October 23, 2024 • 29 mins
Fernando Valenzuela died at the age of 63. The dodgers honored the late pitcher by retiring his number. Can we trust Nate Silver? His gut says Donald Trump. We talked about Fernando Valenzuela with our very own Tim Cates from our Dodger Station (AM 570).
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is Gary and Shannon, and you're listening to KFI
AM six forty, the Gary and Shannon Show on demand
on the iHeartRadio app. It doesn't matter how many times
you hear that call, it gives you chills the entire
baseball world. It doesn't have to be that you're a
Dodger fan. There are certain treasures to baseball, period, and
(00:20):
two of those treasures are in that call.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
I saw an interesting well.
Speaker 3 (00:25):
I mean, there's a lot of social media obviously honorifics
to Fernando, but they include now Vin Scully and Tommy Lasorda,
both of the well Now, all three of these guys
died after the last World Series, so there's a lot
It's not pressure, but there's a lot of poetry perhaps
that goes into the World Series starting on Friday, partly
(00:46):
because nineteen eighty one was Fernando Valenzuela's rookie year, the
last time that the Yankees met the Dodgers in the
World Series.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
We've been saying it over and over again, nineteen eighty one,
nineteen eighty one, nineteen eighty one, and every time you
hear that year, you have to think about Fernando Mania.
I mean, National League, Rookie of the Year, Cy Young Awards,
Silver Slugger, World Series Champion, going to the World Series,
winning at your rookie year, getting your number retired without
(01:15):
having been inducted into the Hall of Fame. All of
these magical things that have happened, and all of the
magic that he created when he would take them out.
I remember watching him as a kid and just not
understanding how he would roll his eyes to the sky
right before he would pitch.
Speaker 4 (01:31):
I couldn't understand how he could do that.
Speaker 3 (01:33):
Everybody has, I mean, nowadays, it's more common to find
kind of odd, odd pitching styles. I mean a lot
of Japanese pitchers, for example, have an odd swing to
their leg. I mean, Johnny Quato pitched with a weird
hiccup in his delivery, and multiple times. Everybody does something
a little bit different. But when Fernando was doing it,
and it was it was crazy that he wasn't even
(01:55):
looking at the plate, he wasn't looking at the batter,
he wasn't looking at the catcher.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
He's looking over there and he come down and throw
a pitch that you could not hit.
Speaker 1 (02:02):
He would always look up to the sky, which is
why it makes that Vin call so good as well.
Throw your sombrero to the sky, yes and no, hitor. Yes,
the sombrero Mexican heritage. But also he looked to the
sky before every pitch.
Speaker 3 (02:17):
So Fernando Vealezuela passed away at the age of sixty three.
The Dodgers made the announcement yesterday, but we had known
that after the regular season he had taken time away
from the game and the team was very quiet.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
Family was very quiet about why.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
He was a very private person and they said that
he would focus on his health.
Speaker 4 (02:34):
We still do not know.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
Obviously, just sixty three years old had to have been
a swift illness, obviously, you would think. And the thing
about him being a private person too is and you'll
see it on social media. Everyone has a picture with
Fernando Valenzuela. He was always going to give you a yes.
(02:57):
He was always so great to fans who would see him.
I remember riding in an elevator with him at Dodger
Stadium once and everyone that came into the elevator.
Speaker 4 (03:05):
Was just starstruck.
Speaker 1 (03:06):
Right, he just had this presence and he was always
happy to take a picture with everybody at any time,
never too busy.
Speaker 3 (03:14):
He was also one of those guys that I found
this funny. He was one of the original Latin players
who could speak English but chose not to most of
the time and would go through an interpreter. There was
an interview that I found him sitting down with Vin
Scully talking about his time as a kid playing baseball.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
When did you first remember playing baseball? About how old
were you?
Speaker 5 (03:36):
Well, I thinks about a a or nine years old.
And we play in the school. We have a chance
to play every day before or after the school. So
and really we play, you know, sometimes we have real baseball,
but sometimes we use another times the balls we make,
(03:58):
you know, with the stream, so any kind we find
to make a baseball. And really I like this sport
for a lot, and I think this is the greatest sport,
the baseball. And I played, so I remember, and really
(04:19):
is great. And then now playing a big leaders is
a dream.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
Fernando grew up in a small town on the west
coast of Mexico. His parents were farmers. The scout who
signed him out of Mexico once told Sports Illustrated that
the family's stead was about half the size of the
Dodger stadium. Infield about from shortstop to home plate, and
that when Fernando wasn't playing baseball as a boy, he
was working that land. He turned pro while still in
(04:48):
high school. The scout found him by accident. It was
about Easter nineteen seventy eight and the scouts in Mexico
to scouts shortstop actually, but the darting pitcher for the
other team captivated him and he came back here with
the story of the young pitcher who was lights out,
(05:08):
and the Dodger signed him a year later. By the
fall of nineteen eighty, Velenezuela is pitching in the big
league bullpen, and then he became a sentensation his next year.
Speaker 3 (05:19):
And the legendary scout that found him was Mike Brito,
the guy that was always behind home plate with the
with the Panama hat. Yes, for decades. They're at Dodger Stadium.
They said, this is We're going to continue this throughout
the day. We're going to be talking with Dodger Talk
host Tim Kates. Of course, coming up later in this hour,
more about what's going on about the honorifics, the way
(05:40):
that people honor Fernando Venezuela, what he meant to the team,
what he meant to baseball.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
And let us know use the talkback feature on the
iHeartRadio app. We want to play your memories. Did you
get the treat? Did you get to see him at
Chavez Ravine when he was pitching.
Speaker 2 (05:55):
Or did you get to a picture with him?
Speaker 3 (05:56):
Like you said, everybody has stories of some of these
greats that that are not the hermits that a lot
of people think they are. They always said yes to
things like pictures and autographs and events.
Speaker 4 (06:07):
El Toro memories all throughout the show today.
Speaker 3 (06:10):
All right, we have other stuff coming up. We have
a team minus thirteen days now to the campaign. There's
a funny piece you mentioned Nate Silver yesterday, and I
read through this piece from Nate Silver what his gut
says about this election and why we can't trust the
polls from a guy who's known as the pollster.
Speaker 1 (06:28):
Oh and Mark Halpern says he's been pitched a story
that could end Trump's campaign if it's true.
Speaker 6 (06:37):
You're listening to Gary and Shannon on Demand from KFI
AM six forty one.
Speaker 1 (06:43):
More thing to know about the system in California is
that due to elder parole, they would be paroled immediately
they're both over because they're over fifty. And if you've
served twenty years, no matter what your sentence, if you
turn fifty and you've served twenty you can get out
right away.
Speaker 4 (07:01):
That means even if.
Speaker 1 (07:02):
You were sentenced to one hundred plus years, if you're
fifty and you've served twenty of that, and to the
heinous things that you have to do to be sentenced
to one hundred plus years, you would be eligible at fifty.
It's a ridiculous law. It's so antiquated. Fifty is so
young these you're over fifty. Look at you, look at
how many heinous crimes you could commit.
Speaker 3 (07:23):
This after wanting to talk about elder paroles, so that
you could point out that I'm.
Speaker 1 (07:26):
No, that it's ridiculous and you're a perfect say so,
capable of killing people.
Speaker 3 (07:31):
Yes, t minus thirty days until election Day. A couple events,
Vice President Harris doing a town hall tonight by hosted
by CNN in Pennsylvania. Former President Trump pass campaign events
in Georgia. They also announced that Trump campaign did that
he is going to sit down for an interview with
Joe Rogan coming up on Friday. Nate Silver is a
(07:55):
polster slash statistician. He has been involved in studying sports
statistics and things like that, and kind of made a
name for himself with that five thirty eight website, which
not only talked about politics and polls, but also sports, etc.
Speaker 2 (08:12):
And statistics.
Speaker 3 (08:13):
And he wrote an interesting op ed piece in The
New York Times regarding gut your gut feeling about how
things go, whether it's I mean, he uses poker.
Speaker 2 (08:24):
He's a big poker player too.
Speaker 3 (08:25):
He talks about poker and the influence that gut in
gut reactions or gut feelings might have on somebody playing poker.
And he's asked, what is your gut saying to you
about the twenty twenty four election, and he says, well,
my gut tells me it's Donald Trump. And the guess
is that that would be very true for a bunch
(08:45):
of anxious Democrats as well. But he says, I don't
think you should put any value whatsoever on anyone's gut,
including mine, because the fifty to fifty split that we've
seen so many times in national polls, in some of
these statewide, important state, these battleground state polls, it's so
evenly split. He said, people have a hard time believing
(09:10):
that it could be that evenly split, and he said,
sometimes that's just what it is. Sometimes the polls absolutely
nail it, we not always. We've got a lot of
early voting coming in. And Mark Halpern, been a political
journalist forever ABC News and Newsmax, says that the early
vote totals indicate Trump is going to be president on
(09:33):
election Day. Now, what's interesting. I saw somebody talk about
that last night, But go ahead.
Speaker 1 (09:38):
And so, just to show my math, here in North Carolina,
registered Republicans have cast almost as many votes as registered Democrats.
So far, roughly thirty four percent of early ballots there
have been cast by Republicans. It's almost double the eighteen
percent cast by Republican voters during twenty twenty, right during
(09:58):
this period.
Speaker 3 (10:00):
That was the explanation that I was looking for last night,
because there were people saying that that the early voting
indications are good for Trump even though Democrats far out
number the number of Republicans that are voting early. It's
that those Republicans that are voting early, their numbers are
so much better than they were four years ago.
Speaker 4 (10:19):
Exactly.
Speaker 1 (10:19):
Pennsylvania, same thing. Pennsylvania, the biggest battleground state, same pattern.
Republicans had cast about twenty eight percent of early ballots
by Tuesday. That's up from twenty four percent and the
overall overall early voting period in twenty twenty.
Speaker 2 (10:38):
Yeah, that's that's one of those things.
Speaker 3 (10:40):
Because Republicans are traditionally the ones that are more apt
to come out on election day, vote in person, et cetera.
They tend to be older, wider, that sort of thing.
Speaker 1 (10:48):
Nevada is one of the big causes of concern for Democrats.
She's pulling very I just did it. I just caught myself.
Remember that talkback, Lady said that I say she, or
that we say she all the time.
Speaker 4 (11:00):
We don't use her name.
Speaker 2 (11:01):
Yeah, but you were talking about Kamala Harris.
Speaker 4 (11:04):
I was talking about Kamala Harris, but I didn't say
her name. I said she.
Speaker 2 (11:06):
Because it was a second reference.
Speaker 4 (11:08):
It was not I have not referenced her any who
are a bad person?
Speaker 1 (11:13):
No, because I caught myself. Hey, I got called out
on it, and I listen and I can course correct.
You are a learning animal in Nevada. This is one
of the states where Kamala Harris is pulling most strongly.
But when you look at the early vote, it shows
a very strong Republican turnout. As of late Monday, registered
Republicans and cast roughly thirty eight percent of early votes
(11:35):
against roughly thirty six percent by registered Democrats. That they
say could signal serious danger for Kamala Harris in Nevada. Now,
some states they will not tell you what the affiliation is,
so we don't know. But those are three key swing
states where Republicans are turning out more than they did
(11:57):
in twenty twenty.
Speaker 3 (11:58):
I actually think that that's a good policy to not
disclose that kind of information because we get too worked
up about I don't know if pulling back the curtain
on stuff like that gives us more transparency when it
comes to elections and election security.
Speaker 1 (12:14):
Does it mobilize more Democrats to hear something like that.
Speaker 4 (12:17):
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (12:18):
Mark Halpern says, If these numbers hold that we've seen
this week, they hold, Donald Trump will win handily, and
we'll know on election night.
Speaker 3 (12:26):
And then that and then the big question becomes what
happens with the rest of Congress. Yes, does the Senate
go Republican? There's a chance.
Speaker 1 (12:34):
That's up, But they're worried about it in Nevada, right
for Democrats down the ticket.
Speaker 3 (12:38):
All right, we'll talk a little bit more about this
later on. Also, we're going to talk more about Fernando Venezuela.
If you have memories of seeing Fernando pitch yourself, I
mean eyes on, or you met him or anything like that,
we'd love to hear about it.
Speaker 1 (12:52):
Not being a big baseball person, but watching tons of
baseball growing up, I always loved it when pitchers would
pitch complete games. It doesn't happen anymore, but Fernando Valenzuela
loved to pitch.
Speaker 4 (13:06):
I should say he hated to give up the baseball.
Speaker 1 (13:09):
He held the NL record for complete games in eighty
six and eighty seven.
Speaker 3 (13:15):
Do you remember that great moment twenty seventeen World Series.
Vin Scully comes out to throw out the first pick, yes,
and claims that his h He goes back like he's
going to go into the wind up and says he
heard his rotator cuff and calls out Fernando to pitch
for him as a relief pitcher on the first pitch
or the ceremonial first pitch.
Speaker 2 (13:34):
One year he had eight shutouts.
Speaker 3 (13:39):
Another year when he won twenty one games. He had
twenty complete game twenty.
Speaker 2 (13:48):
Twenty twenty. I feel like I'm almost defiling the mound.
Speaker 4 (13:55):
I'm gonna get out of the way, Fernando, she didn't
get one.
Speaker 2 (13:59):
On the farm and when to that end.
Speaker 3 (14:04):
We don't see pitchers like this anymore for any reason.
But in nineteen eighty one, when he pitched that Game
three to give the Dodgers their first win in that
World Series, he threw one hundred and forty six or
one hundred and forty seven pitches in the complete game
against the Yankees that year.
Speaker 1 (14:21):
After he left the Dodgers, and you forget this because
he's forever in blazon and that Dodger jersey. He went
to the Angels, Tigers, Orioles, Phillies, Padres, and the Cardinals.
After he left the Dodgers in nineteen ninety, no one
dared touch the number thirty four jersey. But it wasn't
ntil last year until it was officially retired.
Speaker 6 (14:40):
You're listening to Gary and Shannon on demand from KFI
AM six forty.
Speaker 1 (14:45):
Screwbraw a screw ball, screwball, a breaking ball, the fastball.
Speaker 4 (14:51):
My goodness, how could he split the plate?
Speaker 1 (14:55):
I just got that from Dusty Baker when I was
listening to a five seventy LA Sports. Yeah, Steve Sachs
and Tim Cats had Dusty Baker on to shed some
light on Fernando Valenzuela. And we'll have Tim On coming
up next to talk about some of the things he
talked about. But, like you mentioned, Fernando Valenzuela winning his
(15:16):
first eight starts, five by shutout. After the fifth, Vince
Scully said, it is the most puzzling, wonderful, rewarding thing
I think we've seen in baseball in many, many years.
He said that Fernando Valenzuela acts like he's pitching batting practice.
Speaker 2 (15:33):
We will take some of your talkbacks.
Speaker 3 (15:35):
If you have memories of Fernando Valenzuela, we'd love to
hear them, some of them. Previewing some of them in
the commercial breaks has been pretty cool. One of the
big stories nationally is an E coli outbreak that's been
linked to quarter pounders at McDonald's has led to ten
hospitalizations and one death. They said specifically it's linked, at
least according to McDonald's, it's linked to what they believe
(15:57):
to be slivered onions. These fresh onions sliced into very
thin shapes that are used on the quarter pounder, and
they're sourced by a single supplier that serves three distribution centers.
Most of the illnesses have occurred in Colorado and Nebraska.
Speaker 1 (16:12):
Would this get all the media attention it's getting had
Trump not gone to McDonald's.
Speaker 3 (16:17):
I think so. I think an e Coli outbreak. It
as at a restaurant, a restaurant chain like that.
Speaker 6 (16:22):
Ye.
Speaker 4 (16:23):
True, it's kind of because we all eat it. Everybody
eats McDonald's.
Speaker 3 (16:26):
Amy King had quite an adventure this morning interviewing the
astronaut on the space station today.
Speaker 2 (16:32):
Right, it was Colonel Nick Haig, Space Force guardian that
you talk.
Speaker 4 (16:35):
In Space Force? I know, isn't that fun?
Speaker 2 (16:37):
Did you ask him what time it was? Because I
don't know I did.
Speaker 4 (16:40):
Did you ask him about underwear? I did not?
Speaker 2 (16:42):
Why not?
Speaker 4 (16:44):
Because and I didn't ask.
Speaker 3 (16:45):
Him about sexual relations either.
Speaker 4 (16:50):
Because I do hope to talk to Well.
Speaker 1 (16:52):
This sex stuff is ridiculous, but the underwear thing is relevant.
Speaker 7 (16:58):
Well, I will tell you that they do clean them,
and they have like their water systems and stuff, they
recycle kind of everything. Yeah, so what time is it?
And that that is a question that has come up
several times as we've talked to him.
Speaker 4 (17:16):
It's Greenwich meantime.
Speaker 7 (17:18):
They so when we talked to him at five thirty
five this morning, it was twelve thirty five in the
afternoon his time.
Speaker 1 (17:26):
How do they pass the time? Was that talked about?
Because I know they have to work out to keep
up their you know, bone, their whole body situation because
otherwise it deteriorates. And then there's all the checks they
have to do of the systems. There is there downtime
for a candy crush or something.
Speaker 4 (17:44):
You know what.
Speaker 7 (17:45):
I had that on my list of five thousand questions
to ask him, but we didn't get to that one.
But they do work for like twelve hours a day
from us seven thirty in the morning until seven at night.
They get together for breakfast and dinner and then yeah,
and they do lots and lots of experiments, Like one
of the things they're working on right now is trying
out how to figure out how to grow things in space.
Speaker 1 (18:08):
I guess that's their idea of downtime of fun extracurriculars.
Speaker 7 (18:13):
Well, I was going to ask him if they got
to watch the playoff games, and again we didn't get
time too, because we only had seventeen minutes with him.
Speaker 2 (18:21):
Do they consider Butch and Sonny over do or overstaid
house guests at this point or any conversations.
Speaker 7 (18:31):
Yes, No, and in fact, Sonny because we did it
on a zoom call, which we're going to be posting
as soon as we get it all figured out. But
we've got the zoom call, so you can see Nick
on the International Space Station and while we're having these
conversations and he's floating, Sonny like just like goes right
underneath him and into the next room.
Speaker 4 (18:51):
Wow, and he goes Here, goes Sonny.
Speaker 7 (18:52):
And then there was another astronaut that was going by
because they've got a crew eight. The four astronauts in
that mission are headed home today. They've been trying to
get home with the weather's been a problem, so they
haven't been. So I think that they're coming home today.
So they're really excited. And there's eleven of them up
there right now. Yeah, that's a that's a full house, crowded. Yeah,
(19:14):
I'm glad that Amy King.
Speaker 1 (19:16):
Did that interview and we didn't embarrass ourselves the way
that I was certain to do.
Speaker 2 (19:22):
It would have been pretty messy.
Speaker 4 (19:23):
Ali's about the underwear. No, I mean, how many pairs
do you bring up there? Good lord? Huh huh.
Speaker 6 (19:31):
Yeah.
Speaker 7 (19:32):
So if you want to see what, we have the
audio of it up right now on the CAFI web
page at cafiam six forty dot com slash space and
then we're going to put the zoom call up as
soon as we get that figured out. Like I said,
but the zoom call is going to go up, and
that is super cool because you get to see him,
you know, sitting there chilling on the space station. It's
(19:54):
so great. And we've talked to Nick like four times
before this because we were talking to him as he
was going through the training to go up to the
International Space Station. And those interviews are also up on
the website and they're really fascinating. Like the first time
he launched, they had to abort after they lifted off.
Speaker 4 (20:10):
Oh, and I was like, oh my god, why'd you
go again?
Speaker 1 (20:13):
He goes, well, it's my job, goes one pair of
underwear right right?
Speaker 2 (20:19):
Anyway, Well, that's great.
Speaker 3 (20:20):
Again, it's up on the website if you want to
go listen to the audio, and then we'll get the
video of the zoom call as well.
Speaker 7 (20:25):
Yeah, and we're going to put some stuff out on
the KFI Instagram and my instagram at Amy k King
and at KFI Am six forty will put part of
the interview, the Zoom interview up on that too.
Speaker 2 (20:36):
Awesome. Thank you, Amy, Thank you.
Speaker 3 (20:38):
Up next, more Fernando Vealezuela with Dodger Talk host Tim
Kates coming on.
Speaker 6 (20:43):
You're listening to Gary and Shannon on demand from KFI
AM six forty this morning.
Speaker 3 (20:49):
Last night, actually the news that Fernando Valenzuela passed away.
Speaker 6 (20:52):
Allan Zuela devers.
Speaker 2 (20:56):
Why away to start Fernando Valenzuela word Bickley start this such.
Speaker 3 (21:02):
Shot out great stories about Fernando Valenzuela passed away at
the age of sixty three, which is young. We still
don't know much about what was going on health wise
with him, other than we knew at the end of
the season that he had stepped away from the team
and his broadcast responsibilities because of something, and that's basically
all they said. And then the announcement from the team
(21:23):
last night that he had passed away.
Speaker 1 (21:24):
Tim Kates, host of Dodger Talk, joins us. He has
been serving as morning show hosts with Steve Sacks all
throughout the Dodgers' playoffs continues to do so. It is
a pleasure to listen to you in the morning. I
know I say it all the time, but it's true.
You bring the energy, you bring, the knowledge, you bring
the heart. Tim Kates is a screwball a breaking ball. Uh.
Speaker 8 (21:44):
It was described to me because I asked that same question.
Great to be with you, guys, I asked Steve Sachs,
because he played second base for so many years behind Fernando,
what does it actually do? He said, It's basically a
reverse curveball, So for a left hand instead of breaking
in on a right handed hitter, it actually dives away
from a right handed so does the opposite of a curveball.
(22:05):
And that's what it's so hard is because you don't
know which way it's really going, he goes. Sometimes if
you don't throw it right, it will drop as a curveball.
So it's just kind of all over the place, weird.
Speaker 1 (22:15):
Okay, So the way that Dusty Baker described it to you,
as he had that screwball, he had the curveball, the
breaking ball, the fastball that you didn't want to sleep
on either.
Speaker 4 (22:27):
And he was just able to split the plate.
Speaker 8 (22:29):
Yeah, he was an all round pitcher and sneaky fast
with that ninety five mile an hour fastball.
Speaker 2 (22:34):
He was a one of a kind.
Speaker 8 (22:35):
And we talk about what he meant culturally to this city,
but what he meant for that Dodgers team in nineteen
eighty one to have eight complete games in a row,
five shutouts to start that season, to step up and
be the opening day pitcher in nineteen eighty one, to
do what he did in that magical run, and also
to be a great hitter.
Speaker 2 (22:51):
I mean, it was the start of something pretty special.
Speaker 3 (22:53):
There's a story about that opening day also where he
wasn't supposed to be the opening day pitcher.
Speaker 8 (22:59):
No, Jerry roy was supposed to be the opening day
pitcher and from well, I've heard two different stories, but
the way Saxy tells it, Steve Sacks the day before
they were working at a Dodger stadium and Jerry Royce
was running around the stadium is a lot of guys
do empty parking lot, they'll run and had like a cramp,
he thought, And it turned out he pulled a muscle
in his leg. Wow, And because of that he couldn't
(23:21):
pitch and so Tommy Desorta went to Fernando and said, well,
we can't use anybody else because they're not on proper
day's rest.
Speaker 2 (23:28):
You're our guy. You're gonna be the opening day starter.
Speaker 8 (23:30):
And he laughed, and you know, he's like, ah, you're joking, Ryan,
mister Thesorta, you joke all the time. He was, No,
you're an opening day starter.
Speaker 7 (23:36):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (23:37):
That was at twenty years old.
Speaker 4 (23:38):
That is so cool. I love that story.
Speaker 2 (23:40):
It's great.
Speaker 1 (23:41):
Another thing that Dusty Baker brought up with you this
morning is that this was a player who had total recall.
Back then, you had to have total recall. I mean
you would want to, but not everybody could remember things
the way Fernando Valenzuela could remember them. And he brought
up a story about a pitch that I forget which
player and Dawson Andre Dawson, and he knocked it out
(24:03):
in April. In August when when Fernando Alenzuela faced him again,
he remembered that pitch.
Speaker 8 (24:08):
Yeah, that was a cool story because you didn't think
a young pitcher like that would remember the recall of
what worked what didn't work against a certain hitter and
then to go opposite against it later on the season.
Remember that pitch from four months ago. I thought the
great thing Dusty Baker talked about with us this morning
was how a couple of years into his career, Dusty
was at the end of his career at the Dodgers
at the time, and Steve Sacks was there with them,
(24:29):
and they joked about how the Dodgers were trying to
get Fernando into shape and they told him, you know,
you got to watch what you eat and put him
on a diet. And Dusty and Steve BoJack joked about
how players would sneak him food and he'd give him
different things to keep.
Speaker 2 (24:43):
The weight on. He never had the body that you
he's not a walker Bueller or something like that.
Speaker 9 (24:48):
Ry used to save his life, but he was a
good hitter. Yeah, yeah, sure, put it in as a
pinch hitter every once in a while. It was one
of those things where you mentioned this at the very
beginn and I don't think we spend enough time on it.
And you know, three Whitey mc wonderbreds in here can't
necessarily speak to this for yourself.
Speaker 2 (25:06):
Speak to this in the right way.
Speaker 3 (25:07):
But the cultural impact that a Mexican born player brings
to the Dodgers and the city of laws Ans.
Speaker 1 (25:16):
And considering Chavez Ravine and all the people displaced.
Speaker 8 (25:20):
Yeah, it's it's an amazing story. And one of our
callers brought it up earlier that you know, his family
didn't like the Dodgers from what happened at Chev's Ravine.
And then all of a sudden, nineteen eighty one happens
and Grandma and Grandpa camp stopped talking about this Fernando
Valenzuala kid, and then all of a sudden, mom and
dad are talking about it. And they're not even baseball fans,
but they like the fact that a Mexican guy who
(25:40):
doesn't really speak a lot of English, speaks Spanish like them,
is dominating, and so they instantly become Dodger fans.
Speaker 1 (25:46):
And for the first time, what he did in that
regard for baseball and bringing that entire fan base to baseball,
not just at Dodger Stadium, but he brought out Latin
fans across the country at all the stadiums would go
watch him.
Speaker 2 (26:00):
Was not in the Hall of Fame.
Speaker 4 (26:03):
Yeah, it's insane.
Speaker 8 (26:04):
I mean, we hear in basketball and football the time,
Guys who are coaches or owners that are contributors and
they're on the Hall of Famers. Yeah, he brought Latin
America into the forefront as far as Dodger baseball and
baseball in nineteen eighty one.
Speaker 2 (26:16):
How is he not in?
Speaker 1 (26:17):
Yeah, Tim Cats, I mean I wish I had to say.
I think he should.
Speaker 8 (26:21):
I a great story real quick from Mikes Sooshia. Who
is this catcher in nineteen eighty one for almost all
of the starts because they can communicate together and speak Spanish.
In nineteen ninety, Fernando threw a no hitter in June
against the Saint Louis Cardinals. Pedro Guerrera, by the way,
was the final out of that game. Nobody remembers that.
Everybody remembers Vin Skull, you know, throw this mbrero to
the sky. Mike Soshia tells the story that before the game,
(26:41):
he's in the video room going over Cardinal players and
Fernando walks by before he goes out to the bullpen,
peeks his head in and says, oh, you're watching Dave
Stewart throwing a no hitter. He goes, oh, you're watching
Dave Studio. I'm gonna throw a no hitter tonight and
goes out there and Mike's like, I swear this happened.
He goes out that night.
Speaker 2 (26:57):
And throws in Wow.
Speaker 8 (26:58):
He may have been joking when he said, Oh, I'm
gonna go throw a no hitter, you know, being maybe funny, or.
Speaker 4 (27:03):
He just did throw a no hitter, right, wow.
Speaker 3 (27:06):
But Friday's game, Game one of the World Series, the
Dodgers host the Yankees, of course, and the last time
they did was you know, in nineteen eighty one. It's
going to be a massive baseball does this like no
other sport honoring it's passed. And you've got Tommy Lasorda,
Vin Scully and now now Fernando having passed away since
the last World.
Speaker 4 (27:25):
So when I watched that.
Speaker 1 (27:28):
Interview with David Vasse and Max Mounsey that you told
us to watch on Monday, I knew the Dodgers were
going to win this World Series. I just had a
gut feeling they're going to win because of what Max
Monsey said in terms of the chemistry and the gut
and the coming together and the chemistry and all that.
Speaker 4 (27:47):
And that was the cupcake, right, This is.
Speaker 1 (27:50):
The frosting and the sprinkles, and the magic that will
get it done.
Speaker 8 (27:54):
Well, you want the candles on top of that birthday cake.
Today October twenty third, nineteen eighty one one, Game three
of the World Series, Fernando Valenzuela beats the New York Yankees.
Dodgers were down two in that series. He had a
rough start in the game, finishes I think a complete game.
Dodgers win five to three. Also, I saw it on Twitter.
It must be true. Game six of the World Series
(28:15):
coming up if it advances that far, which I believe
is next Friday.
Speaker 2 (28:18):
I have to look this up. It's Fernando's birthday.
Speaker 4 (28:21):
Oh my gosh, and the Dodgers.
Speaker 2 (28:22):
You know, potentially could win a World Series on that.
Speaker 1 (28:25):
Oh my gosh, Tim Kates, I'm getting chills. Now you
have the November first, nineteen sixty was when he was born.
Speaker 2 (28:31):
Yeah, Next Friday is November first. Wow, Game six of
the World Series.
Speaker 4 (28:35):
Right now, all you have to leave?
Speaker 2 (28:40):
Thanks Tim, Now I'm too excited. She goes to By
the way, Tim.
Speaker 3 (28:43):
Kate, is this like the end of Return of the Jedi,
when it's like Yoda and Obi Wan as ghosts?
Speaker 2 (28:48):
We got to think of the third one.
Speaker 4 (28:51):
I'm hearing Chinese. What I'm hearing Chinese?
Speaker 3 (28:55):
Thanks Tim, you've been listening to The Gary and Shannon Show.
You can always hear us live on KFI AM six
forty nine am to one pm every Monday through Friday,
and anytime on demand on the iHeartRadio app
This is Gary and Shannon, and you're listening to KFI
AM six forty, the Gary and Shannon Show on demand
on the iHeartRadio app. It doesn't matter how many times
you hear that call, it gives you chills the entire
baseball world. It doesn't have to be that you're a
Dodger fan. There are certain treasures to baseball, period, and
(00:20):
two of those treasures are in that call.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
I saw an interesting well.
Speaker 3 (00:25):
I mean, there's a lot of social media obviously honorifics
to Fernando, but they include now Vin Scully and Tommy Lasorda,
both of the well Now, all three of these guys
died after the last World Series, so there's a lot
It's not pressure, but there's a lot of poetry perhaps
that goes into the World Series starting on Friday, partly
(00:46):
because nineteen eighty one was Fernando Valenzuela's rookie year, the
last time that the Yankees met the Dodgers in the
World Series.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
We've been saying it over and over again, nineteen eighty one,
nineteen eighty one, nineteen eighty one, and every time you
hear that year, you have to think about Fernando Mania.
I mean, National League, Rookie of the Year, Cy Young Awards,
Silver Slugger, World Series Champion, going to the World Series,
winning at your rookie year, getting your number retired without
(01:15):
having been inducted into the Hall of Fame. All of
these magical things that have happened, and all of the
magic that he created when he would take them out.
I remember watching him as a kid and just not
understanding how he would roll his eyes to the sky
right before he would pitch.
Speaker 4 (01:31):
I couldn't understand how he could do that.
Speaker 3 (01:33):
Everybody has, I mean, nowadays, it's more common to find
kind of odd, odd pitching styles. I mean a lot
of Japanese pitchers, for example, have an odd swing to
their leg. I mean, Johnny Quato pitched with a weird
hiccup in his delivery, and multiple times. Everybody does something
a little bit different. But when Fernando was doing it,
and it was it was crazy that he wasn't even
(01:55):
looking at the plate, he wasn't looking at the batter,
he wasn't looking at the catcher.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
He's looking over there and he come down and throw
a pitch that you could not hit.
Speaker 1 (02:02):
He would always look up to the sky, which is
why it makes that Vin call so good as well.
Throw your sombrero to the sky, yes and no, hitor. Yes,
the sombrero Mexican heritage. But also he looked to the
sky before every pitch.
Speaker 3 (02:17):
So Fernando Vealezuela passed away at the age of sixty three.
The Dodgers made the announcement yesterday, but we had known
that after the regular season he had taken time away
from the game and the team was very quiet.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
Family was very quiet about why.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
He was a very private person and they said that
he would focus on his health.
Speaker 4 (02:34):
We still do not know.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
Obviously, just sixty three years old had to have been
a swift illness, obviously, you would think. And the thing
about him being a private person too is and you'll
see it on social media. Everyone has a picture with
Fernando Valenzuela. He was always going to give you a yes.
(02:57):
He was always so great to fans who would see him.
I remember riding in an elevator with him at Dodger
Stadium once and everyone that came into the elevator.
Speaker 4 (03:05):
Was just starstruck.
Speaker 1 (03:06):
Right, he just had this presence and he was always
happy to take a picture with everybody at any time,
never too busy.
Speaker 3 (03:14):
He was also one of those guys that I found
this funny. He was one of the original Latin players
who could speak English but chose not to most of
the time and would go through an interpreter. There was
an interview that I found him sitting down with Vin
Scully talking about his time as a kid playing baseball.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
When did you first remember playing baseball? About how old
were you?
Speaker 5 (03:36):
Well, I thinks about a a or nine years old.
And we play in the school. We have a chance
to play every day before or after the school. So
and really we play, you know, sometimes we have real baseball,
but sometimes we use another times the balls we make,
(03:58):
you know, with the stream, so any kind we find
to make a baseball. And really I like this sport
for a lot, and I think this is the greatest sport,
the baseball. And I played, so I remember, and really
(04:19):
is great. And then now playing a big leaders is
a dream.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
Fernando grew up in a small town on the west
coast of Mexico. His parents were farmers. The scout who
signed him out of Mexico once told Sports Illustrated that
the family's stead was about half the size of the
Dodger stadium. Infield about from shortstop to home plate, and
that when Fernando wasn't playing baseball as a boy, he
was working that land. He turned pro while still in
(04:48):
high school. The scout found him by accident. It was
about Easter nineteen seventy eight and the scouts in Mexico
to scouts shortstop actually, but the darting pitcher for the
other team captivated him and he came back here with
the story of the young pitcher who was lights out,
(05:08):
and the Dodger signed him a year later. By the
fall of nineteen eighty, Velenezuela is pitching in the big
league bullpen, and then he became a sentensation his next year.
Speaker 3 (05:19):
And the legendary scout that found him was Mike Brito,
the guy that was always behind home plate with the
with the Panama hat. Yes, for decades. They're at Dodger Stadium.
They said, this is We're going to continue this throughout
the day. We're going to be talking with Dodger Talk
host Tim Kates. Of course, coming up later in this hour,
more about what's going on about the honorifics, the way
(05:40):
that people honor Fernando Venezuela, what he meant to the team,
what he meant to baseball.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
And let us know use the talkback feature on the
iHeartRadio app. We want to play your memories. Did you
get the treat? Did you get to see him at
Chavez Ravine when he was pitching.
Speaker 2 (05:55):
Or did you get to a picture with him?
Speaker 3 (05:56):
Like you said, everybody has stories of some of these
greats that that are not the hermits that a lot
of people think they are. They always said yes to
things like pictures and autographs and events.
Speaker 4 (06:07):
El Toro memories all throughout the show today.
Speaker 3 (06:10):
All right, we have other stuff coming up. We have
a team minus thirteen days now to the campaign. There's
a funny piece you mentioned Nate Silver yesterday, and I
read through this piece from Nate Silver what his gut
says about this election and why we can't trust the
polls from a guy who's known as the pollster.
Speaker 1 (06:28):
Oh and Mark Halpern says he's been pitched a story
that could end Trump's campaign if it's true.
Speaker 6 (06:37):
You're listening to Gary and Shannon on Demand from KFI
AM six forty one.
Speaker 1 (06:43):
More thing to know about the system in California is
that due to elder parole, they would be paroled immediately
they're both over because they're over fifty. And if you've
served twenty years, no matter what your sentence, if you
turn fifty and you've served twenty you can get out
right away.
Speaker 4 (07:01):
That means even if.
Speaker 1 (07:02):
You were sentenced to one hundred plus years, if you're
fifty and you've served twenty of that, and to the
heinous things that you have to do to be sentenced
to one hundred plus years, you would be eligible at fifty.
It's a ridiculous law. It's so antiquated. Fifty is so
young these you're over fifty. Look at you, look at
how many heinous crimes you could commit.
Speaker 3 (07:23):
This after wanting to talk about elder paroles, so that
you could point out that I'm.
Speaker 1 (07:26):
No, that it's ridiculous and you're a perfect say so,
capable of killing people.
Speaker 3 (07:31):
Yes, t minus thirty days until election Day. A couple events,
Vice President Harris doing a town hall tonight by hosted
by CNN in Pennsylvania. Former President Trump pass campaign events
in Georgia. They also announced that Trump campaign did that
he is going to sit down for an interview with
Joe Rogan coming up on Friday. Nate Silver is a
(07:55):
polster slash statistician. He has been involved in studying sports
statistics and things like that, and kind of made a
name for himself with that five thirty eight website, which
not only talked about politics and polls, but also sports, etc.
Speaker 2 (08:12):
And statistics.
Speaker 3 (08:13):
And he wrote an interesting op ed piece in The
New York Times regarding gut your gut feeling about how
things go, whether it's I mean, he uses poker.
Speaker 2 (08:24):
He's a big poker player too.
Speaker 3 (08:25):
He talks about poker and the influence that gut in
gut reactions or gut feelings might have on somebody playing poker.
And he's asked, what is your gut saying to you
about the twenty twenty four election, and he says, well,
my gut tells me it's Donald Trump. And the guess
is that that would be very true for a bunch
(08:45):
of anxious Democrats as well. But he says, I don't
think you should put any value whatsoever on anyone's gut,
including mine, because the fifty to fifty split that we've
seen so many times in national polls, in some of
these statewide, important state, these battleground state polls, it's so
evenly split. He said, people have a hard time believing
(09:10):
that it could be that evenly split, and he said,
sometimes that's just what it is. Sometimes the polls absolutely
nail it, we not always. We've got a lot of
early voting coming in. And Mark Halpern, been a political
journalist forever ABC News and Newsmax, says that the early
vote totals indicate Trump is going to be president on
(09:33):
election Day. Now, what's interesting. I saw somebody talk about
that last night, But go ahead.
Speaker 1 (09:38):
And so, just to show my math, here in North Carolina,
registered Republicans have cast almost as many votes as registered Democrats.
So far, roughly thirty four percent of early ballots there
have been cast by Republicans. It's almost double the eighteen
percent cast by Republican voters during twenty twenty, right during
(09:58):
this period.
Speaker 3 (10:00):
That was the explanation that I was looking for last night,
because there were people saying that that the early voting
indications are good for Trump even though Democrats far out
number the number of Republicans that are voting early. It's
that those Republicans that are voting early, their numbers are
so much better than they were four years ago.
Speaker 4 (10:19):
Exactly.
Speaker 1 (10:19):
Pennsylvania, same thing. Pennsylvania, the biggest battleground state, same pattern.
Republicans had cast about twenty eight percent of early ballots
by Tuesday. That's up from twenty four percent and the
overall overall early voting period in twenty twenty.
Speaker 2 (10:38):
Yeah, that's that's one of those things.
Speaker 3 (10:40):
Because Republicans are traditionally the ones that are more apt
to come out on election day, vote in person, et cetera.
They tend to be older, wider, that sort of thing.
Speaker 1 (10:48):
Nevada is one of the big causes of concern for Democrats.
She's pulling very I just did it. I just caught myself.
Remember that talkback, Lady said that I say she, or
that we say she all the time.
Speaker 4 (11:00):
We don't use her name.
Speaker 2 (11:01):
Yeah, but you were talking about Kamala Harris.
Speaker 4 (11:04):
I was talking about Kamala Harris, but I didn't say
her name. I said she.
Speaker 2 (11:06):
Because it was a second reference.
Speaker 4 (11:08):
It was not I have not referenced her any who
are a bad person?
Speaker 1 (11:13):
No, because I caught myself. Hey, I got called out
on it, and I listen and I can course correct.
You are a learning animal in Nevada. This is one
of the states where Kamala Harris is pulling most strongly.
But when you look at the early vote, it shows
a very strong Republican turnout. As of late Monday, registered
Republicans and cast roughly thirty eight percent of early votes
(11:35):
against roughly thirty six percent by registered Democrats. That they
say could signal serious danger for Kamala Harris in Nevada. Now,
some states they will not tell you what the affiliation is,
so we don't know. But those are three key swing
states where Republicans are turning out more than they did
(11:57):
in twenty twenty.
Speaker 3 (11:58):
I actually think that that's a good policy to not
disclose that kind of information because we get too worked
up about I don't know if pulling back the curtain
on stuff like that gives us more transparency when it
comes to elections and election security.
Speaker 1 (12:14):
Does it mobilize more Democrats to hear something like that.
Speaker 4 (12:17):
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (12:18):
Mark Halpern says, If these numbers hold that we've seen
this week, they hold, Donald Trump will win handily, and
we'll know on election night.
Speaker 3 (12:26):
And then that and then the big question becomes what
happens with the rest of Congress. Yes, does the Senate
go Republican? There's a chance.
Speaker 1 (12:34):
That's up, But they're worried about it in Nevada, right
for Democrats down the ticket.
Speaker 3 (12:38):
All right, we'll talk a little bit more about this
later on. Also, we're going to talk more about Fernando Venezuela.
If you have memories of seeing Fernando pitch yourself, I
mean eyes on, or you met him or anything like that,
we'd love to hear about it.
Speaker 1 (12:52):
Not being a big baseball person, but watching tons of
baseball growing up, I always loved it when pitchers would
pitch complete games. It doesn't happen anymore, but Fernando Valenzuela
loved to pitch.
Speaker 4 (13:06):
I should say he hated to give up the baseball.
Speaker 1 (13:09):
He held the NL record for complete games in eighty
six and eighty seven.
Speaker 3 (13:15):
Do you remember that great moment twenty seventeen World Series.
Vin Scully comes out to throw out the first pick, yes,
and claims that his h He goes back like he's
going to go into the wind up and says he
heard his rotator cuff and calls out Fernando to pitch
for him as a relief pitcher on the first pitch
or the ceremonial first pitch.
Speaker 2 (13:34):
One year he had eight shutouts.
Speaker 3 (13:39):
Another year when he won twenty one games. He had
twenty complete game twenty.
Speaker 2 (13:48):
Twenty twenty. I feel like I'm almost defiling the mound.
Speaker 4 (13:55):
I'm gonna get out of the way, Fernando, she didn't
get one.
Speaker 2 (13:59):
On the farm and when to that end.
Speaker 3 (14:04):
We don't see pitchers like this anymore for any reason.
But in nineteen eighty one, when he pitched that Game
three to give the Dodgers their first win in that
World Series, he threw one hundred and forty six or
one hundred and forty seven pitches in the complete game
against the Yankees that year.
Speaker 1 (14:21):
After he left the Dodgers, and you forget this because
he's forever in blazon and that Dodger jersey. He went
to the Angels, Tigers, Orioles, Phillies, Padres, and the Cardinals.
After he left the Dodgers in nineteen ninety, no one
dared touch the number thirty four jersey. But it wasn't
ntil last year until it was officially retired.
Speaker 6 (14:40):
You're listening to Gary and Shannon on demand from KFI
AM six forty.
Speaker 1 (14:45):
Screwbraw a screw ball, screwball, a breaking ball, the fastball.
Speaker 4 (14:51):
My goodness, how could he split the plate?
Speaker 1 (14:55):
I just got that from Dusty Baker when I was
listening to a five seventy LA Sports. Yeah, Steve Sachs
and Tim Cats had Dusty Baker on to shed some
light on Fernando Valenzuela. And we'll have Tim On coming
up next to talk about some of the things he
talked about. But, like you mentioned, Fernando Valenzuela winning his
(15:16):
first eight starts, five by shutout. After the fifth, Vince
Scully said, it is the most puzzling, wonderful, rewarding thing
I think we've seen in baseball in many, many years.
He said that Fernando Valenzuela acts like he's pitching batting practice.
Speaker 2 (15:33):
We will take some of your talkbacks.
Speaker 3 (15:35):
If you have memories of Fernando Valenzuela, we'd love to
hear them, some of them. Previewing some of them in
the commercial breaks has been pretty cool. One of the
big stories nationally is an E coli outbreak that's been
linked to quarter pounders at McDonald's has led to ten
hospitalizations and one death. They said specifically it's linked, at
least according to McDonald's, it's linked to what they believe
(15:57):
to be slivered onions. These fresh onions sliced into very
thin shapes that are used on the quarter pounder, and
they're sourced by a single supplier that serves three distribution centers.
Most of the illnesses have occurred in Colorado and Nebraska.
Speaker 1 (16:12):
Would this get all the media attention it's getting had
Trump not gone to McDonald's.
Speaker 3 (16:17):
I think so. I think an e Coli outbreak. It
as at a restaurant, a restaurant chain like that.
Speaker 6 (16:22):
Ye.
Speaker 4 (16:23):
True, it's kind of because we all eat it. Everybody
eats McDonald's.
Speaker 3 (16:26):
Amy King had quite an adventure this morning interviewing the
astronaut on the space station today.
Speaker 2 (16:32):
Right, it was Colonel Nick Haig, Space Force guardian that
you talk.
Speaker 4 (16:35):
In Space Force? I know, isn't that fun?
Speaker 2 (16:37):
Did you ask him what time it was? Because I
don't know I did.
Speaker 4 (16:40):
Did you ask him about underwear? I did not?
Speaker 2 (16:42):
Why not?
Speaker 4 (16:44):
Because and I didn't ask.
Speaker 3 (16:45):
Him about sexual relations either.
Speaker 4 (16:50):
Because I do hope to talk to Well.
Speaker 1 (16:52):
This sex stuff is ridiculous, but the underwear thing is relevant.
Speaker 7 (16:58):
Well, I will tell you that they do clean them,
and they have like their water systems and stuff, they
recycle kind of everything. Yeah, so what time is it?
And that that is a question that has come up
several times as we've talked to him.
Speaker 4 (17:16):
It's Greenwich meantime.
Speaker 7 (17:18):
They so when we talked to him at five thirty
five this morning, it was twelve thirty five in the
afternoon his time.
Speaker 1 (17:26):
How do they pass the time? Was that talked about?
Because I know they have to work out to keep
up their you know, bone, their whole body situation because
otherwise it deteriorates. And then there's all the checks they
have to do of the systems. There is there downtime
for a candy crush or something.
Speaker 4 (17:44):
You know what.
Speaker 7 (17:45):
I had that on my list of five thousand questions
to ask him, but we didn't get to that one.
But they do work for like twelve hours a day
from us seven thirty in the morning until seven at night.
They get together for breakfast and dinner and then yeah,
and they do lots and lots of experiments, Like one
of the things they're working on right now is trying
out how to figure out how to grow things in space.
Speaker 1 (18:08):
I guess that's their idea of downtime of fun extracurriculars.
Speaker 7 (18:13):
Well, I was going to ask him if they got
to watch the playoff games, and again we didn't get
time too, because we only had seventeen minutes with him.
Speaker 2 (18:21):
Do they consider Butch and Sonny over do or overstaid
house guests at this point or any conversations.
Speaker 7 (18:31):
Yes, No, and in fact, Sonny because we did it
on a zoom call, which we're going to be posting
as soon as we get it all figured out. But
we've got the zoom call, so you can see Nick
on the International Space Station and while we're having these
conversations and he's floating, Sonny like just like goes right
underneath him and into the next room.
Speaker 4 (18:51):
Wow, and he goes Here, goes Sonny.
Speaker 7 (18:52):
And then there was another astronaut that was going by
because they've got a crew eight. The four astronauts in
that mission are headed home today. They've been trying to
get home with the weather's been a problem, so they
haven't been. So I think that they're coming home today.
So they're really excited. And there's eleven of them up
there right now. Yeah, that's a that's a full house, crowded. Yeah,
(19:14):
I'm glad that Amy King.
Speaker 1 (19:16):
Did that interview and we didn't embarrass ourselves the way
that I was certain to do.
Speaker 2 (19:22):
It would have been pretty messy.
Speaker 4 (19:23):
Ali's about the underwear. No, I mean, how many pairs
do you bring up there? Good lord? Huh huh.
Speaker 6 (19:31):
Yeah.
Speaker 7 (19:32):
So if you want to see what, we have the
audio of it up right now on the CAFI web
page at cafiam six forty dot com slash space and
then we're going to put the zoom call up as
soon as we get that figured out. Like I said,
but the zoom call is going to go up, and
that is super cool because you get to see him,
you know, sitting there chilling on the space station. It's
(19:54):
so great. And we've talked to Nick like four times
before this because we were talking to him as he
was going through the training to go up to the
International Space Station. And those interviews are also up on
the website and they're really fascinating. Like the first time
he launched, they had to abort after they lifted off.
Speaker 4 (20:10):
Oh, and I was like, oh my god, why'd you
go again?
Speaker 1 (20:13):
He goes, well, it's my job, goes one pair of
underwear right right?
Speaker 2 (20:19):
Anyway, Well, that's great.
Speaker 3 (20:20):
Again, it's up on the website if you want to
go listen to the audio, and then we'll get the
video of the zoom call as well.
Speaker 7 (20:25):
Yeah, and we're going to put some stuff out on
the KFI Instagram and my instagram at Amy k King
and at KFI Am six forty will put part of
the interview, the Zoom interview up on that too.
Speaker 2 (20:36):
Awesome. Thank you, Amy, Thank you.
Speaker 3 (20:38):
Up next, more Fernando Vealezuela with Dodger Talk host Tim
Kates coming on.
Speaker 6 (20:43):
You're listening to Gary and Shannon on demand from KFI
AM six forty this morning.
Speaker 3 (20:49):
Last night, actually the news that Fernando Valenzuela passed away.
Speaker 6 (20:52):
Allan Zuela devers.
Speaker 2 (20:56):
Why away to start Fernando Valenzuela word Bickley start this such.
Speaker 3 (21:02):
Shot out great stories about Fernando Valenzuela passed away at
the age of sixty three, which is young. We still
don't know much about what was going on health wise
with him, other than we knew at the end of
the season that he had stepped away from the team
and his broadcast responsibilities because of something, and that's basically
all they said. And then the announcement from the team
(21:23):
last night that he had passed away.
Speaker 1 (21:24):
Tim Kates, host of Dodger Talk, joins us. He has
been serving as morning show hosts with Steve Sacks all
throughout the Dodgers' playoffs continues to do so. It is
a pleasure to listen to you in the morning. I
know I say it all the time, but it's true.
You bring the energy, you bring, the knowledge, you bring
the heart. Tim Kates is a screwball a breaking ball. Uh.
Speaker 8 (21:44):
It was described to me because I asked that same question.
Great to be with you, guys, I asked Steve Sachs,
because he played second base for so many years behind Fernando,
what does it actually do? He said, It's basically a
reverse curveball, So for a left hand instead of breaking
in on a right handed hitter, it actually dives away
from a right handed so does the opposite of a curveball.
(22:05):
And that's what it's so hard is because you don't
know which way it's really going, he goes. Sometimes if
you don't throw it right, it will drop as a curveball.
So it's just kind of all over the place, weird.
Speaker 1 (22:15):
Okay, So the way that Dusty Baker described it to you,
as he had that screwball, he had the curveball, the
breaking ball, the fastball that you didn't want to sleep
on either.
Speaker 4 (22:27):
And he was just able to split the plate.
Speaker 8 (22:29):
Yeah, he was an all round pitcher and sneaky fast
with that ninety five mile an hour fastball.
Speaker 2 (22:34):
He was a one of a kind.
Speaker 8 (22:35):
And we talk about what he meant culturally to this city,
but what he meant for that Dodgers team in nineteen
eighty one to have eight complete games in a row,
five shutouts to start that season, to step up and
be the opening day pitcher in nineteen eighty one, to
do what he did in that magical run, and also
to be a great hitter.
Speaker 2 (22:51):
I mean, it was the start of something pretty special.
Speaker 3 (22:53):
There's a story about that opening day also where he
wasn't supposed to be the opening day pitcher.
Speaker 8 (22:59):
No, Jerry roy was supposed to be the opening day
pitcher and from well, I've heard two different stories, but
the way Saxy tells it, Steve Sacks the day before
they were working at a Dodger stadium and Jerry Royce
was running around the stadium is a lot of guys
do empty parking lot, they'll run and had like a cramp,
he thought, And it turned out he pulled a muscle
in his leg. Wow, And because of that he couldn't
(23:21):
pitch and so Tommy Desorta went to Fernando and said, well,
we can't use anybody else because they're not on proper
day's rest.
Speaker 2 (23:28):
You're our guy. You're gonna be the opening day starter.
Speaker 8 (23:30):
And he laughed, and you know, he's like, ah, you're joking, Ryan,
mister Thesorta, you joke all the time. He was, No,
you're an opening day starter.
Speaker 7 (23:36):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (23:37):
That was at twenty years old.
Speaker 4 (23:38):
That is so cool. I love that story.
Speaker 2 (23:40):
It's great.
Speaker 1 (23:41):
Another thing that Dusty Baker brought up with you this
morning is that this was a player who had total recall.
Back then, you had to have total recall. I mean
you would want to, but not everybody could remember things
the way Fernando Valenzuela could remember them. And he brought
up a story about a pitch that I forget which
player and Dawson Andre Dawson, and he knocked it out
(24:03):
in April. In August when when Fernando Alenzuela faced him again,
he remembered that pitch.
Speaker 8 (24:08):
Yeah, that was a cool story because you didn't think
a young pitcher like that would remember the recall of
what worked what didn't work against a certain hitter and
then to go opposite against it later on the season.
Remember that pitch from four months ago. I thought the
great thing Dusty Baker talked about with us this morning
was how a couple of years into his career, Dusty
was at the end of his career at the Dodgers
at the time, and Steve Sacks was there with them,
(24:29):
and they joked about how the Dodgers were trying to
get Fernando into shape and they told him, you know,
you got to watch what you eat and put him
on a diet. And Dusty and Steve BoJack joked about
how players would sneak him food and he'd give him
different things to keep.
Speaker 2 (24:43):
The weight on. He never had the body that you
he's not a walker Bueller or something like that.
Speaker 9 (24:48):
Ry used to save his life, but he was a
good hitter. Yeah, yeah, sure, put it in as a
pinch hitter every once in a while. It was one
of those things where you mentioned this at the very
beginn and I don't think we spend enough time on it.
And you know, three Whitey mc wonderbreds in here can't
necessarily speak to this for yourself.
Speaker 2 (25:06):
Speak to this in the right way.
Speaker 3 (25:07):
But the cultural impact that a Mexican born player brings
to the Dodgers and the city of laws Ans.
Speaker 1 (25:16):
And considering Chavez Ravine and all the people displaced.
Speaker 8 (25:20):
Yeah, it's it's an amazing story. And one of our
callers brought it up earlier that you know, his family
didn't like the Dodgers from what happened at Chev's Ravine.
And then all of a sudden, nineteen eighty one happens
and Grandma and Grandpa camp stopped talking about this Fernando
Valenzuala kid, and then all of a sudden, mom and
dad are talking about it. And they're not even baseball fans,
but they like the fact that a Mexican guy who
(25:40):
doesn't really speak a lot of English, speaks Spanish like them,
is dominating, and so they instantly become Dodger fans.
Speaker 1 (25:46):
And for the first time, what he did in that
regard for baseball and bringing that entire fan base to baseball,
not just at Dodger Stadium, but he brought out Latin
fans across the country at all the stadiums would go
watch him.
Speaker 2 (26:00):
Was not in the Hall of Fame.
Speaker 4 (26:03):
Yeah, it's insane.
Speaker 8 (26:04):
I mean, we hear in basketball and football the time,
Guys who are coaches or owners that are contributors and
they're on the Hall of Famers. Yeah, he brought Latin
America into the forefront as far as Dodger baseball and
baseball in nineteen eighty one.
Speaker 2 (26:16):
How is he not in?
Speaker 1 (26:17):
Yeah, Tim Cats, I mean I wish I had to say.
I think he should.
Speaker 8 (26:21):
I a great story real quick from Mikes Sooshia. Who
is this catcher in nineteen eighty one for almost all
of the starts because they can communicate together and speak Spanish.
In nineteen ninety, Fernando threw a no hitter in June
against the Saint Louis Cardinals. Pedro Guerrera, by the way,
was the final out of that game. Nobody remembers that.
Everybody remembers Vin Skull, you know, throw this mbrero to
the sky. Mike Soshia tells the story that before the game,
(26:41):
he's in the video room going over Cardinal players and
Fernando walks by before he goes out to the bullpen,
peeks his head in and says, oh, you're watching Dave
Stewart throwing a no hitter. He goes, oh, you're watching
Dave Studio. I'm gonna throw a no hitter tonight and
goes out there and Mike's like, I swear this happened.
He goes out that night.
Speaker 2 (26:57):
And throws in Wow.
Speaker 8 (26:58):
He may have been joking when he said, Oh, I'm
gonna go throw a no hitter, you know, being maybe funny, or.
Speaker 4 (27:03):
He just did throw a no hitter, right, wow.
Speaker 3 (27:06):
But Friday's game, Game one of the World Series, the
Dodgers host the Yankees, of course, and the last time
they did was you know, in nineteen eighty one. It's
going to be a massive baseball does this like no
other sport honoring it's passed. And you've got Tommy Lasorda,
Vin Scully and now now Fernando having passed away since
the last World.
Speaker 4 (27:25):
So when I watched that.
Speaker 1 (27:28):
Interview with David Vasse and Max Mounsey that you told
us to watch on Monday, I knew the Dodgers were
going to win this World Series. I just had a
gut feeling they're going to win because of what Max
Monsey said in terms of the chemistry and the gut
and the coming together and the chemistry and all that.
Speaker 4 (27:47):
And that was the cupcake, right, This is.
Speaker 1 (27:50):
The frosting and the sprinkles, and the magic that will
get it done.
Speaker 8 (27:54):
Well, you want the candles on top of that birthday cake.
Today October twenty third, nineteen eighty one one, Game three
of the World Series, Fernando Valenzuela beats the New York Yankees.
Dodgers were down two in that series. He had a
rough start in the game, finishes I think a complete game.
Dodgers win five to three. Also, I saw it on Twitter.
It must be true. Game six of the World Series
(28:15):
coming up if it advances that far, which I believe
is next Friday.
Speaker 2 (28:18):
I have to look this up. It's Fernando's birthday.
Speaker 4 (28:21):
Oh my gosh, and the Dodgers.
Speaker 2 (28:22):
You know, potentially could win a World Series on that.
Speaker 1 (28:25):
Oh my gosh, Tim Kates, I'm getting chills. Now you
have the November first, nineteen sixty was when he was born.
Speaker 2 (28:31):
Yeah, Next Friday is November first. Wow, Game six of
the World Series.
Speaker 4 (28:35):
Right now, all you have to leave?
Speaker 2 (28:40):
Thanks Tim, Now I'm too excited. She goes to By
the way, Tim.
Speaker 3 (28:43):
Kate, is this like the end of Return of the Jedi,
when it's like Yoda and Obi Wan as ghosts?
Speaker 2 (28:48):
We got to think of the third one.
Speaker 4 (28:51):
I'm hearing Chinese. What I'm hearing Chinese?
Speaker 3 (28:55):
Thanks Tim, you've been listening to The Gary and Shannon Show.
You can always hear us live on KFI AM six
forty nine am to one pm every Monday through Friday,
and anytime on demand on the iHeartRadio app
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