Tommy Lasagna

Tommy Lasagna, usually referred to as simply Mr. Lasagna, is the somewhat impatient coach of the Brooklyn Dodgers baseball team. He currently has plans to open up a new restaurant in Brooklyn. Ironically, he shares his last name with a type of pasta.

History
One day, Tommy Lasagna phoned Mario at Mario Brothers Plumbing, and told him that he would be coming over soon. Before he even arrived, a meatball that Mario had been practicing his pitching with flew out a window and landed right in his mouth. Upon his entrance, Mr. Lasagna was unable to speak to Mario and Luigi until Luigi pulled the meatball out of his mouth.

Although Mr. Lasagna explained to Mario and Luigi that he wasn't there to recruit them for his baseball team, they were eager to show them their stuff, and they got to work with moving some furniture around to make room for a pretend baseball diamond. Mr. Lasagna assigned Mario to pitch while Luigi was to catch, and had to wait around until Mario was finally ready. As Mario threw the ball over Luigi's head, Mr. Lasagna traced it on his radar, and it came up with the reading "Don't give up your day job".

Some time later, Luigi wound up on top of Mr. Lasagna, while he had his hand on a pizza box being used as home plate. Mr. Lasagna struggled to get up and sat down at the table, telling Mario and Luigi that he wasn't there to recuit them for his team; instead, he told them that he was opening a new restaurant in town, and wanted to sample the famous Mama Mario meatball recipe. Mr. Lasagna took a bite out of one, and spat it out, complaining that it tasted like horsehide and string.

Mr. Lasagna decided to take the meatballs with him as he got ready to leave, and was asked by Mario if he was going to feed them to the team. Mr. Lasagna said that the meatballs were only good for using in place of real baseballs, and told Luigi that he needed them to get out of the cellar. Luigi asked if he meant the bottom of the league, and Mr. Lasagna stated that he actually meant their basement apartment.

Before Mr. Lasagna could leave, he was asked by Mario what he and Luigi could do, and he told them that he did had something they could do at the ballpark. Mario figured that it had to do with pitching, but Mr. Lasagna corrected him, stating that the two of them could toss peanuts, as he pulled two bags of them out of his pocket and tossed them to Mario and Luigi.

Trivia

 * His name is a pun on Tommy Lasorda, a real-life baseball manager who coached the Brooklyn Dodgers (who actually played in Los Angeles) at the time.