Fernando Valenzuela had a screwball, but he certainly wasn’t one.
Take it from Mike Scioscia, the Dodger who caught most of his pitching starts for more than a decade, starting with the amazing run of 1981 that created a term that will live forever in the world of sports: Fernandomania.
Back then, and even now, the assumption is that any 20-year-old rookie entering the major leagues, especially one who didn’t speak English, would be quiet, a bit intimidated, often a nervous wreck. Scioscia debunks all that. He says that, in most situations on the mound, Fernando knew exactly how to handle things, what to throw and how to throw it.