Lasorda’s routine graciousness was no act

There are those in and around baseball who regarded Tommy Lasorda as a bogus act, a self-promoting, glad-handing, attention-craving blowhard.

Those are people who didn’t know him, never saw that his “act” was all him, all day and night, no admittance fee. Lasorda was, Canada to the Equator, Uncle Baseball.

In 1996, I watched the city of La Romana in the Dominican Republic fill the local stadium when word spread that Lasorda would be at the game. Los Toros — the Bulls — a Dodgers-heavy winter league team.

On his way in, I watched as he was handed scores of kids to hold and kiss — and he did so with inexhaustible pleasure. Lasorda managed teams in the D.R.; there’s a statue of him in the plaza in La Romana.

And I watched every big shot in town, including the vice president of the D.R. and Dominican former big leaguers, seek him out to embrace him. I was blessed to have had an all-day, close-up of an extraordinary man.

➤ The best thing about not being rich is that you’ll never have to write million dollar checks to pay undeserving players on the team you own.

Imagine, for over $20 million per year, Kyrie Irving can’t see his way to call his coach directly before an NBA game to personally tell him he won’t be there. And this is a gent given to lecturing about human dignity and being treated like a man rather than just another basketball star.

Though it’s becoming apparent — perhaps predictably so — that Irving feels entitled to play only when in the mood, how would Irving, if he were the team owner, respond to Irving, the big ticket, no-show superstar?

Meanwhile the YES Network will become the game-time, last-stop depot to learn which Nets have decided to take off from work. And the craziest part is that in new coach Steve Nash, the Nets hired a former star who always played hard, never took a minute off from work.