LOS ANGELES – Fernando Valenzuela died this week at 63 only two days before the 43rd anniversary of one of his most prolific games for the Los Angeles Dodgers – a 147-pitch, complete game victory over the New York Yankees in Game 3 of the 1981 World Series at Dodger Stadium. He was 20 at the time.
The same two teams opened another World Series against each other Friday night at the same ballpark, the Dodgers winning again, this time 6-3, on the strength of Freddie Freeman’s walk-off, 10th inning grand slam, the first in World Series history. It’s the 12th time the two clubs have met in the Fall Classic, but the first since 1981.
More from Sportico.com
In those days, the manager controlled the pitch count and Tommy Lasorda let Fernando go. No general manager or baseball operations president would have told him no.
Today?
“Front offices would be calling the dugout or sending security down to the dugout or go to the mound and just remove him,” Rick Monday, who was in right field that day behind Valenzuela and calls Dodger games on the radio now, said in an interview. “Fernando was relentless.”
Lasorda, who had a penchant for burning out arms, was an enabler.
“Well, because the guy was having pretty good luck on the mound, too,” Monday said. “Fernando, there were some games he was like a kitten out there playing with a ball of yarn.”
When Valenzuela died Tuesday after a long illness, it unleashed an outpouring of emotions from his former teammates and broadcast colleagues. On Friday fans gathered near the Vince Scully gate to the stadium parking lot, laying down flowers and memorial items. There was a moment of silence and a short video prior to the game. And former teammates Orel Hershiser and Steve Yeager placed in baseball near a display of his number 34 on the back of the pitcher’s mound in lieu of throwing out the first pitch before the World Series opener.
Those in the press corps watched him physically deteriorate, losing weight over the course of months. A very private person, he refused to tell anyone what was happening, including his close friend Jaime Jarrin, who acted as his mentor and translator back in 1981 when Valenzuela broke in with a virtual scoreless run – 8-0, an 0.50 ERA and five shutouts – that became known as Fernandomania.
“He was a very proud man,” Monday said.
Valenzuela worked for 20 years with Jarrin, 88, on the club’s Spanish broadcasts before the latter retired in 2022. Fernando took a leave from that job in September and went into the hospital. He never came out.
“He was not doing well at all,” Monday said. “But that doesn’t diminish the feeling of emptiness that we have. I mean, he brought cultures together, in our community here and really around the country. It’s never easy to lose a friend.”
The Yanks had won the first two games of the 1981 World Series in New York and were about to take a commanding 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven series when they jumped ahead in Game 3, 4-3, after four innings. Fernando was all over the place during those early innings, ultimately walking seven and striking out six.
The Dodgers came back to take the lead, 5-4, in the bottom of the fifth as Venezuela settled down and threw the final six scoreless innings for the win. That’s the way the game ended. It was the only World Series game Fernando ever pitched.
“My lower back was stiff after getting up and down in right field on all those pitches,” Monday recalled about playing behind Fernando in that legendary game. “He just never let up, never let up.”
The Dodgers swept the three home games and went back to New York to win that series in six games.
Game 2 of the 2024 World Series begins at 8:08 p.m. Saturday at Dodger Stadium. Fernando is gone, but the memory of his accomplishments remains.
Best of Sportico.com
Sign up for Sportico’s Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
