I was 12 when Fernandomania arrived....living on the East Coast, so I only caught him in prose and the occasional TWIB with Mel Allen. An amazing start to what became a solid career. I looked up his batting stats---he finished with a .1998 batting average, but he was fun to watch at the plate too. He came up swinging---only 8 walks in nearly 1,000 at bats.
I love the last sentence. How many edits did it take you to find the right cadence/syntax? Or did you get lucky and nail it on the first try. Asking from a writer’s perspective.
With all due respect to Jim Murray ... a friend and I were trying to explain Fernando-mania to a younger fan who knows the name but not the legend. The younger fan said he was surprised that Fernando was listed at 180 because he looked bigger. I don't know if that weight is accurate, but I told him (and my friend agreed) that Fernando was NOT fat. He was roly-poly and had a round face, but he wasn't fat. He was a good athlete, and of course a good hitter.
Each generation of fans had players who had more going on than what is reflected in their statistical records. The "you had to be there" factor. Fidrych, Fernando, Eric Davis ... you had to be there to really get the full effect of what they did on the field.
I loved Fernando Valenzuela. I lived in Southern California. I worked with a number of Mexican Americans and one expressed surprise that I loved Fernando Valenzuela. I have never forgiven him because what were they doing claiming this wonderful happy man only for themselves. I loved the fact that after he retired from baseball that he continued on as a commentator. We lost him too soon. He didn't have enough years in the majors to make the Hall of Fame but I think he lives in the Hall of Fame of many hearts.
Fernando and The Bird! JAR - love it - Another great article Joe - thanks! I grew up in the AL Central territory, but I did get to see The Bird Pitch Early in the season @the ancient Tigers stadium. Detroit vs. Royals. Watching his mound antics entertained thousands, I sat way up in the left field upper deck but felt the joy to be there vs. just watching pitches. Sadly, after his injury, he did not pitch too long. JAR score - 35? What say y'all?
It's a shame Fernando was one of many pitchers burned out by Tommy Lasorda, who damn near ruined Pedro Martinez. Tom Seaver was the better pitcher in 1981 (14-2, 2.54 ERA , ERA-plus of 140 for a team Bowie Kuhn screwed out of a division title) but with the Lasorda BS machine running daily in a major market, Fernando took the Cy Young Award.
What Tommy Lasorda did with his pitchers, particularly Fernando Valenzuela, deserves its own deep dive. Lasorda famously overworked Valenzuela during his prime, running him into the ground with a bunch of innings. In 1981, Fernando pitched 192 innings in a shortened season and threw nine complete games….he was only 20 years old. Valenzuela was often pushed to go deep into games, even with the game in hand.
Between 1982 and 1987, his age 21-26 seasons, Valenzuela averaged 265 innings per season. It likely derailed what could have been a longer career and more peak seasons. If Lasorda had managed his innings more carefully, we might be talking about Valenzuela as one of the all-time great lefty’s.
A&B are really similar. Pitcher C had a better record but with that lack of K's is not the dominant type that usually wins Cy Youngs and had fewer innings. Pitcher D was dominant, but had markedly fewer innings than A&B. Nowadays, we add in ERA+ which for A-D is 151, 135, 140, 195. ERA+ figures into bWAR which ended up as 5.5, 4.8, 4.0, 4.7. Who do you vote for now?
A-D are Carlton, Valenzuela, Seaver, Ryan
They each have a case in that strike shortened year. BS machine rings unfair to me.
Just so you all know, there are a few things in my life that I'm "screamingly" passionate about, and one of them is the value of what Joe has referred to as JAR, HAR, DAR, and FAR. Some simplify it down to "team chemistry," and many do it a complete disservice by calling it "touchy-feely" or some such term. But I'm telling you, I've studied this, I've less-than-scientifically researched this, I've paid attention to this after a career teaching Leadership and coaching for 40+ years of my life. IT IS REAL! IT IS SO VALUABLE. And there's so much anecdotal evidence that it's time for some of these brilliant baseball analyticos to put a number to its value. Only, they can't which is something that I find so refreshing :) And by the way, JoePos' writing has a JAR of about 34!
Memory of childhood w my father, the most optimistic yet chip on shoulder Brooklyn Dodger fan. He was a match w (and loved) Lasorda. After the heartbreak of the preceding years, Fernando arrived with the surprise of a Christmas morning. His face would light up watching Fernando pitch.
I saw him pitch against the Astros in June of 1990. It was just before his no hitter. Unfortunately he didn't have a good outing that night but it was still thrilling to watch him in person after many times seeing him on television from far away.
I see that rumor has it Manny Ramirez will throw out the first pitch. Not sure if Fernando was under consideration but perhaps they knew his health would not allow it. One of my favorite memories was before game 2 of the 2017 World Series when Vin Scully was supposed to throw out the first pitch. First he called for a catcher, and out comes Steve Yeager. After a little Vin Scully patter, he goes into his left handed wind up and stops. He says he thought he hurt his rotator cuff. He call for a left handed reliever. Out comes Fernando. Beautiful moment and will fill your hear with joy to see both Vin and Fernando. Readily available on You Tube. Treat yourself, whether you've never seen it or whether you remember and just want to relive another reason we all love baseball.
I am 54 and I cannot believe Fernando was only nine years older than me. I understand the math and everything but still.
Read this story in somebody’s book about baseball once. Fernando was young, maybe a rookie, and in spring training supposedly Tommy Lasorda kept calling him Orlando. One of the other players whispers to Fernando. Finally, the next time Lasorda does it, he says I’m not Orlando I’m Tampa. No idea if this is true.
I was 12 when Fernandomania arrived....living on the East Coast, so I only caught him in prose and the occasional TWIB with Mel Allen. An amazing start to what became a solid career. I looked up his batting stats---he finished with a .1998 batting average, but he was fun to watch at the plate too. He came up swinging---only 8 walks in nearly 1,000 at bats.
I love the last sentence. How many edits did it take you to find the right cadence/syntax? Or did you get lucky and nail it on the first try. Asking from a writer’s perspective.
How about giving us your All Joy Team, Joe? And don’t forget the managers and announcers.
A verry sad day....but brought back great memories....This Is Wy We Love Baseball
Joe, You outdid yourself with this piece. Thanks
Ted
With all due respect to Jim Murray ... a friend and I were trying to explain Fernando-mania to a younger fan who knows the name but not the legend. The younger fan said he was surprised that Fernando was listed at 180 because he looked bigger. I don't know if that weight is accurate, but I told him (and my friend agreed) that Fernando was NOT fat. He was roly-poly and had a round face, but he wasn't fat. He was a good athlete, and of course a good hitter.
Each generation of fans had players who had more going on than what is reflected in their statistical records. The "you had to be there" factor. Fidrych, Fernando, Eric Davis ... you had to be there to really get the full effect of what they did on the field.
With all due respect to Mike Holtzclaw, I’ll go with Jay Johnstone, who actually saw Fernando in the locker room for three years and said he was fat.
I loved Fernando Valenzuela. I lived in Southern California. I worked with a number of Mexican Americans and one expressed surprise that I loved Fernando Valenzuela. I have never forgiven him because what were they doing claiming this wonderful happy man only for themselves. I loved the fact that after he retired from baseball that he continued on as a commentator. We lost him too soon. He didn't have enough years in the majors to make the Hall of Fame but I think he lives in the Hall of Fame of many hearts.
Fernando and The Bird! JAR - love it - Another great article Joe - thanks! I grew up in the AL Central territory, but I did get to see The Bird Pitch Early in the season @the ancient Tigers stadium. Detroit vs. Royals. Watching his mound antics entertained thousands, I sat way up in the left field upper deck but felt the joy to be there vs. just watching pitches. Sadly, after his injury, he did not pitch too long. JAR score - 35? What say y'all?
It's a shame Fernando was one of many pitchers burned out by Tommy Lasorda, who damn near ruined Pedro Martinez. Tom Seaver was the better pitcher in 1981 (14-2, 2.54 ERA , ERA-plus of 140 for a team Bowie Kuhn screwed out of a division title) but with the Lasorda BS machine running daily in a major market, Fernando took the Cy Young Award.
What Tommy Lasorda did with his pitchers, particularly Fernando Valenzuela, deserves its own deep dive. Lasorda famously overworked Valenzuela during his prime, running him into the ground with a bunch of innings. In 1981, Fernando pitched 192 innings in a shortened season and threw nine complete games….he was only 20 years old. Valenzuela was often pushed to go deep into games, even with the game in hand.
Between 1982 and 1987, his age 21-26 seasons, Valenzuela averaged 265 innings per season. It likely derailed what could have been a longer career and more peak seasons. If Lasorda had managed his innings more carefully, we might be talking about Valenzuela as one of the all-time great lefty’s.
Here's the usual game: with the classic stats used at the time:
Pitcher A: 13-4, 2.42 ERA, 1 shutout, 190 IP, 179 K, 1.126 WHIP
Pitcher B: 13-7, 2.48 ERA, 8 shutouts, 192 IP, 180 K, 1.045 WHIP
Pitcher C: 14-2, 2.54 ERA, 1 shutout, 166 IP, 87 K, 1.118 WHIP
Pitcher D: 11-5, 1.69 ERA, 3 shutouts, 149 IP, 140 K, 1.121 WHIP
A&B are really similar. Pitcher C had a better record but with that lack of K's is not the dominant type that usually wins Cy Youngs and had fewer innings. Pitcher D was dominant, but had markedly fewer innings than A&B. Nowadays, we add in ERA+ which for A-D is 151, 135, 140, 195. ERA+ figures into bWAR which ended up as 5.5, 4.8, 4.0, 4.7. Who do you vote for now?
A-D are Carlton, Valenzuela, Seaver, Ryan
They each have a case in that strike shortened year. BS machine rings unfair to me.
Love love love the JAR stat category! Such a perfect tribute to Fernando V. Thanks, Joe!
Just so you all know, there are a few things in my life that I'm "screamingly" passionate about, and one of them is the value of what Joe has referred to as JAR, HAR, DAR, and FAR. Some simplify it down to "team chemistry," and many do it a complete disservice by calling it "touchy-feely" or some such term. But I'm telling you, I've studied this, I've less-than-scientifically researched this, I've paid attention to this after a career teaching Leadership and coaching for 40+ years of my life. IT IS REAL! IT IS SO VALUABLE. And there's so much anecdotal evidence that it's time for some of these brilliant baseball analyticos to put a number to its value. Only, they can't which is something that I find so refreshing :) And by the way, JoePos' writing has a JAR of about 34!
Memory of childhood w my father, the most optimistic yet chip on shoulder Brooklyn Dodger fan. He was a match w (and loved) Lasorda. After the heartbreak of the preceding years, Fernando arrived with the surprise of a Christmas morning. His face would light up watching Fernando pitch.
I saw him pitch against the Astros in June of 1990. It was just before his no hitter. Unfortunately he didn't have a good outing that night but it was still thrilling to watch him in person after many times seeing him on television from far away.
Beautiful. Thank you, Joe.
I concur with others that we need the list of career leaders in JAR now, though.
I see that rumor has it Manny Ramirez will throw out the first pitch. Not sure if Fernando was under consideration but perhaps they knew his health would not allow it. One of my favorite memories was before game 2 of the 2017 World Series when Vin Scully was supposed to throw out the first pitch. First he called for a catcher, and out comes Steve Yeager. After a little Vin Scully patter, he goes into his left handed wind up and stops. He says he thought he hurt his rotator cuff. He call for a left handed reliever. Out comes Fernando. Beautiful moment and will fill your hear with joy to see both Vin and Fernando. Readily available on You Tube. Treat yourself, whether you've never seen it or whether you remember and just want to relive another reason we all love baseball.
What fun to watch that. Thanks for the reference.
Was there. A little corny-but wonderful.
How fortunate to have been there. Congratulations.
I am 54 and I cannot believe Fernando was only nine years older than me. I understand the math and everything but still.
Read this story in somebody’s book about baseball once. Fernando was young, maybe a rookie, and in spring training supposedly Tommy Lasorda kept calling him Orlando. One of the other players whispers to Fernando. Finally, the next time Lasorda does it, he says I’m not Orlando I’m Tampa. No idea if this is true.