Fernandomania

BY KEVIN KERNAN

Fernando Valenzuela always looked to the heavens when he threw a pitch.

It was a thing of beauty.

This week the game lost another pitching legend when Valenzuela died Tuesday at the age of 63. Earlier this month Luis Tiant, 83, passed away.

El Tiante and El Toro, two fine men, and two of the most creative pitching artists, who did so much for the enjoyment of baseball. My prayer, right now, is that they are throwing a bullpen together in baseball heaven.

To fully understand what Fernando Valenzuela meant to baseball I reached out to Lyle Spencer, one of the most talented, perceptive, and caring sportswriters I ever worked with through my many decades of covering sports.

Lyle, who speaks Spanish was there, right with Fernando during that entire 1981 season when Valenzuela won his first eight starts, all complete games, five shutouts as Fernandomania was born. Lyle was teaching the young Fernando English.

“I really don’t know how much value it was to him, but I really did get to know Fernando,’’ Spencer told BallNine from his home in California on Wednesday, “Just walking around Dodger-town every night. He was just the sweetheart-est guy you’d ever want to meet, too good to be true, really.’’

Then Spencer offered this most interesting observation of today’s Dodger superstar Shohei Ohtani. Ohtani and the Dodgers square off against Aaron Judge and the Yankees Friday night at Dodger Stadium in Game 1 of the World Series.

“Now, I watch Ohtani and it reminds me of Fernando in the sense that the guy is always in a good mood, you never see him angry,’’ Spencer said. “I don’t remember Fernando ever being angry. And Ohtani seems to have a character very similar to Fernando and I noticed that right from the start.

“When Ohtani was with the Angels I wasn’t around him as much, but I did occasionally drop in and (Mike) Trout and a few other people I knew told me that Ohtani was too good to be true, he’s the nicest guy in the world, he’s like from outer space he’s so great.’’

Fernando wasn’t created in a pitching lab, he came from the real world.

Fernando was a huge difference-maker when he showed up as the Dodgers went on to win the World Series in 1981, beating the Yankees. Fernando was the winning pitcher in Game 3, yet another complete game. That marked the last time these two teams met in a World Series. That year Fernando won both NL Cy Young and Rookie of the Year honors.

Valenzuela will be remembered for not only what he accomplished on the mound, but for his unique style of pitching, coming from a tiny village in Mexico, discovered by a legendary scout, to give the Dodgers a pitching savior and a box office bonanza.

Fernando wasn’t created in a pitching lab, he came from the real world.

In those first eight starts in 1981, Valenzuela gave up four runs in 72 innings. Imagine today a rookie pitcher having one complete game, much less eight in a row to start a career? These days, they barely let a young pitcher throw three innings in a game.

“That ’81 season was the season where I tried to teach him English, so I went through that whole season, but that was the interrupted season (because of the strike),’’ Spencer said.

“That run of his was the most amazing thing I think I have ever seen in sports; it was unreal.

“A book was written about Fernando by Erik Sherman (Daybreak at Chavez Ravine),’’ Spencer explained. “It goes into depth about how alienated the Latino community was from the Dodgers when they moved all of the people out of the ravine (to build the ballpark). And a lot of those people vowed never to go to a Dodger game, and they actually hated the Dodgers. And then Fernando brought all of that community back, and in my opinion, he basically changed the game as much as anybody, and this is in the book, Erik quoted me liberally in the book, and Dusty Baker also, Dusty loved Fernando.

“In my mind, nobody ever, maybe Babe Ruth, brought as many new fans to the game as Fernando,’’ Spencer said. “He brought the whole Latino population to baseball, including the LA people who hated the Dodgers. And that is something where Fernando was never given enough credit for in my mind. When I started covering the Dodgers in the early 70s, there was maybe five percent Latino population at Dodger games. You go there now, and it is half Latino, at least, and that is all Fernando, he did that. It kind of bothers me that there is just not enough appreciation of that, what he did for the sport.’’

I was fortunate enough to see Valenzuela pitch live a good number of times after moving to San Diego in 1988 to cover the Padres, the year the Dodgers shocked the Mets in the NLCS and I was there as Kirk Gibson hit his magical limp-off home run at Dodger Stadium in Game 1 of the World Series against the A’s.

Flash forward to the 2017 World Series at Dodger Stadium when I was also there when Vin Scully was set to throw out the ceremonial first pitch before Game 2 against the Astros. Vin, citing shoulder issues, called to the bullpen to bring in Fernando. The ballpark went crazy. It was Vin, of course, who had one of his classic calls when Fernando pitched his no-hitter against the Cardinals on June 29, 1990, the second no-hitter of the day. Earlier, A’s right-hander Dave Stewart no-hit the Blue Jays at the SkyDome in Toronto.

The Dodgers watched the end of that game in their clubhouse and Fernando said, “Well, you’ve already seen a no-hitter on television … now you will see one live.’’

Fernandomania had some magic left.

When the last outs were made on a double play grounder, Scully put it all together beautifully on the broadcast, saying, “Fernando Valenzuela has pitched a no-hitter at 10:17 in the evening of June the 29th, 1990, if you have a sombrero throw it to the sky.’’

A glorious call for all Dodger fans.

Fernando was 141-116 over his 11 years with the Dodgers with a 3.31 ERA. He also pitched for five other clubs, finishing with a 173-153 record with a 3.54 ERA. He pitched 113 complete games, and three times led in complete games, including 20 in 1986. No one in Major League Baseball pitched more than two complete games in 2024. No one has matched or had more complete games than Valenzuela’s 20 since 1986.

Yes, we are in a much different era of pitching and in this postseason the Dodgers have already had to go to three bullpen games just to survive. Another one is coming,

The Dodgers and baseball have gone from Fernandomania to Bullpenmania. That’s how sad the pitching picture has become under the current leadership of teams and the epidemic of pitching injuries.

Valenzuela did not get serious Hall of Fame consideration, although, if you look at the Big Picture, and what he meant to the Latino community, there is a good argument to be made to put Valenzuela in the Hall. He also spent many years with the Dodgers as a Spanish-language broadcaster, part of the team and the community again.

Up in the press box, I would often see him standing in the back before games, waiting patiently for the press notes to arrive. Fernando was always extremely approachable, and he had a wonderful sense of humor. He never bragged about his accomplishments.

He was there to do his job, and he never stopped being an ambassador for the Dodgers.

Fernando first got onto the Dodgers radar in 1978 – and it is a classic story of good scouting finding a great talent.

Mike Brito was the cigar-chomping, fedora-wearing, radar gun-slinging scout who discovered Valenzuela in Mexico City in 1978. Brito was there to see a shortstop that day and came back with a legendary left-handed pitcher with a curveball that was so good, it dominated hitters in the thin air of Mexico City. Once a Dodger, Valenzuela added a screwball that he was taught in 10 minutes by Dodger pitcher Bobby Castillo.

Fernando’s command was impeccable, something that today’s pitchers should learn, and he used a lot of deception. Fernando pitched; he didn’t just throw the baseball. He wasn’t lighting up the radar gun, he commanded the baseball.

And forever, he was idolized by the Latino fans. Another friend of mine, Jeff Dotseth, traveled with the Padres to Monterey, Mexico for the Padres-Mets games in 1996 when Fernando was with the Padres, a team that featured Tony Gwynn and Trevor Hoffman, two future Hall of Famers.

“I was on the team bus after game one, and as we pulled up to the hotel you could see a bunch of fans waiting,’’ Dotseth recalled. “They weren’t there for Tony, (Ken) Caminiti, (Steve) Finley or Trevor. They wanted to meet #34. It was very cool seeing all of his teammates chanting, ‘Toro! Toro! Toro!’ as Fernando took the time to sign every autograph. He was a good dude.’’

This was 15 years after that 8-0 complete-game run with the Dodgers, arriving from his home in Etchohuaquila, Mexico. Fernando was 35 but the fans still adored him, and he wound up producing a 13-8 season with a 3.62 ERA for the NL West winning Padres.

Dodgers CEO and president Stan Kasten, always a straight-shooting Jersey Guy I have known since his days with the Atlanta Hawks, said of Fernando, “He is one of the most influential Dodgers ever and belongs on the Mount Rushmore of franchise heroes. He galvanized the fan base with the Fernandomania season of 1981 and has remained close to our hearts ever since, not only as a player but also as a broadcaster. He has left us all too soon.’’

Yes he has; and the Dodgers will lovingly honor him this World Series. Fernando’s No. 34 will worn by a legion of fans.

Fernandomania will remain a part of Dodgers and baseball history. Forever.