LOS ANGELES – This Saturday evening, April 29, prior to the Dodgers’ 6:10 p.m. contest vs. the St. Louis Cardinals, legendary Dodger player, coach, broadcaster and community activist Manny Mota will become the sixth player to be inducted into the Legends of Dodger Baseball, presented by Bank of America.
The pregame ceremony will be hosted by Dodger broadcaster and Manny’s son, Jose Mota, and feature several guests, including Manny’s family, Hall of Fame broadcaster Jaime Jarrín, Dodger broadcaster Orel Hershiser, Dodger legend Steve Garvey, former Dodger owner Peter O’Malley, former Dodger and future Hall of Famer Adrián Beltré and Alfonso Rodríguez Zorrilla, the Consul General of the Dominican Republic on the West Coast of the United States. The festivities will also include video tributes as well as a few special surprises for Manny, who has been a fixture wherever there has been Dodger baseball over parts of the last seven decades.
“This is a great honor and a great privilege, and I’m very grateful to the Dodgers for selecting me as a Legend of Dodger Baseball,” said Mota. “I don’t consider myself a legend, just another person who always tried to contribute to the Dodgers and give my best. I am humbled and really appreciate what the Dodgers are doing for me. I consider Dodger Stadium my home away from home, and I consider myself to be an adopted son of the Dodger organization.”
Mota will be available in the Dodgers’ interview room on the first level adjacent to the clubhouse at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday.
Legends of Dodger Baseball is a recognition of Dodger greats and their impact on the franchise, both on and off the field. Inductees receive a plaque honoring their Dodger achievements, which will also be on permanent display at Dodger Stadium.
Steve Garvey, Don Newcombe and Fernando Valenzuela made up the inaugural Legends of Dodger Baseball class in 2019. Maury Wills and Kirk Gibson were inducted during the 2022 season and Hershiser will be enshrined later this season on July 29.
Mota has been a member of the Dodger organization for more than 50 years as a player, coach and broadcaster and was the longest-tenured coach in Dodger history (1980-2018). He played 20 Major League seasons with San Francisco (1962), Pittsburgh (1963-68), Montreal (1969) and the Dodgers (1969-80, '82), batting .304 and retiring as baseball's all-time pinch-hit leader with 150. Mota was an All-Star for the Dodgers in 1973 and after retiring as a player in 1980, he joined the Dodgers' coaching staff as the club's first base coach and batting instructor but was re-activated on Aug. 29 of that year when Reggie Smith went on the disabled list. He was also activated from the coaching staff for one game in 1982, his 816th contest as a Dodger, which rank as the fourth most among all Los Angeles players born in the Dominican Republic.
He has participated in five World Series with the Dodgers as a player or coach, was inducted into the Hispanic Heritage Baseball Museum in 2003 and has also been awarded the Deportista Meritorio in the Dominican Republic, a lifetime achievement award honoring his baseball career and citizenship. In 2022, he was inducted into the Latino Baseball Hall of Fame. Mota and his wife, Margarita, operate a youth baseball league during the offseason and the Manny Mota International Foundation, a non-profit organization which has raised money to build a medical clinic, baseball fields and a school in the Dominican Republic.