October 23, 2024 • 42 mins
Steve Sax and Tim Cates react to the news that Fernando Valenzuela passed away at the age of 63 and what he meant to the fans in Los Angeles.
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Speaker 1 (00:03):
The right quist.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
Dodgers Playoff Baseball is back and with it an annual
postseason tradition.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
Scam is back. Baby.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
This is Sax and Cakes in the a app BA
Go with Proway. Dodger legend Steve Sacks is joined by
your favorite Dodger pregame host, Tim Kates. If you want
to talk Dodgers, get in on the show on eighty
six six nine, eighty seven two five seven now. While
the Dan Patrick Show streams on the Ihearts radio app.
(00:35):
We've been banished to the Internet until this Dodgers playoff
run concludes. Here they are broadcasting live on AM five
to seven e LA Sports. It's Tim Kates and Steve Sacks.
Speaker 3 (00:47):
It's Saxy, Kate's and AM on this Wednesday morning, October
twenty third, twenty twenty four. Thanks for being with us
live in local on your home of the Dodgers A
five seventy LA Sports, Tim Kates, along with two time
World Series Champion, former Rookie of the Year, our favorite
number three, the one and only Steve Sacks.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
Saxy, Good morning, Good morning Tim.
Speaker 3 (01:11):
Yeah, it's a heavy day here in southern California, the
city of Angels and Los Angeles as a Dodger icon
last night, passed away at the age of sixty three.
Fernando Valvenezuela gone too soon as the former Dodger left hander,
his number thirty four retired Dodger icon. When he meants
to this city through the nineteen eighties and to this
(01:33):
day cannot be described and cannot be quantified how much
he meant to this city, the fan base, the people
of this city and gone too soon, passed away at
the age of sixty three last night, Saxy, I guess
your initial thoughts and when you hear the.
Speaker 4 (01:49):
News, Yeah, it is such a sad day everybody, I'm
sure with a heavy heart waking up this morning and
you know, being confronted with the news that Fernando is gone.
You know, he was such a great guy. I saw
Fernando the first day he came to the Dodger organization
from Mexico. I was down an instruction league And you know,
(02:12):
we can get into that a little bit later if
you wish, But what a great man, a phenomenal teammate,
and just we're going to sorely miss him, terribly miss him.
He's just such a great person.
Speaker 3 (02:25):
He burst onto the scene in nineteen eighty one and
caught this city by storm and electrified a fan base
for years and really connected Southern California culturally by bringing
people together by coming to Dodger games every single night
and especially when he pitched. And not only did he
catch Southern California on fire with this baseball phenomenon on
(02:49):
the mound, but he caught baseball in general on fire
in nineteen eighty one with Fernando Mania. What he was
able to do with his eight straight shutouts to start
the season. It's well talked to about that first trip
to New York going back there and dominating the Mets
like he did with a shutout win put him on
the scene nationally. But again, what he did here in
(03:10):
Southern California, it will never be duplicated Fernando Mania outside
of Southern California. It may not mean as much as
it does to Angelino's but Saxony being a part of it,
being in that world win of nineteen eighty one and
the rest of his career and everything he did. What
was it like to be there for Fernando Mania through
(03:30):
the nineteen eighties and be a part of what Fernando
was doing in this culture in the city.
Speaker 5 (03:34):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (03:35):
Well, first of all, Fernando changed the whole trajectory of
the fan base in Los Angeles. He just shot the
thing through the roof and really, you know, brought together
so many people to come watch him play. The Mexican
American population here in Los Angeles just exploded through those
(03:55):
turnstiles to watch him pitch, and rightly so, because he
was just a pleasure to watch. It was great to
play behind Fernando. You just looked at a guy who
was carving people up, just dominating people, not with overpowering stuff,
but with a deception in that phenomenal screwball that the
right handed hitter or left handed hitters either just had
(04:17):
no answer for. They've never seen anything come out of
a person's hand like Fernando could make it do. And
he could, he could make it slow or fast, he
could change speeds on it, and it was obviously his
signature pitch. But there was a lot more to him
than just that. Fernando was a tenacious competitor. He was
a really good hitter. There's times where the bench was
(04:38):
becoming depleted and Tommy would pinch hit at Fernando. He
would be the guy with the bat not being hit four.
And you know, he was just an all around great athlete.
Don't let the physique fool you. Fernando was a very
good all around athlete and just a great competitor. And
the other side of it, his personality. He was just
(04:59):
a he was like a big kid. He never took
himself seriously, but he took what he did very seriously.
And that's the great mark of humility, and that's what
Fernando was about.
Speaker 3 (05:11):
We remember Fernando Alizuela on this Wednesday morning, and we
want you Dodger fans, to certainly be a part of
it because he was a huge part of a lot
of your lives and your family's lives, and we want
you to share your stories. We want you to be
a part of celebrating Fernando Velezuela eight sixty six, nine
eighty seven two five seventy. We got some of your
former teammates to join this. Mike Sosha is going to
(05:32):
join us at seven point thirty, certainly a big part
of Fernando Mania behind the plate working with El Toro.
We got Dusty Baker who was going to join us
in the eight o'clock hour coming up at the bottom
of this hour a great tribute from MLB Network from
our buddy John Paul Morosi, who a few years ago
wanted to really encapitalize, capitualize what Fernando Mania was all about.
(05:53):
And for the younger generation of sports fans, baseball fans
out there that have heard of Fernando, have seen the
videos and know the name, what it was all about,
and what exactly it did to Southern California, especially in
nineteen eighty one. So we'll hear that feature coming up
at the bottom of the hour. But again we want
to be you to be a part of the show
at eight sixty six, nine eighty seven, two five seventy
(06:14):
because Fernando was a part of everybody's lives here in
southern California, whether you were a young pop at the time,
whether you weren't even born at the time, Your family
members loved him, they talked about him. He was a
part of their lives, and then they passed it on
to you, even if you weren't even around or old
enough at that time to enjoy Fernando Mania. Eight sixty six,
nine eighty seven, two five seventy, eight sixty six, nine
(06:35):
eighty seven two five seventy. Now, Fernando had been in
bad health recently. He had stepped away from his duties
with the Spanish radio broadcast at the end of the
regular season just about a month ago, and he's passed
away again last night, the family announced through the team,
at the age of sixty three. In the last eighteen
months or so, Saxy, the Dodgers really made a tribute
(06:59):
to Fernando Violence by retiring his number thirty four and
honoring him at Dodger Stadium, And they don't do that
at all for the Dodger organization. You have to be
a Hall of Famer to have your number retired, and
they did it for Fernando in twenty twenty three. He
was honored with that. And again, Fernando, what he meant
(07:20):
to this city was on full display that night. When
you saw the fans there early, you saw him speak,
and you talked about his personality. You also see how
humbled he was about the attention that he received and
the accolades that he got from this organization and from
the fans. Did you ever grasp Facci that he understood
(07:41):
the impact he had on Southern California, The culture the
fan base baseball fans.
Speaker 4 (07:48):
I think he certainly realized that it was so big.
But Fernando was a kind of a guy that always
deflected in either great accolades or things that people would
bestow upon him, because you know, he just didn't want
to garner all that type of attention. He was all
about his team, in his family. He was such a
great family man. And you know what, what he would
(08:10):
talk about off the field was not a lot about baseball.
He would there was times when you know, the circumstances
were right when he'd certainly talk about it. But he
talked about his family, He talked about growing up in Mexico.
He he was a very very grounded person. And man,
I'll tell you what, tim for all the attention, I mean,
you've Fernando was like one of the Beatles. He really was.
(08:33):
And and I beg to differ. I think outside of
Los Angeles, everybody knew Fernando in the sports world, and
he just didn't want to recognize, you know, how big
that was. He would just he wouldn't he wouldn't really
even acknowledge it. He was just he'd just give you
a smile of smirk, and he was always the same guy, always,
(08:54):
and that's what I loved about him. He was just
a pleasure to be around.
Speaker 3 (08:57):
You mentioned you first saw him in the my if
you could talk about that first encounter where you guys
were and kind of coming up sort at the same time.
Speaker 1 (09:07):
Yeah, he was.
Speaker 4 (09:09):
He was in the big leagues a year before me.
And I saw the first day he came into the
organization from Mexico down and I was when I was
in Arizona Instructional League, I believe in seventy nine, and
he came. He came in there and you know, he
had haired down the middle of his back, and they
threw a UNI on him and had him go out
there and throw batting practice, and he was hitting the
(09:30):
top of the backstop and the cutout of the green
in front of him plate and everywhere in between. And
you know, he had he had good fastball, He had
good stuff. But when Bobby Castillo had taught him that
screwball and he learned to throw that thing but not
bending his elbow all the way, just by flicking his wrist,
didn't put any pressure on his arm. He he just
became bigger than life. He took that screwball and he
(09:54):
he mastered it, and it was all over after that.
The nationally hitters had no answer for that screwball. I
remember playing just playing behind him all those years. He
would just make people, very good hitters just look like
they'd never seen it before, and they he made him
look silly. That's how good he was.
Speaker 3 (10:12):
What wasn't about the screwball For those who don't understand
what a screwball is.
Speaker 4 (10:16):
So Fernando being left handed to a right handed hitter,
the ball is going to come into the right handed
hitter if he throws a slider. You know you haven't
sometimes had a little natural tail on a fastball that
might go away a little bit, but for the most part,
the ball's coming to you. When you throw a screwball,
it's completely the opposite of a curveball. A curveball will
come into the right handed hitter, so you don't have
(10:36):
to reach for it. A screwball kind of does the
same thing and all goes exactly the opposite way. So
he's throwing the ball to, you know, to a right
hand hitter, and it's going to break towards the right
handed hitters batter's box, so away from the hitter and
People just don't see pitches like that. They can't throw it.
It's too hard of a pitch to throw, so you
never see that pitch, especially with the mastery that Fernando
(10:58):
Valen's wail ahead upon that pitch. It was just incredible.
Speaker 3 (11:02):
Eight six, six, nine, eighty seven, two five seventy. It's
Sax and Kates and the Am on this Wednesday morning.
Scam started in nine or in twenty seventeen during the
NLCS and World Series run for the Dodgers and every
postseason we've been here for you here on an FI
seventy LA Sports, and I think it's fitting during these
few days off between the NLCS and the World Series,
(11:25):
we thought, well, what's gonna happen?
Speaker 1 (11:26):
What's there gonna be a lot to talk about.
Speaker 3 (11:28):
We'll get ready for Game one, We'll break down everything
to the smallest degrees, and you know, here we are
on this Wednesday morning, two days before the World Series
begins between the Dodgers and Yankees. Fernando Valenzuela passes away
at a local LA hospital at the age of sixty three,
and a lot of emotions have been stirred up for
Dodger fans, young and old. Remembering for Nando Mania and
(11:50):
what the former NLCY Young Award winner Rookie of the
Year did back in nineteen eighty one, what he did
for a culture here in southern California, what he did
for the Dodger fan base in the nineteen eighties and beyond.
I mean, you go out to Dodger Stadium today and
you can see Dodger fans from East LA, you know,
sitting next to Dodger fans from the Valley, from all
(12:13):
walks of life, citty together and the one thing they
have in common, Steve Sachs, is Dodgers baseball. And it
was Fernando who brought certain parts of this city that
probably would never have interacted together in any point of
their life together with a common bond. And that was
Dodger baseball.
Speaker 4 (12:31):
Oh there's no question. He brought everybody together. And in
this world that we're living in today sometimes it seems
extremely divisive. You wouldn't see that coming into Dodger Stadium.
Fernando Valen's way that changed all that. And that's such
a great thing in its pure sense about baseball, where
you can bring people together and people can lock arms
and forget about everything else. And just enjoy a great
(12:53):
game of baseball for an afternoon or an evening. That's
what Fernando was about, and he was just the best.
I just consider what a what a great honor was
to play behind him and know him as my friend.
And it's just a hard day today to think about
he's gone.
Speaker 6 (13:10):
Now.
Speaker 3 (13:10):
I think of Fernando Mania as I was a young
kid at the time. But you think of what he
did on the field, the dominance, the eight to zero,
the start, and the shutout streak that he started with,
and you know, taking baseball by storm. Is one of
the best young pitchers at the age of twenty, and
what he did in the eighty one postseason to help
you guys on the Dodgers. So what he did in
(13:32):
his career afterwards, I don't know Fernandomania is as big
as it is if he doesn't produce like he did
on the field. Certainly, people love to look out and
see a young man out of Mexico that they can
relate to and doesn't speak English but yet speak Spanish,
which a lot of the population here in southern California
could relate to. But if he doesn't have the success
(13:54):
that he does, it maybe doesn't translate to what Fernandomania is.
But it all came together like a perfect storm, with
him being Mexican, with him speaking Spanish, with the culture
of southern California, and the success that he had on
the field. I mean, you talk about perfect timings for
everything to come together. It was that nineteen eighty one
(14:15):
season and beyond, because again, if he doesn't have that success,
I don't know if we're talking about Fernando means yeah.
Speaker 4 (14:20):
And remember that was that was the season with the strike,
so baseball was fractured. You know, we had two different seasons,
the first one second season, and Fernando in the midst
of that was just a bright light. Everybody could look
to and talk about it and anticipate when baseball comes
back that you know, we're going to get to see
Fernando again. But don't don't be fooled for you know,
(14:40):
Fernando when he's just say that he spoke, you know, Spanish.
He also was learning English just by osmosis being around
everybody and kind of it rubbing off on him. Fernando
was very smart, very intelligent man, and he could pick
it up and I remember times when he would you know,
act like he didn't understand he didn't understand the English,
(15:02):
but he understood more than you thought. And after a while,
you know, he couldn't hide it anymore because people just
knew and they heard him talk too much of English,
and they say, okay, he knows English now, and you know,
after a while, certainly he was spoke English very well.
And you can see how well he spoke with the
KWKW and how well he did as a broadcaster. He
(15:22):
was he knew the game in and out. He was
a very very smart guy. So that was part of
the fun to be around him, is you know, you
kind of look at him and and he kind of
looked back at you and he said, yeah, yeah, I know,
you got me figured out.
Speaker 3 (15:36):
That's this you brought the second part of his career
and being a Dodger legend, and that's being part of
the Dodger Spanish broadcast. It's as much as Jim Herren
started it, and being the iconic Spanish voice of the
Dodgers and calling those games for Fernando Venezuela during Fernando Mania,
and being that translator at the time to bridge the
(15:57):
English and Spanish fans. In the nineteen eighty one season
and beyond, and then to go into the booth and
call games in Spanish. He just continued that legacy. So
the young kids who were too young to recognize in
the nineteen eighties, or weren't even alive until the nineteen nineties,
or weren't even born to the early two thousands, they
got to know Fernando Valence wella and not only by
(16:19):
their family members talking about how great Fernando was and
what he meant to their family, their culture, the city
of Los Angeles, to Dodger Nation, but also they get
to hear him for so many years, even until just
a month ago.
Speaker 4 (16:30):
He transcended any age. There was no age attached to Fernando.
Everybody could, you know, relate to him and know the
struggles that he went through coming up. You know in Mexico,
didn't come from a lot of resources, and yet he
was able to come up. And the thing that I
really liked about Fernando, the best thing I liked about Fernando,
(16:52):
besides how wonderful he was on the field, is just
how grounded he was and what a great family guy
that he was. He would talk about, you know, his family,
and his eyes would light up, and you know, you
talk about baseball and striking out Dale Murphy in a
real clutch situation, then you know he's talking about his
kids or his wife, and you know he'd really light
up that that's what really was his passion. And you know,
(17:15):
baseball was for sure. But Frana was a very, very
grounded person. That's what I really loved about him.
Speaker 3 (17:20):
Is Saxon Kate's in the am here on a five
seventy LA Sports. We're here with you all morning long,
and we appreciate you having us with you as we
remember Fernando of Alenzuela, Steve sax Tim Kates and you
on this Wednesday morning. Mike Sosh is going to join
us in the seven o'clock hour. Dusty Baker will join
us in the eight o'clock hour. Your phone call is
this hour also a great tribute that MLB Network did
(17:44):
a few years ago. It was a tribute to Fernando
Mania and Fernando and what he did for southern California.
And it's a great spotlight and a great time to
reflect and for those who are young to hear what
he meant to Los Angeles in nineteen eight one and beyond.
In ten years with the Dodgers and a great I
(18:04):
dare I say Hall of Fame career. I know the
numbers don't say. It doesn't put him up there with
the the the top pitchers of all time, but certainly
what he meant to the game as a contributor will
go down as one of the greatest of all time
across this country. Maybe one day he gets in to
that Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. He is Steve Saxon,
Tim Kates on this Wednesday morning. It's Saxon Kate's and
(18:26):
am here on NI seventy I sports Saxon Kates in
the am on this Wednesday morning. Gave one of the
World Series Dodgers Yankees coming up on Friday night, Jack
flaherity we found out will be the game of one
starter going up against Garrett Cole to Southern California Kids
(18:50):
on the Mound Dodgers Yankees Flarity out of the Valley
here in the eight one eight, Garrett Cole out of
Orange County in the seven to one to four. So
looking forward to that matchup. Of course, we'll have all
of it for you right here on your home of
the Dodgers A five seventy LA Sports A sad day
in southern California in the city of La As. Fernando
Valenzuela last night passed away at the age of sixty three.
(19:12):
He was a Dodger icon, and he was a Dodger
that will always be remembered for what he did in
nineteen eighty one, what he did for the nineteen eighties
for the Dodgers, for his career in baseball, and then
as a broadcaster for twenty plus years with the Los
Angeles Dodgers, bursting onto the scene in nineteen eighty one,
Rookie of the Year, Cy young On, an All Star
(19:33):
many times over, and just a great person. Fernando Valenzuela
gone too soon at the age of sixty three, Saxy.
Did you guys play together in the minor leagues for
a little bit? I know you saw you said you
saw him an instructional league when he first got there,
and then he moved up a little before you to
the major leagues. But did you guys play together in
(19:55):
the minor leagues together?
Speaker 4 (19:56):
No, just I believe, just an instructional league oka, but
not in the minor leagues.
Speaker 1 (20:00):
He was up.
Speaker 4 (20:01):
He went up really quick and I think he was
signed in seventy nine and I saw him the First
Aid and Instruction League, and then after that. Okay, so
in eighty I was in Varo and he was up
in eighty gotcha, And so yeah, that's how that happened.
Speaker 3 (20:17):
We're remembering Fernando and we know the impact he had
here on fans in Los Angeles, in southern California, and
we want you to be able to be a part
of the show this morning. Coming up in just a
couple of minutes, a great tribute about Fernando Mania and
what it was in nineteen eighty one from our buddy
John Paul Morosi at MLB Network. He made baseball fans,
(20:37):
Fernando did. If you weren't a baseball fan, maybe you
did understand the game. It wasn't part of the culture
at the time you were older, and all of a sudden,
this twenty year old from Mexico comes speaking Spanish, throwing
baseballs and dominating the game at an early age and
catching the city on fire, and all of a sudden,
as Tony mentioned, you got people who want to know
more about him.
Speaker 1 (20:58):
Who is this guy?
Speaker 3 (20:59):
What's this game of bit and who are these Dodgers,
and they became Dodger fans later in the lives. It's
it's so crazy and I shouldn't be surprised, but you
hear something and it trigger something.
Speaker 1 (21:10):
You just keep.
Speaker 3 (21:11):
Remembering how much he meant to this city, even non
baseball fan.
Speaker 4 (21:16):
He well, that phone called by Tony right there. That
sums it all up, that he said it all. I mean,
it just he affected little kids, the grandfathers that go
outside and can't watch. The grandmother that be became attracted
to baseball because of Fernando. Why isn't he pitching every day?
She didn't understand the nuance of baseball, but she understood
(21:37):
how much she loved watching Fernando. And that's that's what
he brought to the game. Can you imagine the impact
that he would have had had he started in today's
you know, in today's game with all social media. Fernando
it you know, he was it was like a show,
a show Heyo Tani. It was like he was bigger
than life. That's what Fernando was like, Yeah, you're absolutely right.
Speaker 3 (21:59):
He was show hey o tani before show to the
Mexican community, the South American community, and making baseball fans
and spreading the gospel of baseball to a different part
of the country. There are players that dominate on the
field and are the best of the best SAXI. They're
the the All Stars, they're the Hall of Fame players
(22:20):
because of what they've done and the production they've done
on the field. And you also have to think about
guys who were really good players and major contributors to
the sport of baseball. I think of two people right away,
and it just happens to be La Dodgers. I think
of Tommy John one because of the Tommy John surgery
and yeah, what he meant to the baseball and look
at his names put on that surgery. And two is
(22:42):
Fernando v Aalezuela because of what they meant to the
game of baseball. So I don't know what the process
is for contributors to baseball. I don't know if it's
a different committee that makes that that selection. And oftentimes,
you know, you know, guys get put into Hall of
Fames after they're passed away and should have gone in
when they were still alive, yeah, and just don't for
(23:04):
whatever reason, but they pass away and all of a sudden,
now a committee wants to recognize them because they're gone,
which is unfortunate. But at the same time, this would
be a great time for baseball, a great a great
gesture for baseball, and Cooper's down the Hall of Fame
to put Fernando in the Hall of Fame.
Speaker 4 (23:20):
Yeah, I understand completely your your thoughts on this, tim
and I'm sure that people have been around, you know,
baseball and know about the Hall of Fame, and you
know a lot of it is based on numbers. That's
what baseball more than any sport. It's just based on numbers.
Everybody knows what seven hundred and fourteen means, everybody knows
what three hundred wins means. You know, those those things
are just what baseball's about. And you look at Fernando's
(23:42):
numbers and you know they're probably not going to be
at the stature that Hall of Fame. You know, people
would induct him. But if you look at the impact
that Fernando made on baseball, I mean, he made far
more of an impact than probably some people that are
in the Hall of Fame simply because of what he
what he stood for, and where he came from, and
(24:05):
the odds against him and just how great he was.
Fernando was a meteor, he really was. He was just
a huge, bright, shining light for you know, a certain
amount of time and then it's gone. But by the
time that he was there, he was bright as you
could ever imagine. And what he did and change the
(24:25):
way people look at baseball, the way a whole culture
looks at baseball, he absolutely shot again I'll say this,
he shot the fan base in Los Angeles and transformed
it like it's never been before. And he was solely
responsible for that.
Speaker 3 (24:41):
Eight sixty six, nine eighty seven, two five seventy. We're
gonna take your calls all morning long. Mike Sosh is
going to join us next hour. Dusty Baker is going
to join us in the eight o'clock hour. As we
are here live in local Saxon Kates in the am
lead you up to Game one on Friday of the
World Series. But certainly the sad news of the passing
of the great Fernando Valence for a lot of you
(25:01):
so much a part of your lives, your family's lives,
your culture, and for those who are young who don't
quite grasp what Fernando Mania was all about. Our buddy
John Paul Morosi at the MLB Networks a couple of
years ago did a great little feature about Fernando nineteen
eighty one what he meant to the city of Los Angeles.
And for those who don't know, now you will.
Speaker 7 (25:22):
There are some things that make sports enjoyable which don't
have anything to do with which team won are lost.
There are the great characters produced in sports, and this
season's great character is a young fellow named Fernando Vevenezuela,
who has produced a kind of baseball fever known as
Fernando Mania.
Speaker 5 (25:39):
America in nineteen eighty one was a place and time
when the pages in a folk tale turned at the
right pace, faster than the evening paper, slower than a tweet,
with space to soak in the wonder in every chapter.
Speaker 7 (25:53):
It's a fairy tale, should preposcuous, God, your advans dar
not open their eye.
Speaker 5 (25:58):
Al Nino Isando Valezuela. Fernando Mania was more than one
of the best stretches of pitching in baseball history.
Speaker 8 (26:06):
Has taken out this.
Speaker 2 (26:11):
Valenzuela's pitching.
Speaker 5 (26:14):
It was an experience without compare before or in the
four decades since. A singular story that becomes more transcendent
each time we tell it.
Speaker 8 (26:25):
Nineteen eighty one will be the year of Fernando Valenzuela.
Speaker 5 (26:29):
The left handed from Etchejuaquila, Mexico, captivated Los Angeles and
ultimately the country with his extraordinary pitching, one of a kind,
wind up and unassuming way, and of cars.
Speaker 6 (26:42):
Here today a lot of folks have come in just
to say the Mexican phantom, Fernando Valezuela, and why not.
Speaker 1 (26:48):
He's the hottest subject in baseball.
Speaker 5 (26:51):
Fernando Valenzuela won his first eight Major League starts, the
longest such streak since the end of World War II.
Speaker 1 (26:58):
Rock you Abib, It's all Overla did it again.
Speaker 5 (27:02):
His era was zero point five zero, an all time
record through that many starts.
Speaker 2 (27:07):
Perhaps such early season hysteria could only be born in Hollywood.
Speaker 6 (27:11):
One else can be said, but Viva Balenzuela.
Speaker 5 (27:17):
The phenomenon began by accident, which was part of the Charms.
All Star left hander Jerry Royce was supposed to start
the dodgers nineteen eighty one opener, but strained a cath
muscle during batting cracks. So Tommy Lasorda summoned the twenty
year old Valenzuela. The result a shutout victory.
Speaker 8 (27:38):
Alanzuela, however, provol What a way to start Fernando Valenzuela
in his first big leg starren this is a shutout.
Speaker 5 (27:50):
Valenzuela spun four shutouts before the end of April. No
major league picture has thrown that many in a season
since Felix Hernandez into twenty twelve. And while Fernando media
began in April, the fascination reached its apex in May.
In those years, it was said rather earnestly that for
(28:10):
sports history to be made, the New York press had
to witness it. Thus, Valenzuela's May eighth start, a Friday
night at Shay Stadium, was a bona fide baseball event.
Speaker 7 (28:23):
And once again a large crowd has come out, full
of the question is.
Speaker 8 (28:28):
He for real?
Speaker 5 (28:29):
Valenzuela, who hailed from a town of fewer than one thousand,
had made it to Broadway, and nearly forty thousand New
Yorkers witnessed he yet another shutout by a one nothing score.
Speaker 8 (28:41):
Topping the airfound and Fernando has his fifth cutout, unbelievable.
Speaker 5 (28:50):
As Valenzuela returned home for his next two starts, Dodger
Stadium was changing. Chevezravine had been a Mexican American neighborhood
before the ballpark's construs direction forced the relocation of area residents.
The relationship between the team and LA's Latino community was fraught,
but in Fernando, Mexican American fans saw a superstar who
(29:13):
was one of their own.
Speaker 7 (29:15):
Fernando Venezuela as the job beat the great and I
think everybody in that Fernando Beaver.
Speaker 5 (29:22):
It's a legend of Los Angeles Baseball that Vin Scully's
broadcasts were audible everywhere in the ballpark through a chorus
of transistor radios.
Speaker 8 (29:31):
The bat balls Helana two.
Speaker 5 (29:33):
On Night's Fernando Pitch Hall of Fame announcer Heim Hyrene's
Spanish narration carried the melody in many sections. The Enchanted
eighty one season began with Bounzuela pitching nine innings in
each of his first eight stars and ended with the
(29:53):
Dodgers first World Series title since the heroics of another
left hander in nineteen sixty five. Valenzuela capped his historic
season with the National League Cy Young and Rookie of
the Year awards. No other picture has earned both honors
in the same year before or since.
Speaker 3 (30:14):
All Right, thank you to John Paul Morosi from MLB Network.
They're nineteen eighty one. Fernando Mania and what it meant
and what was happening at the time, I would spark
a fan base here in Southern California. He started his
season eight to er with eight straight complete games, five
of them shutouts, and a sub one ERA in seventy
(30:36):
two and he's unbelievable. Eight sixty six ninety seven two five.
Say we'll take a break, we'll come back. We'll get
to more of your phone calls eight six six ninety
seven two five seventy and Sax and Kates and the
AM on this Wednesday morning. Your phone calls a week
come back, Fernando Valezuela, gone too soon.
Speaker 1 (30:54):
We remember him this morning.
Speaker 3 (30:55):
Mike Sosha joins us next hour, and then in the
eight o'clock hour, Dusty Baker, your phone calls when we
come back right here in AFI seventy LA Sports, Sax
and Kates in the AM on this Wednesday morning, October
twenty third, Thanks for being with us sad Day in
(31:16):
Southern California. For Dodger fans finding out last night that
Fernando Valenzuela passed away at the age of sixty three.
He was in bad health. So many great memories, so
many great moments in his baseball career, certainly Fernandomania taking
storm in nineteen eighty one. What he meant to this franchise.
(31:37):
His number being retired in twenty twenty three, I think
was absolutely the right thing to do by the Dodger organization.
Sex you think about a Dodger franchise that does not
retire numbers unless you are a Hall of Famer, and
they they relieve they leave it for guys who are
in Cooperstown, and you know, Mike, you think of what
(32:00):
Fernando meant to this organization and realizing he probably is
not going to get into the Hall of Fame for
his numbers, as we talked about, but for being Fernando.
They thought it was fitting and surprised him at FanFest
in January of twenty twenty three, when he was on
stage with the fans letting him know that in fact,
they were going to retire that number, thirty four. It
caught him by surprise. He had no idea he was
(32:23):
genuinely on stage in shock that they retired they were
going to retire his number, and the whole weekend for
his retirement out of Dodger Stadium and the ceremony was
just awesome to see.
Speaker 4 (32:33):
Yeah, and it's so, you know, so good that they
did that, because you know, I know it may be
a little bit away from the norm, but man, there
was only one Fernando and nobody impacted at baseball, especially
especially Los Angeles baseball like Fernando did. So I think
it was completely fitting for the Dodgers to do that,
no question.
Speaker 3 (32:53):
Jim Gillian is the only other Dodger non Hall of
Famer to have his number retire, and that number nineteen
retired by the Dodgers. And so yeah, Fernando joining Jim
Gillian is the only two non Hall of famers to
have those numbers hanging inside Dodgers Stadium. We go back
out to the phones. Thank you for being patient. We
(33:15):
go to Eddie and San Pedro's next up here on
Saxon Kate's at the Amhi, Eddie, Hey.
Speaker 9 (33:22):
You guys, Thank you Stephen and Tim for taking my call.
Sax were you at the parade in nineteen eighty one?
Speaker 4 (33:35):
Well, yeah, I don't I remember. I remember, I don't
really remember that, oddly enough, because I was off to
Venezuela is right when the season was over. Not sure
if I was at the parade or not. I don't
really remember that. I know I was the one in
eighty eight for sure, but eighty one I'm not sure
because I had to go to.
Speaker 9 (33:54):
Vene eighty one.
Speaker 7 (33:55):
Yeah.
Speaker 9 (33:55):
Well, it was reported that after the parade that Fernando
wasn't there wasn't at the parade on local news here
in LA and they had said that, I don't know
if it's a myth or what, but the previous night
he had gone out and went to his favorite local
(34:18):
food stand downtown La, which you know, those were like
twenty four to seven going on down there, in this
variety of them, and he had eaten too much of
his favorite Mexican dish and that's what caused him to
have like an upset stomach, and he missed the parade.
I don't know if there was any truth to that,
(34:39):
but that was reported on the parade day. And you know,
he was, you know, a bit of a character in
that sense, you know, he kind of did, you know,
marched to his own beat. And I think the mania
aspect of that, about the Fernando Mania aspect of that
(35:03):
was came after Beatlemania, and that was a huge was
it like on in New York and Broadway and and
in the UK.
Speaker 1 (35:12):
It was everywhere.
Speaker 9 (35:13):
They had done everywhere. Yeah, they had done Beatlemania and
uh and Fernando followed beatle Mania. Yeah, with Fernando Mania.
Speaker 1 (35:23):
Yes, it was a great time. Eddy appreciate it. Great
to hear you. Uh and and yeah.
Speaker 3 (35:27):
In the nineteen eighty one parade, as Eddie was talking there,
Fernando was not at the parade. And according Tommy Lasorda
was a quote in the uh, I think the La
Times here was not feeling very well today, was unable
to come.
Speaker 4 (35:40):
So uh yeah, not at the not at the parade.
I don't even remember if I was at the parade.
I I, like I said, I think I was in Venezuela.
I was out of there like fast.
Speaker 1 (35:48):
So win the World Series and Saxy's on the plane Venezuela.
Speaker 4 (35:52):
You know what's crazy is we won the World Series
in the in the they call it the Serier del Cive,
the Caribbean Series, and we our team in Venezuela won
it all there too, So we won it all the
United States, and then we won it all in Latin American, uh,
you know series as well. So wow, that was an encompassing.
Speaker 3 (36:12):
Year, nineteen eighty one, a championship year for Steven Sachs. Yes,
how about that.
Speaker 4 (36:17):
But yeah, I didn't know that. You know, I never
knew about the you know, the thing with Fernando not
being at the at the parade. You know, so I guess,
you know, not everybody makes it either. I know there's
other guys that haven't been at parades too.
Speaker 3 (36:29):
So Mike and Aguraz next up, you were Saxon Kates
to the AM on this Wednesday morning.
Speaker 1 (36:34):
How you doing, Mike?
Speaker 10 (36:36):
Good morning, gentlemen. How you doing okay?
Speaker 6 (36:38):
Mike.
Speaker 10 (36:40):
Yeah, it's definitely a sad day for Dodger Nation today,
but we all have to remember how blessed and lucky
that we were that we got to experience Fernando here
in Los Angeles. That's that's just a great thing, you know,
that that we got we got to live through at
(37:01):
But the main reason for my call is last week,
you guys did a you guys played a speech from
Tommy Lasorda at spring training. That was so moving, and
I've been trying to find it on the internet. Do
you know where I could find you know where I
could listen to that be able to listen to that speech.
Speaker 1 (37:20):
Yeah, you can find it on on Twitter. You can
find it on YouTube.
Speaker 3 (37:23):
I'll retweet it here in a little bit at Tim
Kates if you follow me or don't at Tim Kates,
I'll put it up there in the next few minutes
here for you, Mike.
Speaker 9 (37:31):
All right, that'd be great.
Speaker 6 (37:32):
Well listen, guys, have a good day and go Dodgers.
Speaker 1 (37:34):
All right, appreciate it, Thank you very much. Squeeze another
folk call in here.
Speaker 3 (37:38):
Gus in East La joins us on Saxon, Kate's and
the AM on this Wednesday morning.
Speaker 6 (37:42):
Hi Gus, Good morning, Sacks and Kate. Listen this uh,
this day is like tragedy. Is It's like I lost
the family of the member of the family.
Speaker 10 (37:59):
Uh.
Speaker 6 (38:00):
In nineteen eighty one, I was an eighth grader and
you know, Fernando just reopened the interest in baseball for
me and my family. I'm devastated today. But let me
just tell you this. I you know, it's that old
(38:20):
saying he was a friend of mine. And I say
this because back in the eighties, I was part of
a cross country team and from Wilson High School here
in East LA and we would go out to Griffith
Park and we saw I saw Fernando kicking the ball
there with his brother playing soccer, and we couldn't believe
(38:42):
our eyes.
Speaker 9 (38:42):
You know.
Speaker 6 (38:43):
It was probably nineteen eighty three, and he was just
the simplest, friendliest guy that you could approach. He didn't
let's stardom get to him. He was just like you said, said,
it's humble and generous. Uh you know I I just
felt like we didn't even have to ask for an
(39:04):
out of that. He was just willing and able to.
And then through the career, I actually got a job
there at Dodger Stadium, and as a vendor, I was
coming up and on the stands, et cetera. But Fernando
was there, like I could make eye contact with him,
talk to him. And when he left the Dodgers, that
(39:25):
was just like a piece of my heart also left.
So he went to the Angels and the Padres and
and even then I could I could uh shout over
the uh the stands, over the dugout and he would
come over and say hello, which blew my mind. So,
I you know, maybe like other people, I thought he
(39:45):
was a friend. And uh, even though you know, he
probably wouldn't remember my name. I think he was a
type of person that could really connect with you, look
at you in the eye, and not think he was
something out of this world. Uh that he military the
friendliness the Jenner ROSSI to give us time to people
(40:06):
to shiney. Yeah, I'm just I'm blown away today and
I know my entire family in the neighborhood. Here, I'm
wearing my thirty four jersey.
Speaker 1 (40:15):
Awesome. Awesome.
Speaker 3 (40:16):
Yeah, well, Gus, we appreciate you sharing that and joining
us this morning. I think he hit it on the head, Saxy.
He was able to connect with the fans, he was
able to connect with the everyday person. He was able
to connect with his teammates, He was able to connect
with different cultures, he was able to connect with different cities.
He brought everybody together. He connected everybody. But at the
(40:37):
same time, as Gus mentioned, he he made you think
and feel like you were friends. Yes, and even though
he probably didn't know your name or didn't you never
came across him, or maybe you came across him once
in your life you felt like, Hey, I know Fernando
and he knows me.
Speaker 4 (40:52):
Yeah, And you mentioned all those different ways that he
connected people, right, and and he did this to him
exactly what you said. He did it without trying. He
did it because that's just who he was. It was
natural for him to uh to draw people into him
and for them to feel like they were his friend,
like Gus was talking about. He made an impact on
(41:14):
Gus's life, you can tell. And he did this very naturally.
He did it without trying. He did it without thinking
about it. It was what he was about. That was
him at his base.
Speaker 3 (41:25):
Eight six six nine eighty seven, two five seventy. It's
Saxon Kate's in the am on this Wednesday morning. The
sad news that broke last night of the passing to
Fernando Valezuela at the age of sixty three. Would take
your phone calls this morning. We remember Fernando. We talk
about what a great icon he was for the Los
Angeles Dodgers and for the city of Los Angeles. Eight
(41:45):
six six nine eighty seven, two five seventy. And there's
a world series to be played, and Fernando would want
Dodger fans to get ready for Game one on Friday.
It's a rematch against the Yankees. The last time Fernando
pitched nineteen eighty one in the World Series for the Dogs.
Now the Dodgers and Yankees will square off on Friday night.
Your phone calls Mike Sosha, Dusty Baker to Wednesday morning,
(42:07):
one hour down, two to go, Saxon Kates in the
am here on your home of the Dodgers, Amphi seventy
LA Sports
The right quist.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
Dodgers Playoff Baseball is back and with it an annual
postseason tradition.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
Scam is back. Baby.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
This is Sax and Cakes in the a app BA
Go with Proway. Dodger legend Steve Sacks is joined by
your favorite Dodger pregame host, Tim Kates. If you want
to talk Dodgers, get in on the show on eighty
six six nine, eighty seven two five seven now. While
the Dan Patrick Show streams on the Ihearts radio app.
(00:35):
We've been banished to the Internet until this Dodgers playoff
run concludes. Here they are broadcasting live on AM five
to seven e LA Sports. It's Tim Kates and Steve Sacks.
Speaker 3 (00:47):
It's Saxy, Kate's and AM on this Wednesday morning, October
twenty third, twenty twenty four. Thanks for being with us
live in local on your home of the Dodgers A
five seventy LA Sports, Tim Kates, along with two time
World Series Champion, former Rookie of the Year, our favorite
number three, the one and only Steve Sacks.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
Saxy, Good morning, Good morning Tim.
Speaker 3 (01:11):
Yeah, it's a heavy day here in southern California, the
city of Angels and Los Angeles as a Dodger icon
last night, passed away at the age of sixty three.
Fernando Valvenezuela gone too soon as the former Dodger left hander,
his number thirty four retired Dodger icon. When he meants
to this city through the nineteen eighties and to this
(01:33):
day cannot be described and cannot be quantified how much
he meant to this city, the fan base, the people
of this city and gone too soon, passed away at
the age of sixty three last night, Saxy, I guess
your initial thoughts and when you hear the.
Speaker 4 (01:49):
News, Yeah, it is such a sad day everybody, I'm
sure with a heavy heart waking up this morning and
you know, being confronted with the news that Fernando is gone.
You know, he was such a great guy. I saw
Fernando the first day he came to the Dodger organization
from Mexico. I was down an instruction league And you know,
(02:12):
we can get into that a little bit later if
you wish, But what a great man, a phenomenal teammate,
and just we're going to sorely miss him, terribly miss him.
He's just such a great person.
Speaker 3 (02:25):
He burst onto the scene in nineteen eighty one and
caught this city by storm and electrified a fan base
for years and really connected Southern California culturally by bringing
people together by coming to Dodger games every single night
and especially when he pitched. And not only did he
catch Southern California on fire with this baseball phenomenon on
(02:49):
the mound, but he caught baseball in general on fire
in nineteen eighty one with Fernando Mania. What he was
able to do with his eight straight shutouts to start
the season. It's well talked to about that first trip
to New York going back there and dominating the Mets
like he did with a shutout win put him on
the scene nationally. But again, what he did here in
(03:10):
Southern California, it will never be duplicated Fernando Mania outside
of Southern California. It may not mean as much as
it does to Angelino's but Saxony being a part of it,
being in that world win of nineteen eighty one and
the rest of his career and everything he did. What
was it like to be there for Fernando Mania through
(03:30):
the nineteen eighties and be a part of what Fernando
was doing in this culture in the city.
Speaker 5 (03:34):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (03:35):
Well, first of all, Fernando changed the whole trajectory of
the fan base in Los Angeles. He just shot the
thing through the roof and really, you know, brought together
so many people to come watch him play. The Mexican
American population here in Los Angeles just exploded through those
(03:55):
turnstiles to watch him pitch, and rightly so, because he
was just a pleasure to watch. It was great to
play behind Fernando. You just looked at a guy who
was carving people up, just dominating people, not with overpowering stuff,
but with a deception in that phenomenal screwball that the
right handed hitter or left handed hitters either just had
(04:17):
no answer for. They've never seen anything come out of
a person's hand like Fernando could make it do. And
he could, he could make it slow or fast, he
could change speeds on it, and it was obviously his
signature pitch. But there was a lot more to him
than just that. Fernando was a tenacious competitor. He was
a really good hitter. There's times where the bench was
(04:38):
becoming depleted and Tommy would pinch hit at Fernando. He
would be the guy with the bat not being hit four.
And you know, he was just an all around great athlete.
Don't let the physique fool you. Fernando was a very
good all around athlete and just a great competitor. And
the other side of it, his personality. He was just
(04:59):
a he was like a big kid. He never took
himself seriously, but he took what he did very seriously.
And that's the great mark of humility, and that's what
Fernando was about.
Speaker 3 (05:11):
We remember Fernando Alizuela on this Wednesday morning, and we
want you Dodger fans, to certainly be a part of
it because he was a huge part of a lot
of your lives and your family's lives, and we want
you to share your stories. We want you to be
a part of celebrating Fernando Velezuela eight sixty six, nine
eighty seven two five seventy. We got some of your
former teammates to join this. Mike Sosha is going to
(05:32):
join us at seven point thirty, certainly a big part
of Fernando Mania behind the plate working with El Toro.
We got Dusty Baker who was going to join us
in the eight o'clock hour coming up at the bottom
of this hour a great tribute from MLB Network from
our buddy John Paul Morosi, who a few years ago
wanted to really encapitalize, capitualize what Fernando Mania was all about.
(05:53):
And for the younger generation of sports fans, baseball fans
out there that have heard of Fernando, have seen the
videos and know the name, what it was all about,
and what exactly it did to Southern California, especially in
nineteen eighty one. So we'll hear that feature coming up
at the bottom of the hour. But again we want
to be you to be a part of the show
at eight sixty six, nine eighty seven, two five seventy
(06:14):
because Fernando was a part of everybody's lives here in
southern California, whether you were a young pop at the time,
whether you weren't even born at the time, Your family
members loved him, they talked about him. He was a
part of their lives, and then they passed it on
to you, even if you weren't even around or old
enough at that time to enjoy Fernando Mania. Eight sixty six,
nine eighty seven, two five seventy, eight sixty six, nine
(06:35):
eighty seven two five seventy. Now, Fernando had been in
bad health recently. He had stepped away from his duties
with the Spanish radio broadcast at the end of the
regular season just about a month ago, and he's passed
away again last night, the family announced through the team,
at the age of sixty three. In the last eighteen
months or so, Saxy, the Dodgers really made a tribute
(06:59):
to Fernando Violence by retiring his number thirty four and
honoring him at Dodger Stadium, And they don't do that
at all for the Dodger organization. You have to be
a Hall of Famer to have your number retired, and
they did it for Fernando in twenty twenty three. He
was honored with that. And again, Fernando, what he meant
(07:20):
to this city was on full display that night. When
you saw the fans there early, you saw him speak,
and you talked about his personality. You also see how
humbled he was about the attention that he received and
the accolades that he got from this organization and from
the fans. Did you ever grasp Facci that he understood
(07:41):
the impact he had on Southern California, The culture the
fan base baseball fans.
Speaker 4 (07:48):
I think he certainly realized that it was so big.
But Fernando was a kind of a guy that always
deflected in either great accolades or things that people would
bestow upon him, because you know, he just didn't want
to garner all that type of attention. He was all
about his team, in his family. He was such a
great family man. And you know what, what he would
(08:10):
talk about off the field was not a lot about baseball.
He would there was times when you know, the circumstances
were right when he'd certainly talk about it. But he
talked about his family, He talked about growing up in Mexico.
He he was a very very grounded person. And man,
I'll tell you what, tim for all the attention, I mean,
you've Fernando was like one of the Beatles. He really was.
(08:33):
And and I beg to differ. I think outside of
Los Angeles, everybody knew Fernando in the sports world, and
he just didn't want to recognize, you know, how big
that was. He would just he wouldn't he wouldn't really
even acknowledge it. He was just he'd just give you
a smile of smirk, and he was always the same guy, always,
(08:54):
and that's what I loved about him. He was just
a pleasure to be around.
Speaker 3 (08:57):
You mentioned you first saw him in the my if
you could talk about that first encounter where you guys
were and kind of coming up sort at the same time.
Speaker 1 (09:07):
Yeah, he was.
Speaker 4 (09:09):
He was in the big leagues a year before me.
And I saw the first day he came into the
organization from Mexico down and I was when I was
in Arizona Instructional League, I believe in seventy nine, and
he came. He came in there and you know, he
had haired down the middle of his back, and they
threw a UNI on him and had him go out
there and throw batting practice, and he was hitting the
(09:30):
top of the backstop and the cutout of the green
in front of him plate and everywhere in between. And
you know, he had he had good fastball, He had
good stuff. But when Bobby Castillo had taught him that
screwball and he learned to throw that thing but not
bending his elbow all the way, just by flicking his wrist,
didn't put any pressure on his arm. He he just
became bigger than life. He took that screwball and he
(09:54):
he mastered it, and it was all over after that.
The nationally hitters had no answer for that screwball. I
remember playing just playing behind him all those years. He
would just make people, very good hitters just look like
they'd never seen it before, and they he made him
look silly. That's how good he was.
Speaker 3 (10:12):
What wasn't about the screwball For those who don't understand
what a screwball is.
Speaker 4 (10:16):
So Fernando being left handed to a right handed hitter,
the ball is going to come into the right handed
hitter if he throws a slider. You know you haven't
sometimes had a little natural tail on a fastball that
might go away a little bit, but for the most part,
the ball's coming to you. When you throw a screwball,
it's completely the opposite of a curveball. A curveball will
come into the right handed hitter, so you don't have
(10:36):
to reach for it. A screwball kind of does the
same thing and all goes exactly the opposite way. So
he's throwing the ball to, you know, to a right
hand hitter, and it's going to break towards the right
handed hitters batter's box, so away from the hitter and
People just don't see pitches like that. They can't throw it.
It's too hard of a pitch to throw, so you
never see that pitch, especially with the mastery that Fernando
(10:58):
Valen's wail ahead upon that pitch. It was just incredible.
Speaker 3 (11:02):
Eight six, six, nine, eighty seven, two five seventy. It's
Sax and Kates and the Am on this Wednesday morning.
Scam started in nine or in twenty seventeen during the
NLCS and World Series run for the Dodgers and every
postseason we've been here for you here on an FI
seventy LA Sports, and I think it's fitting during these
few days off between the NLCS and the World Series,
(11:25):
we thought, well, what's gonna happen?
Speaker 1 (11:26):
What's there gonna be a lot to talk about.
Speaker 3 (11:28):
We'll get ready for Game one, We'll break down everything
to the smallest degrees, and you know, here we are
on this Wednesday morning, two days before the World Series
begins between the Dodgers and Yankees. Fernando Valenzuela passes away
at a local LA hospital at the age of sixty three,
and a lot of emotions have been stirred up for
Dodger fans, young and old. Remembering for Nando Mania and
(11:50):
what the former NLCY Young Award winner Rookie of the
Year did back in nineteen eighty one, what he did
for a culture here in southern California, what he did
for the Dodger fan base in the nineteen eighties and beyond.
I mean, you go out to Dodger Stadium today and
you can see Dodger fans from East LA, you know,
sitting next to Dodger fans from the Valley, from all
(12:13):
walks of life, citty together and the one thing they
have in common, Steve Sachs, is Dodgers baseball. And it
was Fernando who brought certain parts of this city that
probably would never have interacted together in any point of
their life together with a common bond. And that was
Dodger baseball.
Speaker 4 (12:31):
Oh there's no question. He brought everybody together. And in
this world that we're living in today sometimes it seems
extremely divisive. You wouldn't see that coming into Dodger Stadium.
Fernando Valen's way that changed all that. And that's such
a great thing in its pure sense about baseball, where
you can bring people together and people can lock arms
and forget about everything else. And just enjoy a great
(12:53):
game of baseball for an afternoon or an evening. That's
what Fernando was about, and he was just the best.
I just consider what a what a great honor was
to play behind him and know him as my friend.
And it's just a hard day today to think about
he's gone.
Speaker 6 (13:10):
Now.
Speaker 3 (13:10):
I think of Fernando Mania as I was a young
kid at the time. But you think of what he
did on the field, the dominance, the eight to zero,
the start, and the shutout streak that he started with,
and you know, taking baseball by storm. Is one of
the best young pitchers at the age of twenty, and
what he did in the eighty one postseason to help
you guys on the Dodgers. So what he did in
(13:32):
his career afterwards, I don't know Fernandomania is as big
as it is if he doesn't produce like he did
on the field. Certainly, people love to look out and
see a young man out of Mexico that they can
relate to and doesn't speak English but yet speak Spanish,
which a lot of the population here in southern California
could relate to. But if he doesn't have the success
(13:54):
that he does, it maybe doesn't translate to what Fernandomania is.
But it all came together like a perfect storm, with
him being Mexican, with him speaking Spanish, with the culture
of southern California, and the success that he had on
the field. I mean, you talk about perfect timings for
everything to come together. It was that nineteen eighty one
(14:15):
season and beyond, because again, if he doesn't have that success,
I don't know if we're talking about Fernando means yeah.
Speaker 4 (14:20):
And remember that was that was the season with the strike,
so baseball was fractured. You know, we had two different seasons,
the first one second season, and Fernando in the midst
of that was just a bright light. Everybody could look
to and talk about it and anticipate when baseball comes
back that you know, we're going to get to see
Fernando again. But don't don't be fooled for you know,
(14:40):
Fernando when he's just say that he spoke, you know, Spanish.
He also was learning English just by osmosis being around
everybody and kind of it rubbing off on him. Fernando
was very smart, very intelligent man, and he could pick
it up and I remember times when he would you know,
act like he didn't understand he didn't understand the English,
(15:02):
but he understood more than you thought. And after a while,
you know, he couldn't hide it anymore because people just
knew and they heard him talk too much of English,
and they say, okay, he knows English now, and you know,
after a while, certainly he was spoke English very well.
And you can see how well he spoke with the
KWKW and how well he did as a broadcaster. He
(15:22):
was he knew the game in and out. He was
a very very smart guy. So that was part of
the fun to be around him, is you know, you
kind of look at him and and he kind of
looked back at you and he said, yeah, yeah, I know,
you got me figured out.
Speaker 3 (15:36):
That's this you brought the second part of his career
and being a Dodger legend, and that's being part of
the Dodger Spanish broadcast. It's as much as Jim Herren
started it, and being the iconic Spanish voice of the
Dodgers and calling those games for Fernando Venezuela during Fernando Mania,
and being that translator at the time to bridge the
(15:57):
English and Spanish fans. In the nineteen eighty one season
and beyond, and then to go into the booth and
call games in Spanish. He just continued that legacy. So
the young kids who were too young to recognize in
the nineteen eighties, or weren't even alive until the nineteen nineties,
or weren't even born to the early two thousands, they
got to know Fernando Valence wella and not only by
(16:19):
their family members talking about how great Fernando was and
what he meant to their family, their culture, the city
of Los Angeles, to Dodger Nation, but also they get
to hear him for so many years, even until just
a month ago.
Speaker 4 (16:30):
He transcended any age. There was no age attached to Fernando.
Everybody could, you know, relate to him and know the
struggles that he went through coming up. You know in Mexico,
didn't come from a lot of resources, and yet he
was able to come up. And the thing that I
really liked about Fernando, the best thing I liked about Fernando,
(16:52):
besides how wonderful he was on the field, is just
how grounded he was and what a great family guy
that he was. He would talk about, you know, his family,
and his eyes would light up, and you know, you
talk about baseball and striking out Dale Murphy in a
real clutch situation, then you know he's talking about his
kids or his wife, and you know he'd really light
up that that's what really was his passion. And you know,
(17:15):
baseball was for sure. But Frana was a very, very
grounded person. That's what I really loved about him.
Speaker 3 (17:20):
Is Saxon Kate's in the am here on a five
seventy LA Sports. We're here with you all morning long,
and we appreciate you having us with you as we
remember Fernando of Alenzuela, Steve sax Tim Kates and you
on this Wednesday morning. Mike Sosh is going to join
us in the seven o'clock hour. Dusty Baker will join
us in the eight o'clock hour. Your phone call is
this hour also a great tribute that MLB Network did
(17:44):
a few years ago. It was a tribute to Fernando
Mania and Fernando and what he did for southern California.
And it's a great spotlight and a great time to
reflect and for those who are young to hear what
he meant to Los Angeles in nineteen eight one and beyond.
In ten years with the Dodgers and a great I
(18:04):
dare I say Hall of Fame career. I know the
numbers don't say. It doesn't put him up there with
the the the top pitchers of all time, but certainly
what he meant to the game as a contributor will
go down as one of the greatest of all time
across this country. Maybe one day he gets in to
that Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. He is Steve Saxon,
Tim Kates on this Wednesday morning. It's Saxon Kate's and
(18:26):
am here on NI seventy I sports Saxon Kates in
the am on this Wednesday morning. Gave one of the
World Series Dodgers Yankees coming up on Friday night, Jack
flaherity we found out will be the game of one
starter going up against Garrett Cole to Southern California Kids
(18:50):
on the Mound Dodgers Yankees Flarity out of the Valley
here in the eight one eight, Garrett Cole out of
Orange County in the seven to one to four. So
looking forward to that matchup. Of course, we'll have all
of it for you right here on your home of
the Dodgers A five seventy LA Sports A sad day
in southern California in the city of La As. Fernando
Valenzuela last night passed away at the age of sixty three.
(19:12):
He was a Dodger icon, and he was a Dodger
that will always be remembered for what he did in
nineteen eighty one, what he did for the nineteen eighties
for the Dodgers, for his career in baseball, and then
as a broadcaster for twenty plus years with the Los
Angeles Dodgers, bursting onto the scene in nineteen eighty one,
Rookie of the Year, Cy young On, an All Star
(19:33):
many times over, and just a great person. Fernando Valenzuela
gone too soon at the age of sixty three, Saxy.
Did you guys play together in the minor leagues for
a little bit? I know you saw you said you
saw him an instructional league when he first got there,
and then he moved up a little before you to
the major leagues. But did you guys play together in
(19:55):
the minor leagues together?
Speaker 4 (19:56):
No, just I believe, just an instructional league oka, but
not in the minor leagues.
Speaker 1 (20:00):
He was up.
Speaker 4 (20:01):
He went up really quick and I think he was
signed in seventy nine and I saw him the First
Aid and Instruction League, and then after that. Okay, so
in eighty I was in Varo and he was up
in eighty gotcha, And so yeah, that's how that happened.
Speaker 3 (20:17):
We're remembering Fernando and we know the impact he had
here on fans in Los Angeles, in southern California, and
we want you to be able to be a part
of the show this morning. Coming up in just a
couple of minutes, a great tribute about Fernando Mania and
what it was in nineteen eighty one from our buddy
John Paul Morosi at MLB Network. He made baseball fans,
(20:37):
Fernando did. If you weren't a baseball fan, maybe you
did understand the game. It wasn't part of the culture
at the time you were older, and all of a sudden,
this twenty year old from Mexico comes speaking Spanish, throwing
baseballs and dominating the game at an early age and
catching the city on fire, and all of a sudden,
as Tony mentioned, you got people who want to know
more about him.
Speaker 1 (20:58):
Who is this guy?
Speaker 3 (20:59):
What's this game of bit and who are these Dodgers,
and they became Dodger fans later in the lives. It's
it's so crazy and I shouldn't be surprised, but you
hear something and it trigger something.
Speaker 1 (21:10):
You just keep.
Speaker 3 (21:11):
Remembering how much he meant to this city, even non
baseball fan.
Speaker 4 (21:16):
He well, that phone called by Tony right there. That
sums it all up, that he said it all. I mean,
it just he affected little kids, the grandfathers that go
outside and can't watch. The grandmother that be became attracted
to baseball because of Fernando. Why isn't he pitching every day?
She didn't understand the nuance of baseball, but she understood
(21:37):
how much she loved watching Fernando. And that's that's what
he brought to the game. Can you imagine the impact
that he would have had had he started in today's
you know, in today's game with all social media. Fernando
it you know, he was it was like a show,
a show Heyo Tani. It was like he was bigger
than life. That's what Fernando was like, Yeah, you're absolutely right.
Speaker 3 (21:59):
He was show hey o tani before show to the
Mexican community, the South American community, and making baseball fans
and spreading the gospel of baseball to a different part
of the country. There are players that dominate on the
field and are the best of the best SAXI. They're
the the All Stars, they're the Hall of Fame players
(22:20):
because of what they've done and the production they've done
on the field. And you also have to think about
guys who were really good players and major contributors to
the sport of baseball. I think of two people right away,
and it just happens to be La Dodgers. I think
of Tommy John one because of the Tommy John surgery
and yeah, what he meant to the baseball and look
at his names put on that surgery. And two is
(22:42):
Fernando v Aalezuela because of what they meant to the
game of baseball. So I don't know what the process
is for contributors to baseball. I don't know if it's
a different committee that makes that that selection. And oftentimes,
you know, you know, guys get put into Hall of
Fames after they're passed away and should have gone in
when they were still alive, yeah, and just don't for
(23:04):
whatever reason, but they pass away and all of a sudden,
now a committee wants to recognize them because they're gone,
which is unfortunate. But at the same time, this would
be a great time for baseball, a great a great
gesture for baseball, and Cooper's down the Hall of Fame
to put Fernando in the Hall of Fame.
Speaker 4 (23:20):
Yeah, I understand completely your your thoughts on this, tim
and I'm sure that people have been around, you know,
baseball and know about the Hall of Fame, and you
know a lot of it is based on numbers. That's
what baseball more than any sport. It's just based on numbers.
Everybody knows what seven hundred and fourteen means, everybody knows
what three hundred wins means. You know, those those things
are just what baseball's about. And you look at Fernando's
(23:42):
numbers and you know they're probably not going to be
at the stature that Hall of Fame. You know, people
would induct him. But if you look at the impact
that Fernando made on baseball, I mean, he made far
more of an impact than probably some people that are
in the Hall of Fame simply because of what he
what he stood for, and where he came from, and
(24:05):
the odds against him and just how great he was.
Fernando was a meteor, he really was. He was just
a huge, bright, shining light for you know, a certain
amount of time and then it's gone. But by the
time that he was there, he was bright as you
could ever imagine. And what he did and change the
(24:25):
way people look at baseball, the way a whole culture
looks at baseball, he absolutely shot again I'll say this,
he shot the fan base in Los Angeles and transformed
it like it's never been before. And he was solely
responsible for that.
Speaker 3 (24:41):
Eight sixty six, nine eighty seven, two five seventy. We're
gonna take your calls all morning long. Mike Sosh is
going to join us next hour. Dusty Baker is going
to join us in the eight o'clock hour. As we
are here live in local Saxon Kates in the am
lead you up to Game one on Friday of the
World Series. But certainly the sad news of the passing
of the great Fernando Valence for a lot of you
(25:01):
so much a part of your lives, your family's lives,
your culture, and for those who are young who don't
quite grasp what Fernando Mania was all about. Our buddy
John Paul Morosi at the MLB Networks a couple of
years ago did a great little feature about Fernando nineteen
eighty one what he meant to the city of Los Angeles.
And for those who don't know, now you will.
Speaker 7 (25:22):
There are some things that make sports enjoyable which don't
have anything to do with which team won are lost.
There are the great characters produced in sports, and this
season's great character is a young fellow named Fernando Vevenezuela,
who has produced a kind of baseball fever known as
Fernando Mania.
Speaker 5 (25:39):
America in nineteen eighty one was a place and time
when the pages in a folk tale turned at the
right pace, faster than the evening paper, slower than a tweet,
with space to soak in the wonder in every chapter.
Speaker 7 (25:53):
It's a fairy tale, should preposcuous, God, your advans dar
not open their eye.
Speaker 5 (25:58):
Al Nino Isando Valezuela. Fernando Mania was more than one
of the best stretches of pitching in baseball history.
Speaker 8 (26:06):
Has taken out this.
Speaker 2 (26:11):
Valenzuela's pitching.
Speaker 5 (26:14):
It was an experience without compare before or in the
four decades since. A singular story that becomes more transcendent
each time we tell it.
Speaker 8 (26:25):
Nineteen eighty one will be the year of Fernando Valenzuela.
Speaker 5 (26:29):
The left handed from Etchejuaquila, Mexico, captivated Los Angeles and
ultimately the country with his extraordinary pitching, one of a kind,
wind up and unassuming way, and of cars.
Speaker 6 (26:42):
Here today a lot of folks have come in just
to say the Mexican phantom, Fernando Valezuela, and why not.
Speaker 1 (26:48):
He's the hottest subject in baseball.
Speaker 5 (26:51):
Fernando Valenzuela won his first eight Major League starts, the
longest such streak since the end of World War II.
Speaker 1 (26:58):
Rock you Abib, It's all Overla did it again.
Speaker 5 (27:02):
His era was zero point five zero, an all time
record through that many starts.
Speaker 2 (27:07):
Perhaps such early season hysteria could only be born in Hollywood.
Speaker 6 (27:11):
One else can be said, but Viva Balenzuela.
Speaker 5 (27:17):
The phenomenon began by accident, which was part of the Charms.
All Star left hander Jerry Royce was supposed to start
the dodgers nineteen eighty one opener, but strained a cath
muscle during batting cracks. So Tommy Lasorda summoned the twenty
year old Valenzuela. The result a shutout victory.
Speaker 8 (27:38):
Alanzuela, however, provol What a way to start Fernando Valenzuela
in his first big leg starren this is a shutout.
Speaker 5 (27:50):
Valenzuela spun four shutouts before the end of April. No
major league picture has thrown that many in a season
since Felix Hernandez into twenty twelve. And while Fernando media
began in April, the fascination reached its apex in May.
In those years, it was said rather earnestly that for
(28:10):
sports history to be made, the New York press had
to witness it. Thus, Valenzuela's May eighth start, a Friday
night at Shay Stadium, was a bona fide baseball event.
Speaker 7 (28:23):
And once again a large crowd has come out, full
of the question is.
Speaker 8 (28:28):
He for real?
Speaker 5 (28:29):
Valenzuela, who hailed from a town of fewer than one thousand,
had made it to Broadway, and nearly forty thousand New
Yorkers witnessed he yet another shutout by a one nothing score.
Speaker 8 (28:41):
Topping the airfound and Fernando has his fifth cutout, unbelievable.
Speaker 5 (28:50):
As Valenzuela returned home for his next two starts, Dodger
Stadium was changing. Chevezravine had been a Mexican American neighborhood
before the ballpark's construs direction forced the relocation of area residents.
The relationship between the team and LA's Latino community was fraught,
but in Fernando, Mexican American fans saw a superstar who
(29:13):
was one of their own.
Speaker 7 (29:15):
Fernando Venezuela as the job beat the great and I
think everybody in that Fernando Beaver.
Speaker 5 (29:22):
It's a legend of Los Angeles Baseball that Vin Scully's
broadcasts were audible everywhere in the ballpark through a chorus
of transistor radios.
Speaker 8 (29:31):
The bat balls Helana two.
Speaker 5 (29:33):
On Night's Fernando Pitch Hall of Fame announcer Heim Hyrene's
Spanish narration carried the melody in many sections. The Enchanted
eighty one season began with Bounzuela pitching nine innings in
each of his first eight stars and ended with the
(29:53):
Dodgers first World Series title since the heroics of another
left hander in nineteen sixty five. Valenzuela capped his historic
season with the National League Cy Young and Rookie of
the Year awards. No other picture has earned both honors
in the same year before or since.
Speaker 3 (30:14):
All Right, thank you to John Paul Morosi from MLB Network.
They're nineteen eighty one. Fernando Mania and what it meant
and what was happening at the time, I would spark
a fan base here in Southern California. He started his
season eight to er with eight straight complete games, five
of them shutouts, and a sub one ERA in seventy
(30:36):
two and he's unbelievable. Eight sixty six ninety seven two five.
Say we'll take a break, we'll come back. We'll get
to more of your phone calls eight six six ninety
seven two five seventy and Sax and Kates and the
AM on this Wednesday morning. Your phone calls a week
come back, Fernando Valezuela, gone too soon.
Speaker 1 (30:54):
We remember him this morning.
Speaker 3 (30:55):
Mike Sosha joins us next hour, and then in the
eight o'clock hour, Dusty Baker, your phone calls when we
come back right here in AFI seventy LA Sports, Sax
and Kates in the AM on this Wednesday morning, October
twenty third, Thanks for being with us sad Day in
(31:16):
Southern California. For Dodger fans finding out last night that
Fernando Valenzuela passed away at the age of sixty three.
He was in bad health. So many great memories, so
many great moments in his baseball career, certainly Fernandomania taking
storm in nineteen eighty one. What he meant to this franchise.
(31:37):
His number being retired in twenty twenty three, I think
was absolutely the right thing to do by the Dodger organization.
Sex you think about a Dodger franchise that does not
retire numbers unless you are a Hall of Famer, and
they they relieve they leave it for guys who are
in Cooperstown, and you know, Mike, you think of what
(32:00):
Fernando meant to this organization and realizing he probably is
not going to get into the Hall of Fame for
his numbers, as we talked about, but for being Fernando.
They thought it was fitting and surprised him at FanFest
in January of twenty twenty three, when he was on
stage with the fans letting him know that in fact,
they were going to retire that number, thirty four. It
caught him by surprise. He had no idea he was
(32:23):
genuinely on stage in shock that they retired they were
going to retire his number, and the whole weekend for
his retirement out of Dodger Stadium and the ceremony was
just awesome to see.
Speaker 4 (32:33):
Yeah, and it's so, you know, so good that they
did that, because you know, I know it may be
a little bit away from the norm, but man, there
was only one Fernando and nobody impacted at baseball, especially
especially Los Angeles baseball like Fernando did. So I think
it was completely fitting for the Dodgers to do that,
no question.
Speaker 3 (32:53):
Jim Gillian is the only other Dodger non Hall of
Famer to have his number retire, and that number nineteen
retired by the Dodgers. And so yeah, Fernando joining Jim
Gillian is the only two non Hall of famers to
have those numbers hanging inside Dodgers Stadium. We go back
out to the phones. Thank you for being patient. We
(33:15):
go to Eddie and San Pedro's next up here on
Saxon Kate's at the Amhi, Eddie, Hey.
Speaker 9 (33:22):
You guys, Thank you Stephen and Tim for taking my call.
Sax were you at the parade in nineteen eighty one?
Speaker 4 (33:35):
Well, yeah, I don't I remember. I remember, I don't
really remember that, oddly enough, because I was off to
Venezuela is right when the season was over. Not sure
if I was at the parade or not. I don't
really remember that. I know I was the one in
eighty eight for sure, but eighty one I'm not sure
because I had to go to.
Speaker 9 (33:54):
Vene eighty one.
Speaker 7 (33:55):
Yeah.
Speaker 9 (33:55):
Well, it was reported that after the parade that Fernando
wasn't there wasn't at the parade on local news here
in LA and they had said that, I don't know
if it's a myth or what, but the previous night
he had gone out and went to his favorite local
(34:18):
food stand downtown La, which you know, those were like
twenty four to seven going on down there, in this
variety of them, and he had eaten too much of
his favorite Mexican dish and that's what caused him to
have like an upset stomach, and he missed the parade.
I don't know if there was any truth to that,
(34:39):
but that was reported on the parade day. And you know,
he was, you know, a bit of a character in
that sense, you know, he kind of did, you know,
marched to his own beat. And I think the mania
aspect of that, about the Fernando Mania aspect of that
(35:03):
was came after Beatlemania, and that was a huge was
it like on in New York and Broadway and and
in the UK.
Speaker 1 (35:12):
It was everywhere.
Speaker 9 (35:13):
They had done everywhere. Yeah, they had done Beatlemania and
uh and Fernando followed beatle Mania. Yeah, with Fernando Mania.
Speaker 1 (35:23):
Yes, it was a great time. Eddy appreciate it. Great
to hear you. Uh and and yeah.
Speaker 3 (35:27):
In the nineteen eighty one parade, as Eddie was talking there,
Fernando was not at the parade. And according Tommy Lasorda
was a quote in the uh, I think the La
Times here was not feeling very well today, was unable
to come.
Speaker 4 (35:40):
So uh yeah, not at the not at the parade.
I don't even remember if I was at the parade.
I I, like I said, I think I was in Venezuela.
I was out of there like fast.
Speaker 1 (35:48):
So win the World Series and Saxy's on the plane Venezuela.
Speaker 4 (35:52):
You know what's crazy is we won the World Series
in the in the they call it the Serier del Cive,
the Caribbean Series, and we our team in Venezuela won
it all there too, So we won it all the
United States, and then we won it all in Latin American, uh,
you know series as well. So wow, that was an encompassing.
Speaker 3 (36:12):
Year, nineteen eighty one, a championship year for Steven Sachs. Yes,
how about that.
Speaker 4 (36:17):
But yeah, I didn't know that. You know, I never
knew about the you know, the thing with Fernando not
being at the at the parade. You know, so I guess,
you know, not everybody makes it either. I know there's
other guys that haven't been at parades too.
Speaker 3 (36:29):
So Mike and Aguraz next up, you were Saxon Kates
to the AM on this Wednesday morning.
Speaker 1 (36:34):
How you doing, Mike?
Speaker 10 (36:36):
Good morning, gentlemen. How you doing okay?
Speaker 6 (36:38):
Mike.
Speaker 10 (36:40):
Yeah, it's definitely a sad day for Dodger Nation today,
but we all have to remember how blessed and lucky
that we were that we got to experience Fernando here
in Los Angeles. That's that's just a great thing, you know,
that that we got we got to live through at
(37:01):
But the main reason for my call is last week,
you guys did a you guys played a speech from
Tommy Lasorda at spring training. That was so moving, and
I've been trying to find it on the internet. Do
you know where I could find you know where I
could listen to that be able to listen to that speech.
Speaker 1 (37:20):
Yeah, you can find it on on Twitter. You can
find it on YouTube.
Speaker 3 (37:23):
I'll retweet it here in a little bit at Tim
Kates if you follow me or don't at Tim Kates,
I'll put it up there in the next few minutes
here for you, Mike.
Speaker 9 (37:31):
All right, that'd be great.
Speaker 6 (37:32):
Well listen, guys, have a good day and go Dodgers.
Speaker 1 (37:34):
All right, appreciate it, Thank you very much. Squeeze another
folk call in here.
Speaker 3 (37:38):
Gus in East La joins us on Saxon, Kate's and
the AM on this Wednesday morning.
Speaker 6 (37:42):
Hi Gus, Good morning, Sacks and Kate. Listen this uh,
this day is like tragedy. Is It's like I lost
the family of the member of the family.
Speaker 10 (37:59):
Uh.
Speaker 6 (38:00):
In nineteen eighty one, I was an eighth grader and
you know, Fernando just reopened the interest in baseball for
me and my family. I'm devastated today. But let me
just tell you this. I you know, it's that old
(38:20):
saying he was a friend of mine. And I say
this because back in the eighties, I was part of
a cross country team and from Wilson High School here
in East LA and we would go out to Griffith
Park and we saw I saw Fernando kicking the ball
there with his brother playing soccer, and we couldn't believe
(38:42):
our eyes.
Speaker 9 (38:42):
You know.
Speaker 6 (38:43):
It was probably nineteen eighty three, and he was just
the simplest, friendliest guy that you could approach. He didn't
let's stardom get to him. He was just like you said, said,
it's humble and generous. Uh you know I I just
felt like we didn't even have to ask for an
(39:04):
out of that. He was just willing and able to.
And then through the career, I actually got a job
there at Dodger Stadium, and as a vendor, I was
coming up and on the stands, et cetera. But Fernando
was there, like I could make eye contact with him,
talk to him. And when he left the Dodgers, that
(39:25):
was just like a piece of my heart also left.
So he went to the Angels and the Padres and
and even then I could I could uh shout over
the uh the stands, over the dugout and he would
come over and say hello, which blew my mind. So,
I you know, maybe like other people, I thought he
(39:45):
was a friend. And uh, even though you know, he
probably wouldn't remember my name. I think he was a
type of person that could really connect with you, look
at you in the eye, and not think he was
something out of this world. Uh that he military the
friendliness the Jenner ROSSI to give us time to people
(40:06):
to shiney. Yeah, I'm just I'm blown away today and
I know my entire family in the neighborhood. Here, I'm
wearing my thirty four jersey.
Speaker 1 (40:15):
Awesome. Awesome.
Speaker 3 (40:16):
Yeah, well, Gus, we appreciate you sharing that and joining
us this morning. I think he hit it on the head, Saxy.
He was able to connect with the fans, he was
able to connect with the everyday person. He was able
to connect with his teammates, He was able to connect
with different cultures, he was able to connect with different cities.
He brought everybody together. He connected everybody. But at the
(40:37):
same time, as Gus mentioned, he he made you think
and feel like you were friends. Yes, and even though
he probably didn't know your name or didn't you never
came across him, or maybe you came across him once
in your life you felt like, Hey, I know Fernando
and he knows me.
Speaker 4 (40:52):
Yeah, And you mentioned all those different ways that he
connected people, right, and and he did this to him
exactly what you said. He did it without trying. He
did it because that's just who he was. It was
natural for him to uh to draw people into him
and for them to feel like they were his friend,
like Gus was talking about. He made an impact on
(41:14):
Gus's life, you can tell. And he did this very naturally.
He did it without trying. He did it without thinking
about it. It was what he was about. That was
him at his base.
Speaker 3 (41:25):
Eight six six nine eighty seven, two five seventy. It's
Saxon Kate's in the am on this Wednesday morning. The
sad news that broke last night of the passing to
Fernando Valezuela at the age of sixty three. Would take
your phone calls this morning. We remember Fernando. We talk
about what a great icon he was for the Los
Angeles Dodgers and for the city of Los Angeles. Eight
(41:45):
six six nine eighty seven, two five seventy. And there's
a world series to be played, and Fernando would want
Dodger fans to get ready for Game one on Friday.
It's a rematch against the Yankees. The last time Fernando
pitched nineteen eighty one in the World Series for the Dogs.
Now the Dodgers and Yankees will square off on Friday night.
Your phone calls Mike Sosha, Dusty Baker to Wednesday morning,
(42:07):
one hour down, two to go, Saxon Kates in the
am here on your home of the Dodgers, Amphi seventy
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