Fernandomania was must-see TV.
With a look to the sky...
Winning ROY and the Cy Young as a 20 year old is cool/amazing enough...but hitting .250 as a pitcher that same year and winning a Silver Slugger for it is legendary.
Quote from: JWags85 on October 23, 2024, 11:21:45 AM
Winning ROY and the Cy Young as a 20 year old is cool/amazing enough...but hitting .250 as a pitcher that same year and winning a Silver Slugger for it is legendary.
He also had a complete game victory in the World Series to help beat the Yankees. A fun guy to watch like Tiant, sad to see him go.
"if you have a sombrero, throw it to the sky!"
Vin Scully after Valenzuela's no hitter, June 29, 1990.
Fernandomania rocked. RIP
This one hurt. I grew up in LA in the 80s, I'm Mexican American and I was a huge fan of Dodger baseball and that was in large part due to Fernando Valenzuela. If you weren't there it's hard to explain just how insane the city of LA went for Fernando. But it wasn't just LA, pretty much anywhere in the country were there was a Mexican community, he was selling out ballparks. Everyone wanted to see Fernando pitch and for a stretch of about 6 years, he was arguably the best pitcher in baseball.
RIP El Toro Fernanado Valenzuela.
Quote from: Tortuga94 on October 24, 2024, 10:22:21 AM
This one hurt. I grew up in LA in the 80s, I'm Mexican American and I was a huge fan of Dodger baseball and that was in large part due to Fernando Valenzuela. If you weren't there it's hard to explain just how insane the city of LA went for Fernando. But it wasn't just LA, pretty much anywhere in the country were there was a Mexican community, he was selling out ballparks. Everyone wanted to see Fernando pitch and for a stretch of about 6 years, he was arguably the best pitcher in baseball.
RIP El Toro Fernanado Valenzuela.
That's a great remembrance, Tortuga. Thanks.
Tortuga, I grew up out here, too. Fernandomania was an awesome time to be a Dodger fan. Here is a list is Fernando's first 8 starts in 1981:
9 innings, 0 runs, W
9 innings, 1 run, W
9 innings, 0 runs, W
9 innings, 0 runs, W
9 innings, 0 runs, W
9 innings, 1 run, W
9 innings, 0 runs, W
9 innings, 2 runs, W
8-0, 72 innings, 8 complete games, 5 complete game shutouts, 4 earned runs.
He was 20 years old and was picked to start on opening day. And, of course, the Dodgers won the series that year. Simply an amazing run for Fernando and the Dodgers.
Another streak that I paid close attention to as a kid was Orel Hershiser's 59 scoreless innings streak. During Hershiser's streak, starting at about inning 30, my dad and I listened to every Dodger game on the radio. Interestingly, Don Drysdale was part of the broadcast team, along with Vin Scully, that announced those games (it was Drysdale's record that Hershiser broke).
Dodger baseball. Gotta love it!!!
Quote from: SoCalEagle on October 24, 2024, 10:04:00 PM
Tortuga, I grew up out here, too. Fernandomania was an awesome time to be a Dodger fan. Here is a list is Fernando's first 8 starts in 1981:
9 innings, 0 runs, W
9 innings, 1 run, W
9 innings, 0 runs, W
9 innings, 0 runs, W
9 innings, 0 runs, W
9 innings, 1 run, W
9 innings, 0 runs, W
9 innings, 2 runs, W
8-0, 72 innings, 8 complete games, 5 complete game shutouts, 4 earned runs.
He was 20 years old and was picked to start on opening day. And, of course, the Dodgers won the series that year. Simply an amazing run for Fernando and the Dodgers.
But today's young pitchers all throw 100 mph, so they're better (between Tommy John surgeries).
Quote from: MU82 on October 24, 2024, 10:17:10 PM
But today's young pitchers all throw 100 mph, so they're better (between Tommy John surgeries).
All young pitchers? No. The best young pitcher? You betcha
Quote from: TAMU, Knower of Ball on October 24, 2024, 11:46:36 PM
All young pitchers? No. The best young pitcher? You betcha
Not sure how you'd be able to prove statistically that even the very, very best young pitchers in the world are better than Fernando was as a rookie.
Quote from: MU82 on October 25, 2024, 10:16:37 AM
Not sure how you'd be able to prove statistically that even the very, very best young pitchers in the world are better than Fernando was as a rookie.
There is no comparison. There is no current team that would let a 20-year-old pitch one complete game (unless maybe if he had a no-hitter going), let alone eight to start the season.
In some ways they have it right today. Valenzuela was an average to below average pitcher after age 26. But young Fernando was a joy to watch.
Quote from: SoCalEagle on October 24, 2024, 10:04:00 PM
Tortuga, I grew up out here, too. Fernandomania was an awesome time to be a Dodger fan. Here is a list is Fernando's first 8 starts in 1981:
9 innings, 0 runs, W
9 innings, 1 run, W
9 innings, 0 runs, W
9 innings, 0 runs, W
9 innings, 0 runs, W
9 innings, 1 run, W
9 innings, 0 runs, W
9 innings, 2 runs, W
8-0, 72 innings, 8 complete games, 5 complete game shutouts, 4 earned runs.
He was 20 years old and was picked to start on opening day. And, of course, the Dodgers won the series that year. Simply an amazing run for Fernando and the Dodgers.
Another streak that I paid close attention to as a kid was Orel Hershiser's 59 scoreless innings streak. During Hershiser's streak, starting at about inning 30, my dad and I listened to every Dodger game on the radio. Interestingly, Don Drysdale was part of the broadcast team, along with Vin Scully, that announced those games (it was Drysdale's record that Hershiser broke).
Dodger baseball. Gotta love it!!!
That 88 season and team is still my all-time favorite. The Hershiser streak, beating the Mets in the NLCS after going 1-11 against them in the regular season, and of course beating the A's with one of the greatest baseball moments with Gibby's walk off in game 1.
I watched and listened to so much Dodger baseball as a kid, Scully was the best! Those broadcasts with Scully, Drysdale and Rick Monday were great. If my dad was home we watched the game but turned sown the volume and listened to the game on the radio in Spanish with the legendary Jaime Jarrin who Fernando ended up replacing.
Quote from: MU82 on October 25, 2024, 10:16:37 AM
Not sure how you'd be able to prove statistically that even the very, very best young pitchers in the world are better than Fernando was as a rookie.
Of course, I can't prove it statistically. Just like the pitchers have gotten better so have the batters. If today's pitchers got to face the batters from that day and age there would have been a lot of 1-0 games that got decided in extras.
Like every other relevant field, athletics (including baseball) has improved over time. There are better coaches, better technology, better understanding of the game, better athletic trainers, better medicine, better orthopedic surgeons, better dieticians, better equipment, etc than what was available 40 years ago. All of that leads to better athletes. If you put a guy from the 1980s in a time machine and have him play in the 2020s, he may still be able to play, but he won't be as good as he was in the 1980s. However, if you put him as a child in a time machine and have him grow up with all the same advantages that today's players have, he's probably even better.
None of this is a slight against any player from times gone by. You can only play in the era you were born into. Comparing across generations doesn't work. You can only judge a player by how they performed against their contemporaries. Valenzuela was one of the best of the best and worthy of every accolade he's earned. There's no need to introduce generational comparisons.
Thanks.
Maybe there's a young pitcher today who was "better" than a rookie Fernando. Maybe.
But I'm comfortable saying none is more accomplished.