I know some readers have been expecting me to write about Fernando Valenzuela after news of his death. A few comments on the last post mentioned him even though I cited him just once in passing.
I learned of the sad news as I ended work around midnight Tuesday. The work schedule is unrelenting midweek these days. This is why I almost never post on Wednesdays now, so there was no chance to get to it yesterday.
But I was devastated. Valenzuela is probably among my top 10 favorite Dodgers, or at least should be. His arrival synced perfectly with my budding interest in young stars -- a common teenage fixation -- and the Dodgers were happily accommodating with not only Fernando but Sutcliffe, Steve Howe, Sax, Guerrero, Rudy Law and a bunch of others.
I lived far away from Los Angeles, so I have no tales to tell of nearly running into Valenzuela in Dodger Stadium or him signing a ball for me. But I did witness his MLB career from the very beginning. I've written about him a bunch so obviously he made an impact.
And my interest continues. The two cards above arrived a matter of days ago, a couple of upgrades from a smallish sportlots order. But what to write about after having written so much prior?
I started to think about how I learned of Valenzuela that thrilling spring of 1981. I delivered newspapers as a traditional "paper boy" would way back then. After I sorted and loaded newspapers into my bag early in the morning (from 5:30-6 a.m.), I'd sit down and read the sports section before heading out. Valenzuela was a regular news story, even way out here. We'd sometimes get the story a day or two later ("Los Angeles at San Francisco (n.)"), but there was a write-up for each one of his first eight games.
I was thrilled. It seemed amazing. But after more than 40 years and the development of MLB pitching over the decades, it's even more amazing. Here, I'll show you.
Game 1, April 9, at Dodger Stadium, night game
Los Angeles Dodgers 2, Houston Astros 0
Valenzuela's line: 9 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 5 Ks
Ron Cey hit a sacrifice fly and Pedro Guerrero hit a two-out double in the sixth inning, scoring Steve Garvey, and Valenzuela had the victory over the Astros he should have had in the 1980 special playoff when the Dodgers started Dave Goltz instead.
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Game 2, April 14, at Candlestick Park, San Francisco, night game
Los Angeles Dodgers 7, San Francisco Giants 1
Valenzuela's line: 9 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 10 Ks
Steve Yeager went 3-for-4 with a home run, Ron Cey drove in three runs and Dusty Baker was 2-for-3 with a triple. The Dodgers scored six runs after the sixth inning.
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Game 3, April 18, at Jack Murphy Stadium, San Diego, day game
Los Angeles Dodgers 2, San Diego Padres 0
Valenzuela's line: 9 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 10 Ks
Valenzuela's second shutout. He outpitched Rick Wise as neither team scored until the seventh. Mike Scioscia led off the seventh with a home run and Dusty Baker led of the eight with a homer.
Game 4, April 22, at the Astrodome, Houston, night game
Los Angeles Dodgers 1, Houston Astros 0
Valenzuela's line: 9 IP, 7 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 11 Ks
Valenzuela's fourth complete game and third shutout! And he drove in the only run in the fifth inning with a single, scoring Pedro Guerrero, who had doubled. The RBI came off Don Sutton!
Game 5, April 27, at Dodger Stadium, night game
Los Angeles Dodgers 5, San Francisco Giants 0
Valenzuela's line: 9 IP, 7 H, 0 R, 4 BB, 7 Ks
Valenzuela's fifth complete game and fourth shutout. The Dodgers scored four runs in the fifth inning with Valenzuela driving in a run with a single. He went 3-for-4!
Game 6, May 3, at Olympic Stadium, Montreal, day game
Los Angeles Dodgers 6, Montreal Expos 1, 10 innings
Valenzuela's line: 9 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 7 Ks
The first time in 1981 that Valenzuela did not pitch a complete game. Steve Howe pitched the 10th -- after the Dodgers had scored five runs in the top of the 10th, giving Valenzuela his sixth win without a loss.
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Game 7, May 8, at Shea Stadium, New York, night game
Los Angeles Dodgers 1, New York Mets 0
Valenzuela's line: 9 IP, 7 H, 0 R, 5 BB, 11 Ks
Valenzuela's sixth complete game and fifth shutout and a 7-0 mark. The Dodgers' lone run came in the first inning when Dusty Baker singled to drive in Ken Landreaux from second base.
Game 8, May 14, at Dodger Stadium, night game
Los Angeles Dodgers 3, Montreal Expos 2
Valenzuela's line: 9 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 7 Ks
Valenzuela gave up a game-tying home run to Andre Dawson in the top of the ninth but Pedro Guerrero responded with a walk-off HR in the bottom of the ninth to give Fernando his 8th win against no losses.
Valenzuela's streak finally ends four days later against the Phillies in Los Angeles, a 4-0 loss. It was the first time all season that Valenzuela didn't pitch nine innings (he threw seven with Dave Stewart relieving). The Dodgers hitters somehow couldn't solve Marty Bystrom.
Looking back on this run -- which rocketed Valenzuela into superstardom -- it was truly a product of his time. There were many instances while going through the boxes that I could see Valenzuela being taken out for a reliever if this had happened anytime in the last 30 years. It's obvious that Fernando was on a mission but also that Tom Lasorda was on a mission, too, letting Fernando do his thing. Lasorda was a great promoter of his players and none more so than Valenzuela.
All of the above cards are in my collection (The Valenzuela signature with the Topps logo crossed out has long amused/baffled me. Someone yesterday suspected that it was Fernando's way of tracking signatures that ended up on ebay but I think I recall some sort of Fernando dispute with Topps -- if Google's search hadn't gone to shit, I'd find it to link).
TCDB says I have 250 cards of Fernando, all but about five Dodger cards. I still want more. A couple other notables in my collection before I go:
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That 1986 Topps panel is a bit concerning on the right-hand side. We're all getting older. This post proves it. RIP, El Toro.
Comments
I lost my dad almost two decades ago. I have three big memories with him with respect to going to Dodger games.
1) I went with him to the Bob Welch strikes out Reggie Jackson World Series game in 1978. I didn't realize this was a big deal until years later.
2) He took me to the players workout day the day prior and also the All-Star Game at Dodger Stadium in 1980. In typical fashion for my father, he lost the tickets to the All-Star Game but got replacements after he called the Dodgers and they confirmed that he had bought the tickets directly from them.
3) He pulled me from school so that we could attend the Dodgers Opening Day in 1981 against the Astros. We sat in the left field bleachers and watched the game. I remember listening on the radio on the way to the game that Jerry Reuss was hurt and that Fernando was going to start the game.