Fernandomania, Strike-Season Mayhem, and the Weirdest Championship Baseball Had Ever Seen: The 1981 Los Angeles Dodgers
“A skillful mixture of biographies, on-field action, and behind-the-scenes baseball politics in a story with a happy ending for Dodgers fans.” —Kirkus Reviews
The award–winning author of Dynastic, Fantastic, Bombastic and The Baseball Codes delivers a sprawling, mad tale of excess. The tale brims with exuberance. These events could only have occurred in that place, at that time.
The team achieved an unlikely World Series win. This happened during a campaign split by the longest player strike in baseball history. Yet, this is not even the most interesting thing about this team. The Dodgers were led by the garrulous Tommy Lasorda. He was part manager and part cheerleader. Tommy unyieldingly proclaimed devotion to the franchise. He did this through monologues about bleeding Dodger blue. He also declared worship for the “Big Dodger in the Sky.” His office hosted a regular stream of Hollywood celebrities. Steve Garvey, the All-American, All-Star first baseman, had anchored the most durable infield in major league history. He was glaringly aware that 1981 would represent the end of their run. He knew this along with Davey Lopes, Bill Russell, and Ron Cey. The season’s real story was unexpected. It featured a chubby lefthander, almost straight out of Mexico, who was only twenty years old. He had a wild delivery and a screwball as his flippin’ out pitch. The Dodgers had tried for decades to find a Hispanic star to connect with the local Mexican population. Fernando Valenzuela was the first to succeed. Fernandomania quickly spread far beyond the boundaries of Chavez Ravine.
They Bled Blue is the rollicking yarn of the Los Angeles Dodgers’ crazy 1981 season.
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I’m a Mom, a Grandmom, and a Veteran. Nothing scares me! That’s the saying on my favorite T Shirt. I’m enjoying life too much to let the little things slow me down. If you can’t tell from my Avatar, I live in Florida where I enjoy the sunshine and endure the hurricanes with good grace. Sometimes you have to take the bad with the good!
