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Daybreak at Chavez Ravine: Fernandomania and the Remaking of the Los Angeles Dodgers
Fernando Valenzuela was only twenty years old when Tom Lasorda chose him as the Dodgers’ opening-day starting pitcher in 1981. Born in the remote Mexican town of Etchohuaquila, the left-hander had moved to the United States less than two years before. He became an instant icon, and his superlative rookie season produced Cy Young and Rookie of the Year awards—and a World Series victory over the Yankees.
Forty years later, there hasn’t been a player since who created as many Dodgers fans. After the Dodgers’ move to Los Angeles from Brooklyn in the late 1950s, relations were badly strained between the organization and the Latin world. Mexican Americans had been evicted from their homes in Chavez Ravine, Los Angeles—some forcibly—for well below market value so the city could sell the land to team owner Walter O’Malley for a new stadium. For a generation of working-class Mexican Americans, the Dodgers became a source of great anguish over the next two decades.
However, that bitterness toward the Dodgers vanished during the 1981 season when Valenzuela attracted the fan base the Dodgers had tried in vain to reach for years. El Toro, as he was called, captured the imagination of the baseball world. A hero in Mexico, a legend in Los Angeles, and a phenomenon throughout the United States, Valenzuela did more to change that tense political environment than anyone in the history of baseball. A new fan base flooded Dodger Stadium and ballparks around the United States whenever Valenzuela pitched in a phenomenon that quickly became known as Fernandomania, which continued throughout a Dodger career that included six straight All-Star game appearances.
Daybreak at Chavez Ravine retells Valenzuela’s arrival and permanent influence on Dodgers history while bringing redemption to the organization’s controversial beginnings in LA. Through new interviews with players, coaches, broadcasters, and media, Erik Sherman reveals a new side of this intensely private man and brings fresh insight to the ways he transformed the Dodgers and started a phenomenon that radically altered the country’s cultural and sporting landscape.
Forty years later, there hasn’t been a player since who created as many Dodgers fans. After the Dodgers’ move to Los Angeles from Brooklyn in the late 1950s, relations were badly strained between the organization and the Latin world. Mexican Americans had been evicted from their homes in Chavez Ravine, Los Angeles—some forcibly—for well below market value so the city could sell the land to team owner Walter O’Malley for a new stadium. For a generation of working-class Mexican Americans, the Dodgers became a source of great anguish over the next two decades.
However, that bitterness toward the Dodgers vanished during the 1981 season when Valenzuela attracted the fan base the Dodgers had tried in vain to reach for years. El Toro, as he was called, captured the imagination of the baseball world. A hero in Mexico, a legend in Los Angeles, and a phenomenon throughout the United States, Valenzuela did more to change that tense political environment than anyone in the history of baseball. A new fan base flooded Dodger Stadium and ballparks around the United States whenever Valenzuela pitched in a phenomenon that quickly became known as Fernandomania, which continued throughout a Dodger career that included six straight All-Star game appearances.
Daybreak at Chavez Ravine retells Valenzuela’s arrival and permanent influence on Dodgers history while bringing redemption to the organization’s controversial beginnings in LA. Through new interviews with players, coaches, broadcasters, and media, Erik Sherman reveals a new side of this intensely private man and brings fresh insight to the ways he transformed the Dodgers and started a phenomenon that radically altered the country’s cultural and sporting landscape.
280 pages, Hardcover
Published May 1, 2023
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
November 2, 2023
One could not be a baseball fan, even a very casual one, in 1981 and not know who Fernando Valenzuela was. That was the year of “Fernando-mainia” when he took the baseball world by storm as a 20 year old rookie pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers by winning his first 8 games with a humble attitude, speaking little to no English, and became the pride of his native Mexico. This book by Erik Sherman makes a great trip down memory lane who remember that season and the sold-out crowds at every game Valenzuela pitched.
Sherman begins the book with the history of the relationship between the Dodgers and the Mexican-American population of Los Angeles. That relationship was tenuous at best as Mexican-American family were forced out of their homes at Chavez Ravine for the construction of Dodger Stadium. While Sherman does state that the Dodgers are not solely to blame for this happening, they were considered the emblem for this poor treatment of a marginalized population.
Enter Valenzuela. He came to the Dodgers near the tail end of the 1980 season and working out of the bullpen, he didn’t allow an earned run in more than 17 innings of work. But the young, seemingly portly (but in great shape) pitcher born in a small impoverished Mexican town really turned the baseball world upside down in 1981. Sherman’s account of those games, the sold-out crowds and the fervor among Mexican-Americans reveling in the success of “one of their own.” The impact Valenzuela had on this population cannot be overstated.
Not only were Mexican-Americans in Los Angeles excited over his success, but all across the country “Fernandomainia” was building. When Valenzuela pitched his first game in New York and the media buzz that occurred, Sherman wrote about that with good detail. When talking about how Valenzuela remained humble and focused on his work even with all the requests for his time, that was described well. This was also the case during the postseason, when he defeated all three teams he faced in that season’s expanded playoff format due to a players’ strike, capped off by a World Series championship for the Dodgers.
Sherman does justice for Valenzuela by also writing about his years after that special season and finding teammates and others who felt that he was just as good in other years, especially 1986 and 1987, as he was in 1981. There isn’t a lot about him that is remembered after that special season, but that chapter in this book will show the complete pitcher Valenzuela was, even if it always wasn’t as spectacular as his rookie season. Sherman finishes the book by making a case about Valenzuela being in the baseball Hall of Fame. He does give voices to those who disagree, but Sherman does present a good argument to have him in. This is especially true when considering his overall impact on the sport aside from just his pitching statistics.
Any baseball fan who remembers that special season or the very good pitching of Fernando Valenzuela should pick up this book.
https://sportsbookguy.blogspot.com/20...
Sherman begins the book with the history of the relationship between the Dodgers and the Mexican-American population of Los Angeles. That relationship was tenuous at best as Mexican-American family were forced out of their homes at Chavez Ravine for the construction of Dodger Stadium. While Sherman does state that the Dodgers are not solely to blame for this happening, they were considered the emblem for this poor treatment of a marginalized population.
Enter Valenzuela. He came to the Dodgers near the tail end of the 1980 season and working out of the bullpen, he didn’t allow an earned run in more than 17 innings of work. But the young, seemingly portly (but in great shape) pitcher born in a small impoverished Mexican town really turned the baseball world upside down in 1981. Sherman’s account of those games, the sold-out crowds and the fervor among Mexican-Americans reveling in the success of “one of their own.” The impact Valenzuela had on this population cannot be overstated.
Not only were Mexican-Americans in Los Angeles excited over his success, but all across the country “Fernandomainia” was building. When Valenzuela pitched his first game in New York and the media buzz that occurred, Sherman wrote about that with good detail. When talking about how Valenzuela remained humble and focused on his work even with all the requests for his time, that was described well. This was also the case during the postseason, when he defeated all three teams he faced in that season’s expanded playoff format due to a players’ strike, capped off by a World Series championship for the Dodgers.
Sherman does justice for Valenzuela by also writing about his years after that special season and finding teammates and others who felt that he was just as good in other years, especially 1986 and 1987, as he was in 1981. There isn’t a lot about him that is remembered after that special season, but that chapter in this book will show the complete pitcher Valenzuela was, even if it always wasn’t as spectacular as his rookie season. Sherman finishes the book by making a case about Valenzuela being in the baseball Hall of Fame. He does give voices to those who disagree, but Sherman does present a good argument to have him in. This is especially true when considering his overall impact on the sport aside from just his pitching statistics.
Any baseball fan who remembers that special season or the very good pitching of Fernando Valenzuela should pick up this book.
https://sportsbookguy.blogspot.com/20...
June 6, 2023
Really enjoyable book, with lots of great Dodgers, LA, Chavez Ravine, and even Caesar Chavez history. Focused primarily on the 1981 Dodgers World Series run that was highlighted by “Fernandomania.” Highly recommend for all baseball fans, an absolute must for Dodger fans
December 29, 2023
My off-season of reading through Casey Award winners and nominees continues. Two months into this particular offseason I really miss baseball more than usual. Last year the World Cup tempered things, but my winter of subpar football and hockey is just getting me more antsy for the boys of summer. Recently when someone asked me what my favorite season is, I answered nonchalantly: baseball season. There are only two seasons: baseball season and not baseball season. Free agency has also been moving at the speed of a snail. The only team to make waves : the Dodgers. Having signed two Japanese stars for close to a billion dollars, the Dodgers seemed poised to run away with the National League again. The Dodgers are no stranger to a circus having been the team to sign game changing players from a historical perspective in Jackie, Sandy, Hideo, and Fernando. As one Dodgers circus is about to become the main event in baseball for the upcoming season, I decided to go back in time forty years and read about Fernandomania.
When the Dodgers moved to Los Angeles in 1958, they did not have a stadium of their own, playing their first four seasons in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. In order to construct Dodger Stadium at Chavez Ravine, the city of Los Angeles displaced three communities of Mexican Americans, some of whom had lived in these ramshackle hunts in the hills for generations. Once displaced and living in section eight homes, the Mexican community did not trust big government or the Dodgers. Union leader Cesar Chavez proclaimed that he would never set foot in Dodger Stadium. Dodgers owner Walter O’Malley knew that two million people of Mexican descent called Southern California home. He desired what he called a Mexican Sandy Koufax to play for the Dodgers as a hope of turning these citizens into Dodgers fans. Even in the 1960s, not many Latinos played in the major leagues. The Dodgers were always ahead of the curve in signing African American and Latin stars, yet the influx of Latinos to the majors remained a slow one, most likely because pioneering Latino players had to deal with the duel issues of racism and a language barrier. It would not be until the late 1970s that Dodgers scout Mike Brito discovered Fernando Valenzuela playing in the Mexican league, changing the path of the team’s history.
Fernando Valenzuela came from the Mexican village of Etchohuaquila. The youngest of twelve siblings he often played baseball with his older brothers on town teams, a teenager playing among men. Even as the youngest on most of his teams, Fernando was easily the most talented, and at age seventeen he signed with the Mexican league, which is where Brito saw him playing. Brito reported to the Dodgers that this youngster was the Mexican Koufax that they had been searching for, and by nineteen, Fernando joined the Dodger organization. At the time, the Dodgers were a veteran hall club in need of a you it h influx. The core players had come up through the Dodgers farm system and played as a unit since the early 1970s. Battling the Reds, Pirates, and Phillies on a yearly basis, the Dodgers finally broke through in 1977 and went to the World Series, only to lose to the Yankees, as they would the next year as well. Many historians compare this core to the 1950s Dodgers teams back in Brooklyn that only won one championship in 1955 when the core players on that team were in the twilight of their careers. On the eve of the 1981 season mired in ongoing talks between the owners and players’ Union, Dodgers’ manager Tommy Lasorda believed that he finally had the team to win it all. His secret weapon to put them over the top: Fernando.
Unlike today when most trams have academies in Spanish speaking countries to help young players transition to life in the major leagues in the early 1980s the Latino influx was still a good decade away. Latino players knew little English if at all and were often at the mercy of a veteran player or coach who might have played winter ball in a Spanish speaking country. Always baseball’s innovators, the Dodgers were the first team to employ a translation. Easing Fernando’s transition to the Dodgers was hall of fame broadcaster Jaime Jarrín, who had called the team’s games in Spanish since 1959. Fernando would live at Brito’s pool house and allow Jarrín to field questions at press conferences. All Fernando had to do was pitch, and pitch he did, often upwards of one hundred pitches a game if he was the best pitching option late in games. The Mexican community in Southern California began tuning into games that Fernando pitched and became Dodgers fans. Attendance increased at these games as did the influx of Spanish spoken in the stands and a mariachi band on hand whenever Fernando pitched. The year 1981 would be the year of Fernandomania, and with it, the Latino flavor that had been missing at Dodgers games over the prior thirty years had finally entered Chavez Ravine.
Although I had previously read the two books that author Sherman quotes at times, each of these books presented Dodgers history from a unique angle. Eric Nussbaum focused on the removal of Mexicans from Chavez Ravine, and Jason Turbow documented the 1981 strike shortened season Erik Sherman tells the story of the season from a different perspective, that of Fernandomania. During that season Fernando joined an aging pitching staff and ate innings, which would prove to be a difference maker in the playoffs and World Series as well. He would continue to be a work horse over the next seven seasons, posting above league average numbers, but having his arm overused by Lasorda because the manager came from the old school of thought that pitchers finished games. By the time Fernando left the Dodgers even though he was a fan favorite especially among the Latino community, his numbers fell short of impressive. From a cultural standpoint, yes, it could be said that Fernando was indeed the Mexican Koufax that the Dodgers had been searching for over the last few decades. He contributed to generations of Mexican Americans becoming Dodgers fans, including former major leaguers Russ Ortiz and Nomar Garciaparra; however, from a numbers standpoint, his statistics fall short. That does not mean that Fernando was not beloved because he remains one of the most iconic Los Angeles Dodgers players to this day.
This is the second book by Sherman I have read and have enjoyed both. His books tend to analyze one baseball season as a micro history, which helps me to become knowledgeable in each unique season in baseball history. Today Fernando Valenzuela is as quiet as ever yet he has joined the Dodgers Spanish language broadcast team. In public people do not realize that he is Fernando because he tends to keep to himself while attempting to give back to the Hispanic community in Los Angeles, especially to kids. While his numbers might have fallen short of the hall of fame, his presence in the major leagues made Hispanic kids realize that they too could play in the majors, and, soon after, the floodgates opened. Today the Dodgers are about to entertain another mania. For a team steeped in history of inclusion, this year should be no different than those of their previous manias. If the mania surrounding this year’s iteration of the Dodgers gets to be too much for the players, they can turn to the team’s Spanish language broadcaster and ask him about his 1981 season of hope, screwballs, and mariachi bands following the team at every stop along the way.
4 stars
When the Dodgers moved to Los Angeles in 1958, they did not have a stadium of their own, playing their first four seasons in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. In order to construct Dodger Stadium at Chavez Ravine, the city of Los Angeles displaced three communities of Mexican Americans, some of whom had lived in these ramshackle hunts in the hills for generations. Once displaced and living in section eight homes, the Mexican community did not trust big government or the Dodgers. Union leader Cesar Chavez proclaimed that he would never set foot in Dodger Stadium. Dodgers owner Walter O’Malley knew that two million people of Mexican descent called Southern California home. He desired what he called a Mexican Sandy Koufax to play for the Dodgers as a hope of turning these citizens into Dodgers fans. Even in the 1960s, not many Latinos played in the major leagues. The Dodgers were always ahead of the curve in signing African American and Latin stars, yet the influx of Latinos to the majors remained a slow one, most likely because pioneering Latino players had to deal with the duel issues of racism and a language barrier. It would not be until the late 1970s that Dodgers scout Mike Brito discovered Fernando Valenzuela playing in the Mexican league, changing the path of the team’s history.
Fernando Valenzuela came from the Mexican village of Etchohuaquila. The youngest of twelve siblings he often played baseball with his older brothers on town teams, a teenager playing among men. Even as the youngest on most of his teams, Fernando was easily the most talented, and at age seventeen he signed with the Mexican league, which is where Brito saw him playing. Brito reported to the Dodgers that this youngster was the Mexican Koufax that they had been searching for, and by nineteen, Fernando joined the Dodger organization. At the time, the Dodgers were a veteran hall club in need of a you it h influx. The core players had come up through the Dodgers farm system and played as a unit since the early 1970s. Battling the Reds, Pirates, and Phillies on a yearly basis, the Dodgers finally broke through in 1977 and went to the World Series, only to lose to the Yankees, as they would the next year as well. Many historians compare this core to the 1950s Dodgers teams back in Brooklyn that only won one championship in 1955 when the core players on that team were in the twilight of their careers. On the eve of the 1981 season mired in ongoing talks between the owners and players’ Union, Dodgers’ manager Tommy Lasorda believed that he finally had the team to win it all. His secret weapon to put them over the top: Fernando.
Unlike today when most trams have academies in Spanish speaking countries to help young players transition to life in the major leagues in the early 1980s the Latino influx was still a good decade away. Latino players knew little English if at all and were often at the mercy of a veteran player or coach who might have played winter ball in a Spanish speaking country. Always baseball’s innovators, the Dodgers were the first team to employ a translation. Easing Fernando’s transition to the Dodgers was hall of fame broadcaster Jaime Jarrín, who had called the team’s games in Spanish since 1959. Fernando would live at Brito’s pool house and allow Jarrín to field questions at press conferences. All Fernando had to do was pitch, and pitch he did, often upwards of one hundred pitches a game if he was the best pitching option late in games. The Mexican community in Southern California began tuning into games that Fernando pitched and became Dodgers fans. Attendance increased at these games as did the influx of Spanish spoken in the stands and a mariachi band on hand whenever Fernando pitched. The year 1981 would be the year of Fernandomania, and with it, the Latino flavor that had been missing at Dodgers games over the prior thirty years had finally entered Chavez Ravine.
Although I had previously read the two books that author Sherman quotes at times, each of these books presented Dodgers history from a unique angle. Eric Nussbaum focused on the removal of Mexicans from Chavez Ravine, and Jason Turbow documented the 1981 strike shortened season Erik Sherman tells the story of the season from a different perspective, that of Fernandomania. During that season Fernando joined an aging pitching staff and ate innings, which would prove to be a difference maker in the playoffs and World Series as well. He would continue to be a work horse over the next seven seasons, posting above league average numbers, but having his arm overused by Lasorda because the manager came from the old school of thought that pitchers finished games. By the time Fernando left the Dodgers even though he was a fan favorite especially among the Latino community, his numbers fell short of impressive. From a cultural standpoint, yes, it could be said that Fernando was indeed the Mexican Koufax that the Dodgers had been searching for over the last few decades. He contributed to generations of Mexican Americans becoming Dodgers fans, including former major leaguers Russ Ortiz and Nomar Garciaparra; however, from a numbers standpoint, his statistics fall short. That does not mean that Fernando was not beloved because he remains one of the most iconic Los Angeles Dodgers players to this day.
This is the second book by Sherman I have read and have enjoyed both. His books tend to analyze one baseball season as a micro history, which helps me to become knowledgeable in each unique season in baseball history. Today Fernando Valenzuela is as quiet as ever yet he has joined the Dodgers Spanish language broadcast team. In public people do not realize that he is Fernando because he tends to keep to himself while attempting to give back to the Hispanic community in Los Angeles, especially to kids. While his numbers might have fallen short of the hall of fame, his presence in the major leagues made Hispanic kids realize that they too could play in the majors, and, soon after, the floodgates opened. Today the Dodgers are about to entertain another mania. For a team steeped in history of inclusion, this year should be no different than those of their previous manias. If the mania surrounding this year’s iteration of the Dodgers gets to be too much for the players, they can turn to the team’s Spanish language broadcaster and ask him about his 1981 season of hope, screwballs, and mariachi bands following the team at every stop along the way.
4 stars
March 26, 2023
RICK “SHAQ” GOLDSTEIN SAYS: IN THE HISTORY OF BASEBALL 3 PLAYERS ATTRACTED THE MOST NEW FANS… THE BABE-JACKIE-FERNANDO
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If you were lucky enough to be a true baseball fan… let alone a Dodger fan in 1981… you were blessed to have a front row seat… to one of the greatest… most unbelievable… most magical… most heartwarming… individual… accomplishments… in all of baseball history! It definitively effected human beings… in literally innumerable countries throughout the world!
A NEW WORD… WOULD BE CREATED… THAT STILL BRINGS GOOSE BUMPS… JOY… AND LOVE OF WHAT BASEBALL ONCE WAS… AND THE RARE HEARTFELT HUMANITY… AND LOVE… YES LOVE… OF A BASEBALL PLAYER…
That “PAINITE” (Not just the rarest gemstone, but also the rarest mineral on earth!)… WAS FERNANDO “EL TORO” VALENZUELA… THE BULL! At the end of the 1980 baseball season a nineteen-year-old teenager who had been discovered in a town so small and impoverished in Mexico… that you’d be hard-put to find it on a map… was brought up to the Los Angeles Dodgers for the tail end of the season. He pitched in ten games and 17 2/3 innings… won two games… lost none… and allowed NO EARNED RUNS! If you had your eyes wide open… were truly knowledgeable about our National Pastime… and aware that this was just a small sample size… you were starting to look forward to seeing the TRUTH play out in 1981… one way or another!
1981… then it really… almost mystically… it sure as hell… happened… I MEAN REALLY HAPPENED!
*** FERNANDOMANIA*** ***FERNANDOMANIA*** ***FERNANDOMANIA***
This twenty-year-old Mexican “EVERYMAN”… with a big belly… and a big wave of hair… took the game of baseball by storm… on the mound his windup started with his hands together by his waist… and then… IT WAS LITERALLY LIKE HE WAS ROLLING HIS EYES AND HEAD BACK LOOKING TO THE HEAVEN’S ABOVE… FOR SUPREME GUIDANCE AND INTERACTION… AND YOU KNOW WHAT??? HE GOT IT!
To start off the 1981 season…he pitched EIGHT COMPLETE GAME WINS… BECOMING THE ONLY BIG LEAGUE PITCHER SINCE 1945 TO WIN HIS FIRST EIGHT CAREER STARTS… PITCHED FIVE SHUTOUTS… HAD AN ERA OF 0.50… AND HE BATTED **YES-BATTED** 360!! HE BECAME THE ONLY PITCHER IN *HISTORY* TO WIN BOTH *THE-ROOKIE-OF-THE-YEAR*… AND *THE-CY-YOUNG-AWARD* IN THE SAME YEAR. HE MADE THE ALL-STAR TEAM SIX YEARS IN A ROW!
And probably just as impressively… according to every source in this book… from big league players… Dodgers and opponents… managers… announcers… scouts… fans… HE REMAINED ABSOLUTELY HUMBLE… not only that season… but to this day. Fernando took over the baseball world… at Dodger Stadium eleven of the twelve games he started sold out over 50,000 fans… all his games on the road were either sold out or the biggest crowd the opposing team had. It created not only Mexican pride… but complete Latin pride everywhere on the globe. The owners of the Dodgers after moving to Los Angeles openly hoped for a “MEXICAN-KOUFAX”… well they got it for a period of time. Dodger crowds used to average five-percent Mexican attendance before Fernando… that went to fifty-percent… and has stayed near that to this day. Fernando’s work ethic… his all-consuming competitive nature… his never ending humility… and his absolute love of baseball… touched all races creeds and colors. My son was one-year-old when Fernandomania started… but in my family you learn and love Dodger baseball immediately…so by 1986 when Fernando won twenty-one games… my son knew all about “THE BULL”! And now over forty- years later we… Father and Son… lament about today’s weak spineless big talking phony –tough- guys like Scherzer who has twelve complete games in a fifteen year career… EL TORO had twenty in the 1986 season alone… and the greatest of all-time Sandy Koufax had twenty-seven in his last year 1966.
Fernando never created an autobiography… and isn’t much on interviews… and despite him making grown men… and women… stop in their tracks… if anywhere in his vicinity… has kept his private life… private. He’s been married for forty-years… has children and grandchildren… but what the author Erik Sherman has done masterfully… is interview everyone who was… and is around Fernando. Some of the larger fountains of intricate… up-close and personal experiences are Dusty Baker… Steve Garvey… Rick Monday… multiple sportswriters of the time… former Dodger executive Fred Claire… manager Bruce Bochy. And the author doesn’t stop with just personal interviews… he digs deep in to old newspaper… books… and tape… and integrates them all into a beautifully seamless… one of a kind story… on a one of a kind era… and a one of a kind human-baseball-phenomena and experience.
Fernandomania… was a story even Hollywood couldn’t come up with… no one could believe it. The only thing that could make this story about the shy… barely English speaking… translator assisted… rare baseball gem… even more entertaining… would be if he had a manager… that was as much “showman”… as a multi-World-Series-winning-Hall-of-Fame manager… and guess what?? With Tommy LaSorda…. he had that and more. Another thing that every person interviewed and quoted agreed upon one-hundred-per-cent… that in addition to being humble… Fernando was the coolest… ice-water-in-his-veins… individual… no matter how tense and stressful a game or a situation was. A classic quote from Tommy LaSorda that puts Valenzuela’s… one after another… after another clutch performances into perspective…
“YOU JUDGE A GUY BY WHAT HE DOES IN BATTLE, NOT BASIC TRAINING!”
One of the parting issues by the author was the fact that due to Dodger policy of not retiring a player’s number unless he makes the Hall of Fame (the one exception was longtime Dodger Junior Gilliam who passed away at forty-nine-years-old while still coaching the team.)… has happily.. and to me excitingly… been overcome subsequent to the writing of this book… Fernando’s NUMBER 34 WILL BE OFFICIALLY RETIRED THIS SUMMER!
NOTE 1: I wanted to dedicate the following Fernando-Fact… to my friend… and mutual OLD-SCHOOL-BASEBALL-PURIST… and successful author… Alex Gerould… a fitting culmination to *FERNANDOMANIA 1981*.. is in game 3 of the 1981 World Series between the Dodgers and Yankees… with the Dodgers down two games to zero… and on the brink of elimination… THE GREAT “EL TORO””… THREW ONE-HUNDRED-FORTY-SEVEN-PITCHES-IN A COMPLETE GAME 5-4 DODGER WIN… THAT IGNITED THE DODGERS TO WIN FOUR STRAIGHT GAMES AND WIN THE WORLD SERIES IN SIX GAMES. That would not be possible today… with weak analytics… fake tough guys like all-talk no-action guys like the Scherzer’s of the world!
Note 2: There is a major historical mistake by the author on page 121. When talking about the National League dominating the American League in the All Star games and in signing the majority of minority players since Jackie Robinson… the author writes “National League teams continued to sign most of the standout minority players over the next two decades including all-time greats Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Monte Irvin, Larry Doby…” THAT IS INCORRECT… LARRY DOBY SIGNED WITH THE CLEVELAND INDIANS OF THE AMERICAN LEAGUE!”
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you were lucky enough to be a true baseball fan… let alone a Dodger fan in 1981… you were blessed to have a front row seat… to one of the greatest… most unbelievable… most magical… most heartwarming… individual… accomplishments… in all of baseball history! It definitively effected human beings… in literally innumerable countries throughout the world!
A NEW WORD… WOULD BE CREATED… THAT STILL BRINGS GOOSE BUMPS… JOY… AND LOVE OF WHAT BASEBALL ONCE WAS… AND THE RARE HEARTFELT HUMANITY… AND LOVE… YES LOVE… OF A BASEBALL PLAYER…
That “PAINITE” (Not just the rarest gemstone, but also the rarest mineral on earth!)… WAS FERNANDO “EL TORO” VALENZUELA… THE BULL! At the end of the 1980 baseball season a nineteen-year-old teenager who had been discovered in a town so small and impoverished in Mexico… that you’d be hard-put to find it on a map… was brought up to the Los Angeles Dodgers for the tail end of the season. He pitched in ten games and 17 2/3 innings… won two games… lost none… and allowed NO EARNED RUNS! If you had your eyes wide open… were truly knowledgeable about our National Pastime… and aware that this was just a small sample size… you were starting to look forward to seeing the TRUTH play out in 1981… one way or another!
1981… then it really… almost mystically… it sure as hell… happened… I MEAN REALLY HAPPENED!
*** FERNANDOMANIA*** ***FERNANDOMANIA*** ***FERNANDOMANIA***
This twenty-year-old Mexican “EVERYMAN”… with a big belly… and a big wave of hair… took the game of baseball by storm… on the mound his windup started with his hands together by his waist… and then… IT WAS LITERALLY LIKE HE WAS ROLLING HIS EYES AND HEAD BACK LOOKING TO THE HEAVEN’S ABOVE… FOR SUPREME GUIDANCE AND INTERACTION… AND YOU KNOW WHAT??? HE GOT IT!
To start off the 1981 season…he pitched EIGHT COMPLETE GAME WINS… BECOMING THE ONLY BIG LEAGUE PITCHER SINCE 1945 TO WIN HIS FIRST EIGHT CAREER STARTS… PITCHED FIVE SHUTOUTS… HAD AN ERA OF 0.50… AND HE BATTED **YES-BATTED** 360!! HE BECAME THE ONLY PITCHER IN *HISTORY* TO WIN BOTH *THE-ROOKIE-OF-THE-YEAR*… AND *THE-CY-YOUNG-AWARD* IN THE SAME YEAR. HE MADE THE ALL-STAR TEAM SIX YEARS IN A ROW!
And probably just as impressively… according to every source in this book… from big league players… Dodgers and opponents… managers… announcers… scouts… fans… HE REMAINED ABSOLUTELY HUMBLE… not only that season… but to this day. Fernando took over the baseball world… at Dodger Stadium eleven of the twelve games he started sold out over 50,000 fans… all his games on the road were either sold out or the biggest crowd the opposing team had. It created not only Mexican pride… but complete Latin pride everywhere on the globe. The owners of the Dodgers after moving to Los Angeles openly hoped for a “MEXICAN-KOUFAX”… well they got it for a period of time. Dodger crowds used to average five-percent Mexican attendance before Fernando… that went to fifty-percent… and has stayed near that to this day. Fernando’s work ethic… his all-consuming competitive nature… his never ending humility… and his absolute love of baseball… touched all races creeds and colors. My son was one-year-old when Fernandomania started… but in my family you learn and love Dodger baseball immediately…so by 1986 when Fernando won twenty-one games… my son knew all about “THE BULL”! And now over forty- years later we… Father and Son… lament about today’s weak spineless big talking phony –tough- guys like Scherzer who has twelve complete games in a fifteen year career… EL TORO had twenty in the 1986 season alone… and the greatest of all-time Sandy Koufax had twenty-seven in his last year 1966.
Fernando never created an autobiography… and isn’t much on interviews… and despite him making grown men… and women… stop in their tracks… if anywhere in his vicinity… has kept his private life… private. He’s been married for forty-years… has children and grandchildren… but what the author Erik Sherman has done masterfully… is interview everyone who was… and is around Fernando. Some of the larger fountains of intricate… up-close and personal experiences are Dusty Baker… Steve Garvey… Rick Monday… multiple sportswriters of the time… former Dodger executive Fred Claire… manager Bruce Bochy. And the author doesn’t stop with just personal interviews… he digs deep in to old newspaper… books… and tape… and integrates them all into a beautifully seamless… one of a kind story… on a one of a kind era… and a one of a kind human-baseball-phenomena and experience.
Fernandomania… was a story even Hollywood couldn’t come up with… no one could believe it. The only thing that could make this story about the shy… barely English speaking… translator assisted… rare baseball gem… even more entertaining… would be if he had a manager… that was as much “showman”… as a multi-World-Series-winning-Hall-of-Fame manager… and guess what?? With Tommy LaSorda…. he had that and more. Another thing that every person interviewed and quoted agreed upon one-hundred-per-cent… that in addition to being humble… Fernando was the coolest… ice-water-in-his-veins… individual… no matter how tense and stressful a game or a situation was. A classic quote from Tommy LaSorda that puts Valenzuela’s… one after another… after another clutch performances into perspective…
“YOU JUDGE A GUY BY WHAT HE DOES IN BATTLE, NOT BASIC TRAINING!”
One of the parting issues by the author was the fact that due to Dodger policy of not retiring a player’s number unless he makes the Hall of Fame (the one exception was longtime Dodger Junior Gilliam who passed away at forty-nine-years-old while still coaching the team.)… has happily.. and to me excitingly… been overcome subsequent to the writing of this book… Fernando’s NUMBER 34 WILL BE OFFICIALLY RETIRED THIS SUMMER!
NOTE 1: I wanted to dedicate the following Fernando-Fact… to my friend… and mutual OLD-SCHOOL-BASEBALL-PURIST… and successful author… Alex Gerould… a fitting culmination to *FERNANDOMANIA 1981*.. is in game 3 of the 1981 World Series between the Dodgers and Yankees… with the Dodgers down two games to zero… and on the brink of elimination… THE GREAT “EL TORO””… THREW ONE-HUNDRED-FORTY-SEVEN-PITCHES-IN A COMPLETE GAME 5-4 DODGER WIN… THAT IGNITED THE DODGERS TO WIN FOUR STRAIGHT GAMES AND WIN THE WORLD SERIES IN SIX GAMES. That would not be possible today… with weak analytics… fake tough guys like all-talk no-action guys like the Scherzer’s of the world!
Note 2: There is a major historical mistake by the author on page 121. When talking about the National League dominating the American League in the All Star games and in signing the majority of minority players since Jackie Robinson… the author writes “National League teams continued to sign most of the standout minority players over the next two decades including all-time greats Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Monte Irvin, Larry Doby…” THAT IS INCORRECT… LARRY DOBY SIGNED WITH THE CLEVELAND INDIANS OF THE AMERICAN LEAGUE!”
December 17, 2024
A decent effort given that Fernando Valenzuela himself did not participate in the project. The author interviewed a number of his teammates, Dodgers executives and media. He also talked to several sources about the relationship between the Dodgers and the Mexican-American community in Los Angeles, which formed one of the most interesting sections of the book, in my opinion. Some significant fact errors in the text. Two of note: The author says that the 1972 players' strike did not cost the season any games (it certainly did; ask Red Sox fans) and the Montreal Expos moved to Washington in 1995 (it was 2005). These are fairly sloppy errors in a book about baseball history. Also, related to the author's last chapter lobbying for Fernando's number to be retired by the Dodgers, this finally happened in August 2023. Long overdue.
September 25, 2023
A supremely generous and well-intentioned book. Sherman co-wrote Glenn Burke's autobiography and self-published back in the 90s, when the conversation around gay athletes was, er, not in any way enlightened. This time around, he's amassed a ton of quotations to establish the calm professionalism, skills, cultural relevance, and lasting impact of Fernando Valenzuela, and really the impact of those magical weeks in 1981 when he started 8-0; in that sense, it feels very much like Linsanity in 2012 (oddly, a comparison he doesn't make; instead likening Fernandomania to the vogues of Mark Fidrych and Hideo Nomo), something that burned brightly and briefly. Obviously, Valenzuela had a longer and more successful career than Jeremy Lin, who did win an NBA title as a Raptors benchwarmer in 2019, since he was one of the best starters in the NL for about five years after his debut. But there are two issues: first, though occasionally we get a gem from the likes of Bill Lee (on the frequently-fired Dick Williams: "He was like Hannibal Lecter. He could wiggle his finger and cause you distress"), far too many of these quotations are too long, offering a relevant point and then meandering onward to say something generic and not useful, or simply repetitive (on at least four occasions, someone says Valenzuela looked like an everyman to Latino fans, someone built just like a lot of them rather than an imposing athletic specimen). Sometimes they contradict each other: We read at least four different accounts, all the way through the book, of how well Valenzuela spoke English and when, which, depending on which account you choose, suggest that he understood i it pretty well pretty quickly in 1981 or, on the other hand, that he didn't as of 1996. Second, the outside research isn't there--at one point, he asserts that Valenzuela's visit to the White House helped lead to the landmark IRCA amnesty for undocumented immigrants, basing this claim on the work of "Chicano historians" none of whom are named or quoted. There are repeated assertions that the Dodgers' fanbase is now 50% Latino due to Valenzuela, which, sure, maybe, but how about some proof? Even the baseball stuff could be stronger: when making the Hall of Fame case for the pitcher, Sherman relies on people's impressions, and then Jay Jaffe points out that his statistical case just isn't that strong; unlike in Sandy Koufax's run in the mid-60s, to which he compares Fernando's 1981-85 stats, Valenzuela never boasted otherwordly ERA+ numbers.
The essence of this book, then, is the things people tell the author--we hear about how great Dusty Baker was at relating to native Spanish speakers as a player, how much Valenzuela's teammates respected his command of his craft (especially on the 1996 Padres, when he was an elder statesman who showed younger teammates how to conduct themselves with grace amidst a pennant race), how much he meant to younger players like Nomar Garciaparra and Russ Ortiz. Not quite the definitive take I'd hoped for, but all the same generous and heartfelt, both documentation and product of personal connection.
The essence of this book, then, is the things people tell the author--we hear about how great Dusty Baker was at relating to native Spanish speakers as a player, how much Valenzuela's teammates respected his command of his craft (especially on the 1996 Padres, when he was an elder statesman who showed younger teammates how to conduct themselves with grace amidst a pennant race), how much he meant to younger players like Nomar Garciaparra and Russ Ortiz. Not quite the definitive take I'd hoped for, but all the same generous and heartfelt, both documentation and product of personal connection.
October 7, 2023
The definitive bio (finally) on Fernando. Talks mostly about the 1981 season and is well researched, but also discusses in depth his 8-0 start that year, how it brought fans, especially of Mexican descent, to Dodger Stadium. This book also goes over his years from 1982-1987, which I think often get overlooked. In fact, his 1986 season may have been his best! Also included is all his stops after his career with the Dodgers ended. He also played for the Angels, Orioles, Phillies, Padres, Cardinals and was a big part of the 1996 San Diego team. Great research by Sherman, who cites a lot of other books I've read, but he still makes this book his own. I look forward to reading more books by Sherman soon.
The author also makes an interesting point - should Fernando be in the Hall of Fame. Usually I'd say no without hesitation. But then you realize he had 176 wins and was one of the three best pitchers in baseball for the majority of the 1980s. But more than that - how many Mexican born players decided to play baseball because of him? A ton. I think they should maybe put him in for the same reasons the Hall finally put Marvin Miller in - for his impact on the game.
Good book, and a very important book. Dodger fans will absolutely love.
The author also makes an interesting point - should Fernando be in the Hall of Fame. Usually I'd say no without hesitation. But then you realize he had 176 wins and was one of the three best pitchers in baseball for the majority of the 1980s. But more than that - how many Mexican born players decided to play baseball because of him? A ton. I think they should maybe put him in for the same reasons the Hall finally put Marvin Miller in - for his impact on the game.
Good book, and a very important book. Dodger fans will absolutely love.
February 19, 2024
If you were an around during Fernandomania, especially if you were a Dodger fan, this is a satisfying read in terms of nostalgia and for insight into some behind the scenes things.
This book covers the terrible story of displacement of residents in Chavez Ravine when the Dodgers came to town as a setup for how Valenzuela brought Mexican and other Latinos in as fans for the Dodgers and the game of baseball. But if you want more in depth history of that initial conflict, there are better sources.
Besides that shameful episode, the most maddening part of the book is about Fernando’s second season when the team ownership refused to pay Fernando what he deserved for his much profit he brought to the organization. They also built up negative fan attitudes about Fernando just because he wanted his share of what they raked in. It’s a perfect indictment of corporate greed and unwillingness to recognize the fact that profits don’t exist without the employees.
The best parts of the book are the nostalgic looks at the 1981 miraculous season and the rest of success that Valenzuela has, especially in his later comeback.
It’s also incomprehensible to me that the Dodgers haven’t retired his number and that he (and Steve Garvey, foot that matter) aren’t in the Hall of Fame.
This book covers the terrible story of displacement of residents in Chavez Ravine when the Dodgers came to town as a setup for how Valenzuela brought Mexican and other Latinos in as fans for the Dodgers and the game of baseball. But if you want more in depth history of that initial conflict, there are better sources.
Besides that shameful episode, the most maddening part of the book is about Fernando’s second season when the team ownership refused to pay Fernando what he deserved for his much profit he brought to the organization. They also built up negative fan attitudes about Fernando just because he wanted his share of what they raked in. It’s a perfect indictment of corporate greed and unwillingness to recognize the fact that profits don’t exist without the employees.
The best parts of the book are the nostalgic looks at the 1981 miraculous season and the rest of success that Valenzuela has, especially in his later comeback.
It’s also incomprehensible to me that the Dodgers haven’t retired his number and that he (and Steve Garvey, foot that matter) aren’t in the Hall of Fame.
April 5, 2025
A worthwhile read. A bit repetitive throughout about the cultural relevance and implications. I usually come to these reads for the history, stats and baseball memories (over the non-baseball parts), but I fully appreciate it was a big point of why the book was written. Kind of like the Pete Rose book going heavy on the non-baseball - but similarly, that IS the story, so I get it. Fun to read and recall what a phenomenon Fernando was.
November 2, 2023
Meh. It was more of a book on Dusty Baker and several Dodgers games than anything specific about Fernando. It was "centered" around him but it didn't offer much in terms of details or stories. Just high level accounts of what happened.
May 30, 2024
Decent book
The author does a good job of recreating what Fernando meant to baseball and Hispanic people. However, the author references Anger Doubleday as the founder of baseball. For a baseball writer to whiff that badly, is a total tragedy.
The author does a good job of recreating what Fernando meant to baseball and Hispanic people. However, the author references Anger Doubleday as the founder of baseball. For a baseball writer to whiff that badly, is a total tragedy.
July 4, 2024
The place of Fernando and Fernandomania in larger societal context. Unlike far too many baseball books, this does not get bogged down in game stories. Significant games are treated in depth but the story keeps moving. Good throughline
June 6, 2023
Yet another solid effort from Erik
May 16, 2024
A must read for Dodger fans.
December 12, 2024
No calories.
December 27, 2024
Te extraño mi Toro :(
March 20, 2025
A lot has been written about the history of the Dodgers and the relationship between Los Angeles and the former residents of Chavez Ravine.
Not a lot has been written about how the Dodgers changed the landscape, literally and figuratively.
Enter Fernando-mania. This was way before my time, but I enjoyed learning more about how he changed baseball in the southland forever.
I love Dodger baseball. I love Dodger history. This book is the ultimate source on Valenzuela's impact on the game.
Not a lot has been written about how the Dodgers changed the landscape, literally and figuratively.
Enter Fernando-mania. This was way before my time, but I enjoyed learning more about how he changed baseball in the southland forever.
I love Dodger baseball. I love Dodger history. This book is the ultimate source on Valenzuela's impact on the game.
September 10, 2023
As a Dodger fan since 1955, I loved this new book describing the baseball career and amazing impact of the great Mexican pitcher, Fernando Valenzuela. It tells the electrifying story of FERNANDOMANIA!
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