Dodgers reliever Tom Niedenfuer drilled the Padres’ Joe Lefebvre in the head with an 0-2 pitch on this date — June 30 — in 1982, moments after giving up a home run. Kurt Bevacqua dashed onto the field and was ejected. Manager Dick Williams seethed after the game, telling reporters his Padres “have long memories.”
Days later, Bevacqua further stirred the pot when he said Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda, “the fat little Italian,” should be fined for ordering the beaning on top of the slap-on-the-wrist $500 fine Niedenfuer received.
Lasorda’s response still ranks as one of the great manager rants of all time:
“I’ll tell you what I think about it.