Fernando Valenzuela, 63, L.A. Dodgers star

[bryan_styble]

The Los Angeles Dodgers ace was more than a star on the pitcher's
mound--the lefty phenom was a Southern California PHENOMENON...and
EQUALLY beloved as a sensation by Mexican-Americans AND whites
throughout Southern California.

Fortunately for little ol' inconsequential me, my time as a Los Angeleno
1980-91 happened to coincide with the very years he was a Dodger, so I
could witness first-hand every minute of "Fernando-mania". (And his
signature pitch inspired more people to say the word "screwball" *
since "It Happened One Night" (and so many other Hollywood farces) had
become known by that term in the 1930s.)

BRYAN STYBLE/Florida
-----------------------
* That slang word was ALSO famously employed by a NYC cop when asked by
a reporter to describe the perp in the immediate aftermath of the arrest
of Mark Chapman late Monday night, December 8, 1980 outside The
Dakota--though soon enough we all learned that Chapman was in fact NOT
"a local screwball"...but rather from Georgia, by way of Hawaii.
=================
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fernando_Valenzuela

[unsubscribe]

Yawn.....another post by Mr. B S that is inevitably about himself. Do
you have any in-person contact with an actual human being during the
course of a day? You really are inconsequential.

[bryan_styble]

Expect those able producers at Fox Sports to assemble and air a
substantial obituary for the late Valenzuela on Friday as part of the
pregame hoopla for Game 1 in this latest Yankees/Dodgers so-called*
World Series.

BRYAN STYBLE/Florida
=================
* You gotta feel for all the Japanese, Cuban and Dominican baseball fans
(along with those of every other nation where baseball is huge) every
time they hear that phrase "World Series". Meanwhile, the well-worn
story that the name for the MLB championship derives from its original
sponsor--in 1903 when the AL/NL match-up was first staged--being the
newspaper The New York World...is nowadays recognized as FALSE, and is
yet another annoying urban myth.

[bryan_styble]

Kudos to Fox Sports in general and Tom Verducci in particular for a
terrific tribute to the late Latin lefty in the World Series Game 1
pre-game broadcast tonight.

Hold on to your hats (or baseball caps), for this could bei another
titanic World Series. (Or NOT, of course--should it end up a sweep in
either direction a week from now.)

BRYAN STYBLE/Florida

[unsubscribe]

Somebody tell this guy he's not on the radio anymore.Zzzzzzzz.

[W.C. Green]

Post by unsubscribe
Somebody tell this guy he's not on the radio anymore.Zzzzzzzz.

Baseball is always on-topic.

[bryan_styble]

This linked Yahoo! story demonstrates why Joe Davis was the right move
for Fox Sports to make when striving to replace the irreplaceable Joe
Buck on World Series play-by-play. Time and time again young Davis has
proved to be a worthy successor to the late Vin Scully in the Dodgers
booth durimng the regular season...yet his day-job bias never is evident
when working the Series; hard to maintain that after calling Dodgers
games all season, but Davis does so flawlessly.

And meanwhile, Davis's booth partner John Smoltz continues as arguably
the best MLB color man anywhere--as no one else equals him in explaining
the complex considerations a MLB pitcher must mull when shifting pitch
selection, etc. from slugger to slugger.

Can't hope that Game 2 shall top last eve's 10th inning thrill, but it's
already an unprecedented Series, isn't it?

BRYAN STYBLE/Florida
=========
https://www.yahoo.com/sports/the-other-star-of-freddie-freemans-world-series-grand-slam-fox-broadcaster-joe-davis-045333293.html