Title/Author:
“They Bled Blue:
Fernandomania, Strike Season Mayhem and the Weirdest Championship Baseball Had
Ever Seen: The 1981 Los Angeles Dodgers” by Jason Turbow
Tags:
Baseball,
professional, history, Dodgers, championship
Publish date:
June 4, 2019
Length:
384 pages
Rating:
5 of 5 stars (outstanding)
Review:
1981 has been remembered as one of
the strangest baseball seasons in the history of the game. The season was split
in two due to a player’s strike and the division winners in each half made the
postseason, even though that meant the two best overall teams in the National
League missed the playoffs. A rookie
pitcher who had a body that was closer to resembling a keg than a six pack took
baseball by storm. Four infielders who had played together for nearly eight
years were on their last quest together.
The link for the last two points was the Los Angeles Dodgers, who ended
up as the champions in three exciting postseason series. Their quest to the championship is documented
in this breezy, fun-to-read book by Jason Turbow.
While the book reports on the 1981
Dodgers season in chronological order, it is not the typical “this happened,
then that happened” type of season recap.
It actually starts in 1978 when the New York Yankees defeated the
Dodgers in that year’s World Series, winning the last four games after Los Angeles
won the first two. That plays as motivation for many of the players who were on
that team, including the four infielders who had been on the team and playing
nearly every game since 1973. Along the
way the reader will learn a lot about all four of them – first baseman Steve
Garvey, second baseman Davey Lopes, shortstop Bill Russell and third baseman
Ron Cey.
However, the best personal story in
the book was also the best baseball story of that year. Turbow does an
excellent job of bringing the reader into the world of Fernando Valenzuela, a
20 year old rookie pitcher with a portly body, a lack of ability to speak English
and a devastating screwball. He won his first eight decisions with an ERA under
one and took the baseball world by storm. Being of Mexican heritage, he became a hero to
the Mexican population in Los Angeles, which makes up a significant portion of
the city’s residents. How he handled
this fame, especially when he was a guest of President Ronald Reagan at the White
House, was the best reading in the book, along with stories about manager Tommy
Lasorda.
The book was capped off by providing
an excellent account of the Dodgers’ postseason run. In the Division Series (only made possible by
the split season) they fell behind the Houston Astros two games to none in the
best of five series, only to win three straight to capture the series. Then, in
another best of five series, they defeated the Montreal Expos in thrilling
fashion with Rick Monday hitting a homer to win the game for Los Angeles in the
ninth inning of game five. Then the
Dodgers made the three year wait to face the Yankees again worth it, defeating
them in six games in the same manner as New York won in 1978 – lost the first
two games, won the next four. The
description of the games, the players’ emotions and the joy of the entire city
was well written.
Dodger fans will want to add this
book to their collection as it is very likely the best source of information on
that crazy championship season for them. Baseball fans and historians who are
interested in that team should pick it up as well.
I wish to thank Houghton Mifflin
Harcourt for providing a copy of the book via NetGalley in exchange for an
honest review.
Book Format Read:
E-book (Kindle)
Buying Links:
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