Hall of Fame baseball manager Tom Lasorda was proud when West O'ahu won the Little League World Series last summer by beating Curacao.

"I think it was great," said Lasorda yesterday in an interview at The Advertiser office. "I (would have) hate to see it won by somebody outside of our country. Baseball is our game. To see those youngsters win it was very, very exciting.

"What we'd like to see is those youngsters continue playing baseball up to where one day they become like Sid Fernandez (a former Dodger drafted out of Kaiser High in 1981). They could become major league players (one day). There should be more players coming out of here."

These days, Lasorda is promoting a bigger international event in the first World Baseball Classic. There will be 16 countries divided among four pools. Games will be played in Japan, Puerto Rico and the United States. The first games begin March 3 at Tokyo Dome.

"Why it's important is because it will show that baseball is being played all over the world," said Lasorda, 78, senior adviser to the chairman for the Los Angeles Dodgers. "Countries that are in it, they're going to continue to grow, as far as baseball is concerned and we're going to even add more countries in the future."

Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig appointed Lasorda to be ambassador for the Classic, a fitting title for a man who has been called the unofficial ambassador of the game because of his enthusiastic manor of promoting the national pastime. What also made him a logical choice was his familiarity with the countries in the Classic. Ambassador is a role he cherishes.

"I was honored that Commissioner Bud Selig would choose me to be the ambassador of the World Baseball Classic, which simply means that I'm travelling around the 16 countries that are involved in the Classic," said Lasorda. "I've been to 14 of (the 16 countries) in some way as a player, a manager, an instructor."

The Classic is scheduled to occur every four years, he said. He wouldn't mind seeing games played here in the future.

"I think it would be a great idea, simply because of the (proximity of the) Asian teams," he said.

Moreover, he said he hopes to see a true World Series with Major League Baseball's champion playing the Japan champion.

"That was my vision a long time ago," said Lasorda, who managed the Dodgers 21 seasons with 1,599 wins and World Series titles in 1981 and 1988. "I said that I hoped in my lifetime — maybe it might not be — but I used to say that someday in the future, there will be a real World Series between the United States and Japan. But let's hope it's before I join the Big Dodger in the Sky."

Lasorda, who will be a guest speaker at today's Maui Baseball Expo and Monday's Grand Slam Celebration that raises money for the University of Hawai'i-Manoa baseball program, is no stranger to Hawai'i.

In May 2004, Lasorda spoke at the University of Hawai'i-Manoa commencement; he will receive an honorary degree from UH at Monday's Grand Slam.

Also, before becoming manager of the Dodgers at the end of the 1976 season, Lasorda managed at Triple-A Spokane (Wash.) and Albuquerque (N.M.) in the Pacific Coast League when the defunct Hawaii Islanders played at the old Ho-nolulu Stadium, which is now a public park at King and Isenberg streets in Moi'ili'ili.

"I remember the fans here were great fans," he said. "It was a good ball park for minor-league baseball."

Reach Stacy Kaneshiro at skaneshiro@honoluluadvertiser.com.