success go to his head.

``A lot of guys, they start to feel good and they go back to their old ways,'' Lasorda said. ``I got a warning. A lot of people don't.''

Heart disease has struck down other Dodgers' greats. In 1987, Don McMahon, 57, a special assignment scout for the Dodgers, had just finished throwing batting practice when he had a heart attack in the dugout. He died as Lasorda clutched his hand and players tried frantically to revive him.

Dodgers Hall of Famer Roy Campanella died of a heart attack on June 28, 1993. The following week, Dodgers' pitching great Don Drysdale died at 56 from a heart attack in his hotel room in Montreal, where he was scheduled to broadcast a Dodgers game.

``I said to him, `Let's have breakfast,' '' Lasorda recalled. ``He said, `Call me in the morning.' He never did.''

The day Lasorda went into the hospital was like any other. The night before, he ate. A lot. He figured his stomach ache was indigestion.

``After a game, if we won, I was so happy, I ate a lot,'' Lasorda said. ``If we lost, I was so mad, I ate a lot.''

By the next morning, still feeling the abdominal pains, he saw a doctor. The initial diagnosis: an ulcer.

``I said, `I don't have an ulcer,' '' Lasorda said. ``I give them!''

He chortles, then gets quiet. Further tests showed the pain was indeed a mild heart attack.

``I said it couldn't be from stress. I loved my job. I loved every day of it,'' Lasorda said. ``Then I thought, `Maybe it was the freeways.' Then I thought, `Maybe it was the way I've been eating.' ''

He consulted with Dr. Anthony Reid, a cardiologist at Centinela Hospital Medical Center in Inglewood, who performed an angioplasty on Lasorda to open a partially blocked coronary artery.

``I said, `Doc, what do I have to do so I don't have to come back here?' '' Lasorda said.

Reid told him it's not surprising he had a heart attack. The risk factors were there: Lasorda was a former pack-a-day smoker (he quit decades ago). He was overweight, had high blood pressure and high cholesterol and led a relatively sedentary lifestyle.

Together, they developed a low-fat diet and exercise program.

``I sit there and look at a hot dog and I drool,'' said Lasorda, who is now vice president of the Dodgers. ``Every time I go to speak someplace, they're eating prime rib.

``But I feel great, outstanding.''

CAPTION(S):

4 Photos

Photo: (1--2--Cover--Color) PERFECT PITCH

Tommy Lasorda has gone from yelling at umpires to raising awareness about heart disease

(3) When he was manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Tommy Lasorda had a reputation for his boundless appetite and for taking issue with the umpires.

Daily News File Photo

(4) ``Having a heart attack put the fear of God in me. I'm just trying to do everything right,'' says Lasorda, who was honored last year before a game at Dodger Stadium.

David R. Cane/Daily News