(via Baseball Reference)
A pall was cast upon the forthcoming World Series between the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers with news of the passing of former Dodgers pitcher and Spanish language broadcaster Fernando Valenzuela at the age of 63.
The last time the Yankees and Dodgers faced off in the World Series was in 1981 - the year of Fernandomania. The Dodgers simply would not have won the 1981 World Series if not for his larger-than-life presence.
Fernando had pitched briefly with the Dodgers at the tail end of the 1980 season at the tender age of 19. While made a good account of himself, few expected the Mexican born southpaw to transform baseball as he did in 1981.
Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda made Fernando his Opening Day starters when neither Jerry Reuss (who finished runner up in NL Cy Young balloting in 1980 to Hall of Famer Steve Carlton) nor Burt Hooton could answer the call. Fernando responded by tossing a complete game, five hit shutout against the defending NL West champion Houston Astros. He then proceeded to toss eight complete games in his first eight big league starts including five shutouts. At one point, Fernando had a record of 8-0 with a 0.50 ERA.
Could you imagine any big-league manager allowing any starting pitcher, let alone a rookie, pitch eight consecutive complete games? This will never happen again in baseball at any level and the game is pooer for it.
It wasn't what he did but how he did it. The way Fernando looked to the sky before delivering his trademark screwball with his joyous smile. Fernando would finish the 1981 strike-shortened season with a record of 13-7 with a 2.48 ERA leading the NL in starts (25), complete games (11), shutouts (8), innings pitched (192.1) and strikeouts (180) and earn both the NL Rookie of the Year and Cy Young Award. No pitcher has done so before or since. On top of that, he would earn a World Series ring as the Dodgers prevailed in six games over the Yankees with a complete game victory in Game 3 of the Fall Classic.
I would make the case that Fernando Valenzuela was bigger in 1981 than Shohei Ohtani has been this year or any other year. I remember Fernando's teammate the late Jay Johnstone describing Fernando as "a Mexican Babe Ruth" and he did have that aura about him.
Fernando would make six consecutive NL All-Star Teams between 1981 and 1986. In the 1986 season, Fernando led the NL with 21 wins and 20 complete games. Fernando is the last big-league pitcher to earn 20 complete games in a season. Again, this is something we will never again see in baseball at any level.
Granted, Fernando was never again a dominant pitcher after the 1986 season. While he would earn a World Series ring with the Dodgers in 1988, he was kept off the post-season roster with Orel Hershiser having supplanted him as the team's ace.
Fernando did have flashes of brilliance as in 1990 when he tossed a no-hitter against the St. Louis Cardinals only hours after his former Dodger teammate Dave Stewart no-hit the Toronto Blue Jays as a member of the Oakland A's. However, Fernando led the NL in earned runs with 104 and would be cut loose by the Dodgers at the end of the season.
Fernando would have stops with the California Angels, Baltimore Orioles, Philadelphia Phillies and San Diego Padres where he would return to form with a 13-win campaign in 1996 when the Padres won the NL West under a young Bruce Bochy. However, time caught up with Fernando in 1997 which he split between the Padres and Cardinals finishing the final season of his career with a 2-12 record and a 4.96 ERA. In 17 MLB seasons, Fernando went 173-153 with a 3.54 ERA and 2,074 career strikeouts.
Fernando would return to the Dodger family in 2003 as a Spanish language broadcaster joining Jaime Jarrin in the radio booth before moving to TV broadcasting in 2015. Shortly before the Dodgers were to begin the post-season, Fernando issued a statement that he was leaving the booth to address a health problem with the hope of returning in 2025. Alas, a return which will never come.
No cause of death has been released, but Fernando had appeared more noticeably gaunt. Whatever the circumstances, Dodgers fans will want to remember Fernando's glory years in the early to mid 1980s and hope that memory will serve as an inspiration for a Dodgers World Series triumph. R.I.P.
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