by Mark Langill
The unofficial peak of “Fernandomania” in 1981 occurred several minutes after Dodgers rookie pitcher Fernando Valenzuela improved his record to 8–0 on May 14 at Dodger Stadium. Pedro Guerrero’s walk-off home run off Montreal Expos reliever Steve Ratzer gave Los Angeles a 3–2 victory.
The frenzied reaction from the sellout crowd was mirrored in Valenzuela’s postgame press conference when the 20-year-old was asked if the phenom from Mexico could go the rest of his career without losing a game.
Somehow, the premise seemed plausible.
Valenzuela, who remains the only Major League pitcher since Dave Ferriss of the 1945 Boston Red Sox to win his first eight career starts, was 8–0 with a 0.50 ERA with five shutouts and seven complete games.
“Fernando says it would be difficult …” said Spanish broadcaster Jaime Jarrin, who served as Valenzuela’s interpreter during his 1981 interviews. “But not impossible.”
Five months later, Valenzuela hardly resembled the form that would earn both Rookie of the Year and Cy Young Award honors. In his only career World Series appearance, Valenzuela needed 149 pitches during a 5–4 complete-game victory at Dodger Stadium in Game 3. Valenzuela allowed nine hits, walked seven batters, struck out six and served up a pair of home runs.
“I was in some no hitters, but that game itself is one of the great masterpieces in postseason for sure,” said Valenzuela’s ’81 teammate Steve Garvey last week. “To throw that many pitches and to struggle that much in the first four innings was a testimony to his composure, his grit, his competitiveness. I always say that’s maybe the best game I played in in terms of a pitching performance.”
https://medium.com/media/c625bace652585a537b7c1818f1a430a/href
Valenzuela’s pitch count was compiled by ABC-TV’s Allan Roth, a former Dodger statistician whose detailed analysis, including pitch counts, was three decades ahead of its time.
“(Manager) Tommy Lasorda went with Fernando longer than any pitcher in his life,” former Dodger catcher Steve Yeager said last week when eulogizing Valenzuela, the legendary left-hander who passed away on Oct. 22 at age 63.
The Dodgers lost the first two games of the World Series in New York, which followed the Dodger playoff script. The Dodgers fell behind the Houston Astros 0–2 in the 1981 NL Division Series and 1–2 against the Montreal Expos in the 1981 NL Championship Series. The Dodgers won both series in the decisive fifth games.
Valenzuela’s Game 3 opponent would be left-hander Dave Righetti, the 1981 American League Rookie of the Year.
“The demeanor of the club didn’t change,” former Dodger reliever Tom Niedenfuer said last week. “I think the young players didn’t know they were supposed to be nervous. The veterans took care of us and acted like it was business as usual. Outfielder Dusty Baker asked me on the plane going back to Los Angeles what I was going to do in the offseason. When I told him about the things I had planned, which included winter ball, he said I would have to wait because we still had a lot of baseball left to play.
“Come to find out the veteran players figured it might be their last chance to win a championship as a group.”
Ron Cey’s three-run home run off Righetti in the first inning gave Valenzuela a brief cushion. The Yankees scored a pair of runs in the second and third innings as Bob Watson and Rick Cerone hit home runs. The Yankees now led 4–3.
During the early innings, Lasorda made trips to the pitcher’s mound but didn’t bring a hook. He later told the story about telling Valenzuela if he could hold off the Yankees, the Dodgers would come back. Valenzuela, whose primary language in 1981 was Spanish, gave his skipper a reply in English: “You sure about that?”
The Dodgers gave Valenzuela another lead in the fifth. Garvey singled and Ron Cey walked against reliever George Frazier. Pedro Guerrero hit an RBI double. Left-hander Rudy May replaced Frazier and got Mike Scioscia to ground into a run-scoring double play to make it 5–4.
In the eighth inning, Valenzuela faced a jam when Aurelio Rodriguez and Larry Milbourne opened with singles. Yankees manager Bob Lemon summoned veteran Bobby Murcer as a pinch-hitter. Murcer, a left-handed hitter, attempted a sacrifice bunt, but he hit a foul ball into the air. Cey made a diving catch at third base. Cey completed a double play on Milbourne, attempting to return to first base.
“He was going to ride that horse,” Garvey said, describing Lasorda’s faith in Valenzuela. “Even if that horse was going to ride him out of town. People also forget there were some games in 1981 when Fernando got off to a slow start. But once he got a feel for the game, he still could control the game, even without his best stuff.”
Lasorda was asked if he really considered taking out Valenzuela.
In the National League Championship Series, Lasorda pulled Valenzuela with two outs in the ninth inning with a 2–1 lead and two runners on base. Reliever Bob Welch retired Jerry White on a groundout to second baseman Davey Lopes to clinch the pennant.
In the World Series, there was technically a “tomorrow,” although no team at that point — or since — has overcome a 0–3 deficit in the World Series.
“I thought about it,” Lasorda said in his postgame press conference. “But I said no. This is the year of Fernando. As I told my players after the game, that was one of the gutsiest performances I’ve ever seen by a young man who didn’t have his best stuff.
“He was like a sharp poker player, bluffing his way through some pretty bad hands. And when he smelled a one-run lead, well, he’s one of the finest closers with a lead I’ve seen in many, many years.”
The Dodgers won the next three games and a World Series championship.
World Series: Fernando’s Game 3 gave the Dodgers momentum to win a title was originally published in Dodger Insider on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.