Fernando Valenzuela burst strongly into the 1981 Season of the Big Leaguesnot only winning the award for rookie of the year and Cy Youngbut also guiding Los Angeles Dodgers to win the World Series against the New York Yankees.
The Mexican pitcher became a sensation among Mexican fans based in Los Angeles and his performance on the diamond caused the ‘Fernandomania‘ in each of his presentations in the Dodgers Stadium.
The manager of the Dodgers, Tommy Lasordagranted the trust to Valenzuela to be the starting pitcher during the 1981 season and the Mexican responded in a great way, leading his team to end a title drought that had already spanned 16 years.
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Valenzuela looked nervous and doubtful in the first two games of the series against the Yankees in which he participated as a reliever, which gave the New Yorkers an advantage that in the end was inconsequential, but which gave him a dose of drama.
For the third game, Lasorda called ‘Toro’ as the starter and gave him the confidence that the Mexican needed to do the job he had been doing throughout the campaign.
The result was immediate and Valenzuela had an outstanding game, pitching the complete game to leave the score at 5-4 on an unforgettable night that served to return the Dodgers to the game and later to win the World Series.
The Dodgers would manage to come back from that series to win it 4-2 and allow Valenzuela to win its first World Series at the peak of ‘Fernandomania’.
43 years later, Dodgers and Yankees will meet again in a new edition of the World Series starting next Friday, October 25, where Angelenos will seek to pay tribute to one of their greatest figures of all time.
