Page 18-Thursday, May 14, 1981-The Michigan Daily
El Toro Fernando
L.A. rookie on verge o record

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LOS ANGELES (AP)-It sounds like a
Hollywood script, the story of the meteoric rise to
superstardom of a poor young Mexican who can
throw a strange screwball that's likely to put him
in baseball's history books.
The stage is set for tonight when fabulous Fer-
nando Valenzuela, the bull-chested rookie pitcher
for the Los Angeles Dodgers, attempts to tie a
major league record for consecutive victories. So
far this season his record is 7-0.
THE BASEBALL world has gone bonkers over
the 20-year-old newcomer they call El Toro, Mr.
Zero, El Incredible and the Titan del Pitcheo.
The feats of Fernando, which dominate conver-
sation in his native Mexico and in Southern
California, is a crash course in Spanish
superlatives.
A "Fabulous Fernando Fan Club" sprang up
this week. The Dodgers have ordered 35,000
Valenzuela bumper stickers, 15,000 Valenzuela
pennants and 10,000 Fernando dolls.
"IT IS NOT true that when you wind the doll up
it pitches shutouts," one sportswriter reported.
An article about Valenzuela's home village in
one Mexican newspaper was headlined, "Titan del
Pitcheo,"the Titan of Pitching.
A newspaper contest- to give Valenzuela a
nickname came up with "El Toro." Dodger press
releases have called him "Senor Cero," or Mr.
Zero. Some broadcasters refer to him as "El In-
credible."
TELEVISION crews and newspaper reporters
have bounced over bumpy dirt roads to Valen-
zuela's home village of Etchohuaquilla, Sonora,
Mexico, making pictures of his family of 17 who
live in a four-room house with dirt-rock floors in
the bedrooms.
In a game with all reserved seats sold out nine
days ago, Valenzuela faces Montreal tonight on
his triumphant return home from a long road trip.
The Dodgers were making arrangements to bring
his parents to Los Angeles to view the game.
A victory tonight would tie the major league

record of eight consecutive victories in starting
roles at the opening of a season, set in 1945 by the
Boston Red Sox' Dave Ferris.
STILL OFFICIALLY a rookie since he was a
Dodge only three weeks in 1980, Valenzuela has
pitched six complete games, five shutouts and has
an unheard-of earned run average of 0.29 per
game. In other words, in the games he has pitched

so far this season, only .29 runs per nine-inning
game have been scored off his pitching. The major
league record ERA of 1.00 for a season was set by
Dutch Leonard of the Boston Red Sox in 1914.
Valenzuela, a left-hander who began playing in
Mexican semi-pro baseball at age 12, has been
befuddling National League batters with a mix-
ture of above-average fastballs, wrist-twist
screwballs and excellent control. The screwball
looks like a fastball until it drops left around home
plate-the opposite of a lefty's curve-ball.
Valenzuela, who can't speak English but smiles
a lot, has a strange pitching technique. He says
he's unaware of it, but at the height of his windup,
he looks away from the plate, seeming to train his
eyes on the peak of his cap.
"WE THINK HE has notes written up there,"
said Dodger Manager Tommy Lasorda."
Catcher Mike Scoscia, Valenzuela's regular
receiver, says, "I have heard him use three
English words. They are food, beer, and light
beer."
"I speak a little Spanish, but I haven't had to go
to the mound," Scoscia added. "If I do, I'll just
say, 'Food, beer and light beer.'."
DESPITE THE language barrier, when the
Dodgers go on the road they send Valenzuela
ahead to hold news conferences, through an inter-
preter. He's good box office.
Last Friday night, he drew almost 40,000 people
to Shea Stadium in New York, where ordinarily
the Mets might have expected about 15,000.
Valenzuela was discovered by Los Angeles scout
Mike Brito in 1978 while he was pitching for Vera
Cruz of the Mexican League at age 17. The
Dodgers purchased the youth's contract for a
reported $120,000, out-bidding the New York
Yankees.
Valenzuela was offered a multi-year contract
with the Dodgers this year. But his agent Antonio
DeMarco said it was decided to stay with the one-
year contract only slightly bigger than the major
league minimum of $30,000.

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LOS ANGELES DODGERS pitching sensation
Fernando Valenzuela playfully practices his soc-
cer kicks with a baseball during warmup before
Tuesday's game in Los Angeles. Valenzuela, born
in a farming village in the state of Sonora, Mexico
and the youngest of 12 children, has become the
darling of U.S. media and a hero to Spanish-
speaking sports fans everywhere,

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SPORTS OF THE DAILY:
7-2 All-State hoopster to play at Indiana

EFFINGHAM, Ill. (AP)-Uwe Blab,
the 7-2 center who broke scoring recor-
ds in making the 1981 Class AA
Associated Press All-State Illinois High
School basketball team, will play with
Indiana University next year, Ef-
fingham High School officials said
yesterday.
The signing of Blab, a West German
exchange student, ended one of the hot-
test basketball recruiting wars in the
nation. More than 160 schools had
sought the services of Blab before he
decided on Indiana, which won the
National Collegiate Athletic
Association basketball championship
this year. ,
"Uwe weighed many factors, but he
realized that Indiana has many great
ballplayers," Effingham coach Jim
Maxedon said yesterday.
"He wants to play pro basketball, and
he feels that if he can't play at Indiana,
he won't make it as a pro," Maxedon
CONTAiCTLENSES
SOFT AND HARD
CONTACT LENSES $210.90
' ncludes a econdi r ofard lenses
Dr. Paul C. qslan, Optometrist
545 Church Street
76 22 b pn

said. "Playing at Indiana's caliber will
help him develop his full potential."
Blab, 19, was a consensus All-State
player, Mid-State Conference Most
Valuable Player and fourth-team
Parade All-American pick this year. He
led the Flaming Hearts to 30-2 and 27-4
records in 1979-10 and 1980-81 respec-
tively.
Murphy out of playoffs
HOUSTON (AP)-Houston guard
Calvin Murphy, a key factor in the
Rockets' drive to the National Basket-
ball Association championship finals,
has been lost for the remainder of the
playoffs with a separated shoulder.
The 5-foot-9, 165-pound Murphy
crumpled to the floor after colliding
with Boston's 6-10, 235-pound Rick
Robey early in the second half of
Tuesday night's game at Boston. Mur-
phy watched the rest of the game with
an ice pack on his shoulder.
Doctors at first thought Murphy had
suffered only a bruise, but said late
Wednesday he had suffered a
separation. The Celtics lead the best-of-
7 series three games to two with the six-
th game set for tonight and the seventh,
if needed, Sunday.

Mears hits 200 at Indy
INDIANAPOLIS (AP)-There is
something magic about, the 200 miles-
an-hour lap at the Indianapolis Motor
Speedway.
On a day when sporadic rain dam-
pened spirits and periodically closed
the track, everyone perked up
noticeably yesterday when 1979 Indy
500 winner Rick Mears became the
second driver of the month to soar over
200 in practice, and Danny Ongais
followed by equalling his Tuesday lap of
200 mph flat.
Mears wheeled his Penske PC-9R
around the track at 200.133 mph, then
followed that on the next lap with a
200.312 clocking on the electric eye.
"There wasn't a whole lot left in the
car, although it can probably go faster
depending on conditions," said Mears.
He, along with Penske teammate Bob-
by Unser, is a favorite to wrest the pole
position away from A.J. Foyt, who
grabbed a tentative hold on it before
rain ended the opening qualifying
session last Saturday.
Metcalf traded to Redskins
ST. LOUIS (AP)-Running back

Terry Metcalf has been signed to a
contract and traded to the Washington
Redskins, the St. Louis Cardinals an-
nounced yesterday.
Metcalf was allowed to return to the
National Football Leauge after his con-
tract cleared waivers with all clubs in
the Canadian League, where he has
been playing for the past three years
before the Redskins began negotiating
for him.
"We are going through this process to
facilitate the return of Terry Metcalf -to
the National Football League," said
Cardinals President Bill Bidwill.
"At this stage of his career, we did
not want to stand in his way of having
the opportunity which the Redskins are
prepared to offer him," said Bidwill.
In return for Metcalf, 29, a member of
the Cardinals from 1973 to 1977, St.
Louis will receive an undisclosed draft
choice to be determined in part by Met-
calf's performance with Washington.
SCORES
American League
Detroit1,SeattIe0
Batimore 4, Toroto 5
Boston 5, Minnesota 2
Oakland 5, New York 4
National League
Cincirati8, Ciicagdoe3p"
'ateFraincisco. , Philadelphia 2,

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