The 25-year-old viral sensation on Tik Tok, ESPN, Fox Sports and MLB.com is best known for bailing out Team Italy in a high-leverage situation against Kingdom of the Netherlands in the 2023 World Baseball Classic in Taichung, Taiwan on March 12, 2023. The cameras captured Joe LaSorsa in a must-win game for both teams in order to reach the quarterfinals in Tokyo. The Dutch had loaded the bases when the lefty reliever was summoned from the bullpen to replace Andre Pallante. Joe LaSorsa quickly induced an infield popup from Didi Gregorius and then struck out Jonathan Schoop looking and Roger Bernadina swinging.
After the remarkable feat in preserving the eventual 7-1 win for Team Italy, an overjoyed Joe LaSorsa flexed and howled on the mound. He pounded his chest, pumped his fist and bumped chests with his Azzurri teammates before walking in the dugout, where he exchanged high-fives and gave a bear hug to catcher Brett Sullivan to culminate the 50 second celebration.
Joe LaSorsa said, “They just know I’m a loose cannon, you know, like a psycho kid, and they know how much emotions fester up inside of me and sometimes if the moment gets really big, I can’t even help myself. I’ve been kind of doing that throughout my whole career. It’s just a matter of that there was finally a camera was on me. I’ve probably controlled myself more since then....”
Prior to the cameras taking aim at him once again during his MLB debut for the Tampa Bay Rays against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field on Monday, May 29, 2023, Joe LaSorsa pitched in a variety of roles as a stater, a late-inning reliever and a left-handed specialist for Triple-A Durham. He entered his first MLB game with the Rays trailing 1-0 in the bottom of the seventh inning in relief of Trevor Kelly. Joe LaSorsa had a quick one-two-three out inning and returned to pitch in the bottom of the eighth inning. After back-to-back strikeouts of Matt Mervis and Tucker Barnhart, he walked Team Italy infielder and Cubs' leadoff hitter Miles Mastrobuoni, who stole second base. A flyout by Nico Herner ended the scoring threat and the nearly perfect two innings of relief for Joe LaSorsa in his MLB debut for the Tampa Bay Rays. The first place Rays were unable to score in the top of the ninth inning, and the home team Cubs prevailed in the 1-0 shutout.
TAMPA BAY RAYS-CHICAGO CUBS BOX SCORE
Forza #Italia!
by Roberto Angotti
