For Laura Lasorda, daughter of baseball icon Tommy Lasorda, photos of her parents together are her favorite among all the mementos, photographs and paintings in her personal collection highlighting the life and career of her Hall of Fame father.

Another favorite is a photograph of her father holding the plaque he received upon induction into that National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1997.

These keepsakes and other heirlooms she has loaned to the Fullerton Museum Center make up its new exhibit, “Lasorda Legacy: A Tribute to Baseball & Dodgers Legend Tommy Lasorda.”

The Lasorda exhibit is a companion to the traveling “Picturing America’s Pastime” exhibit, which features 51 framed photographs from the National Baseball Hall of Fame’s collection of about 250,000 images.

Both exhibits will be on display through Dec. 30.

“I think that, first of all, the museum did an incredible job, the way they presented everything, the things that we gave them,” Laura Lasorda said. “I think they highlighted everything. I believe its impeccably done. I’m so, so impressed and I’m so touched.”

Along with photographs, the Lasorda exhibit includes the World Series winning manager’s familiar royal blue satin jacket with “Dodgers” inscribed on the front and the Rawlings Heart of Gold Award he was given in 2011. Its inscription reads: “Tommy Lasorda, a true baseball ambassador, for his life-long contributions to promote baseball worldwide.”

Lasorda moved his family to Fullerton in the early 1960s and lived in the same house with his wife, Jo, for 70 years.

They died months apart from each other in 2021.

In 20 years as the Dodgers’ manager, Lasorda guided the team to eight National League West division titles, four National League pennants and two World Series championships.

Lasorda retired in 1996, but returned to the game to manage the United States Olympic Baseball Team to a gold medal in the 2000 Olympics in Sydney Australia.

“Tommy was there when Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier,” Chris Epting, author of “Baseball in Orange County,” said in statement about the exhibit.  “Tommy was there to help players like Fernando Valenzuela and Chan Ho Park adapt and thrive. He never saw color. Rather, he saw hope, promise and opportunity.”

Laura Lasorda said she plans to further the legacy of her parents, especially in promoting her father as an ambassador of the game and a consummate family man.

“They traveled the world,” she said of her parents. “They met every dignitary. Every president. Every celebrity.  But they always brought us back to their sweet little home in Fullerton so that we always kept our feet firmly planted on the ground, and that is important.”

The “Picturing America’s Pastime” exhibit chronicles the game, capturing from its early years through today in images in sepia, black-and-white and color.

“Fullerton is a proud baseball city,” Councilman Bruce Whitaker said. “There are so many examples of success and effort and endurance, and I think we all do well by that.”

The museum also has the permanent Leo Fender Gallery dedicated to another iconic longtime Fullerton resident and is hosting “Unplugged Thursdays” featuring various singers, songwriters and musicians weekly through Oct. 20.

The Fullerton Museum Center was once funded, in large part, by the city. The pandemic and economic downturn forced its closed from mid-2000 to mid-2021.

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Since receiving its last allocation of $100,000 from the city in 2021 to help it with reopening, the museum has tapped a variety of funding sources including grants, donations, hosting special events and renting the building to keep operations going, said Janet Buzan, chair of the museum’s board of trustees.

It now has about a third the staff as before, she said, but has kept up its same level of programming.

The museum has received a Shuttered Venue Operators Grant for $136,000 along with two California Arts grants, she said, but added, “we can’t rely only on grants.” About a third of the museum’s revenue has been coming from the beer garden sales during the weekly Thursday Downtown Fullerton Market, she said.

The museum board is hoping to receive financial assistance once again from the city, but no discussions have taken place between the board and city officials, Buzan said.

If you go

The “Lasorda Legacy” and “Picturing America’s Pastime” exhibits will be on display through Dec. 30.

Hours: The Fullerton Museum Center is open noon to 4 p.m. Wednesdays through Sundays and until 8:30 p.m. on Thursdays
Where: 301 N. Pomona Ave., Fullerton
Cost: Adult admission is $10; children ages 5 to 18 are $5
Information: fullertonmuseum.com