Latest / Retro Sports Radio: Classic Games from History / 1981 - Baseball Clip - 1981 Los Angeles Dodgers - Vin Scully Highlights

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1981 - Baseball Clip - 1981 Los Angeles Dodgers - Vin Scully Highlights · Retro Sports Radio: Classic Games from History

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  This is Retro Sports Radio. Visit RetroSeasons
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  .com for more sports history. This is Ben Scully.
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  You're about to hear the story of a dream come
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  true. The incredible story of the 1981 world
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  champion Los Angeles Dodgers. In years to come,
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  when Dodger fans look back on 1981, they'll remember
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  it as the year they, the 10th player, and their
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  team, won it all. Oh, sure, baseball historians
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  will remember the strike, but Dodger fans will
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  fondly recall their world championship season
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  and a man -child named Fernando, who led team
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  comeback to the title. It all began Thursday,
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  April the 9th, this magical story. The Houston
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  Astros were in town for a rematch of the year
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  -ending series of 1980. Jerry Royce was scheduled
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  to work the opener, but he injured a calf muscle
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  on the eve of the season. Manager Tom Lasorda
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  drafted Fernando, and El Toro flashed a sign
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  of things to come by blanking the Astros on five
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  hits. Steve Howe and Pablo Castillo have been
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  throwing back of Valenzuela the last inning or
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  so. The 2 -1 pitch to Roberts. Screwball. Swung
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  on and missed. 2 -8. two. opening sweep of the
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  Astros on Sunday, April the 12th, newcomer Kenny
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  Landreau supplied the key offensive blow. Here's
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  Ross Porter for the call. Landreau waiting. Now
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  Rule at the belt. And a pitch to Kenny. 3 -0
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  Dodgers as Dusty Baker stands in. The Dodgers
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  were off and running on a six -game winning streak
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  that put them in first place to stay in the first
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  half. The fifth win in that streak came in Fernando's
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  second start. It was a 7 -1 win over the Giants
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  at Candlestick Park. Fernando allowed just four
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  hits and struck out ten, but he had his scoreless
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  streak snapped at 32 and two -thirds innings.
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  Here's the way Jerry Doggett described it. Enos
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  Cabell. Came into the game tonight hitting .263.
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  The 0 -1 pitch on the way. Lots of the center
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  field is going to fall for a base hit. Here is
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  Herndon in to score, and that breaks the string.
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  The Giants finally get on the board, and Fernando
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  Valenzuela had a beautiful string, and it finally
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  came to a conclusion. One night after Jerry Royce
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  made his injury -delayed debut, an impressive
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  one in a 1 -0 loss to the Astros in Houston.
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  Fernando did his number again on the Astros and
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  Don Sutton. Fernando scattered seven hits, struck
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  out 11. Oh, yes, he also drove in the only run
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  of the game with a fifth -inning single to the
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  opposite field. Valenzuela, single to center
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  in the third inning. He's three for ten this
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  year. And he takes a pitch up and inside, ball
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  one, 1 -0. No score, fifth inning, great ballgame,
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  and the principals go head -to -head right now.
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  Don Sutton pitching to Fernando Valenzuela. The
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  outfield is shallow and way around the left field.
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  The infield is back, but how the third baseman
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  even with the bag. The 1 -0 pitch. Valenzuela
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  hits a line drive, extra base hit. Down the left
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  field line, into the corner to get it is Cruz,
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  and Valenzuela, who was perfectly content to
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  stop at first, goes into second base. Is there
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  anything this kid can't do? So Valenzuela singles
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  to left to score Guerrero. Second on the era,
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  and the Dodgers lead 1 -0. Rick Monday received
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  a rare start April 25th against San Diego. He
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  waited until the 11th inning to bring the 10th
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  player out of its seats by tripling home Ron
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  Say to give the Dodgers a 2 -1 victory. It was
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  a sign of things to come. The one -strike pitch
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  to Monday. Fly ball in the left center field.
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  A long run for Rupert Jones. He's on the track.
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  He leaps. The ball's off the wall. The Giants
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  got their second look at Fernando and a close
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  -up of Fernando Mania, April the 27th at Dodger
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  Stadium. Fernando pitched a seven -hit shutout.
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  He had three hits himself, including a key RBI
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  single in a four -run fourth inning. The 10th
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  player loved every minute of it. Valenzuela singled
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  in the third inning, their first Dodger hit.
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  So, of course, now Griffin has been warned. Randlemania
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  moved north of the border in May. In any language,
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  English, Espanol, or Francais, Fernando is very
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  good. Muy bien, très bien. Les Expos snapped
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  Fernando's scoreless streak at 36 innings. But
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  Fernando's teammates gave him his sixth win with
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  a five -run 10th inning, launched by Reggie Smith's
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  pinch RBI single. The Big Apple was next on Fernando's
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  dance card. His presence made as much noise at
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  Shea Stadium as the jets at nearby LaGuardia
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  Airport. The result, another win, another shutout.
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  Fernando's fifth in seven games and 11 more strikeouts
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  for El Toro. Valenzuela is within one out now
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  of his fifth shutout of the year. Wow. Fernando
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  working on Mazzilli, who of course is a home
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  run threat. Here's the pitch on the way. Fastball
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  low, ball free. So after five walks in the game,
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  he had four through the first three innings,
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  gave up one of the seventh. Now he's gone to
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  3 -1 to Mazzilli. And, of course, he represents
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  that tying run again. As the Mets still alive.
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  And Fernando trying to get him. 3 -0 pitch to
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  Mazzilli. Pops up on the first base side foul.
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  Garvey has a play. He's there. He's got it. And
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  he did it again. He did it again. Fernando Valenzuela
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  on a 3 -0 count. Mazzilli fouls out the first.
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  And the Dodgers are 0 -1. In the ninth for the
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  Mets, they go one, two, three, and he has done
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  it again. So Valenzuela wins his seventh in a
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  row, and I'm telling you one thing, this is really
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  some kind of a story. He puts the Big Apple on
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  its ear, and they're still doing high fives out
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  there on the diamond for the Dodgers, and Valenzuela
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  turns them back one more time. He goes walking
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  off with a big grin on his face. The nights of
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  May 13th and 14th were about as exciting as things
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  can get at Dodger Stadium. On May 13th, the Dodgers
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  watched the Expos explode for five runs in the
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  top of the ninth to take a 6 -4 lead. So, what
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  did the Dodgers do? Why score four runs in the
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  bottom of the ninth? Steve Garvey's two -run
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  single tied the game. Two out, runners at first
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  and second. One and two, the count to Steve Garvey.
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  The game should have been over. But Spire kicked
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  the ground ball. It would have been the last
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  out. Juggled it and had no play at second. And
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  when he tried to throw to first, Reggie beat
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  it. Here's the one -two pitch to Garvey. Ryman
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  checking. Lopes on a double steal. And it's a
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  fly ball into right field. Wallach coming in
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  a hurry. And the ball is off the ground. Ron
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  says two -run Homer won it, all with two out.
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  The Expos won in the eighth. The Dodgers came
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  back with three in the eighth. The Expos five
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  in the ninth. The Dodgers have come back with
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  two in the ninth to tie it up. Unbelievable,
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  even for the Dodgers. The 1 -0 pitch to say,
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  outside, ball two. Boy, that's some play. Having
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  a runner's go with two out. A hit -and -run play.
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  with Garvey. 2 -0 pitch to say is a high point.
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  is the game that they finally win. Fernando and
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  the Dodgers were heading for extra innings the
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  night of May the 14th when Pedro Guerrero rocketed
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  a home run into the left field pavilion leading
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  off the ninth inning. Fernando, who allowed just
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  three hits, had two himself in improving his
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  record to 8 -0. 1 -1 to Guerrero. Ratcher comes
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  back to his hitter and there's a... The Dodgers
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  had so much fun winning in dramatic style the
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  two previous nights, they decided to go to the
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  well one more time against the Mets May 15th.
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  After blowing a 4 -1 lead, the Dodgers tied it
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  on Guerrero's home run leading off the eighth.
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  Allen wears number 13. You don't see that very
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  often anymore. But actually, he wore 13 all through
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  high school. He was a quarterback and an outstanding
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  baseball player, and he wore 13 for both sports.
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  The pitch is high, ball one, 1 -0. When Allen
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  came to the Mets, he asked to wear 13, and they
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  told him no. They said the number would bother
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  you. It might be a jinx. They wouldn't let him
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  wear it. The 1 -0 pitch is high. But then last
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  year, when he saved 22 games and became one of
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  the premier relief pitchers in baseball, they
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  said, well, OK, if you want to wear 13, you can.
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  And he's wearing it. And there it goes. With
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  this, bases loaded. One out single in the ninth.
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  The infield is in double play depth. Jorgensen
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  is up. Brooks is back of the bag. And Tavares
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  and Flynn are back. And the pitch to say is...
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  had their seven -game winning streak and Fernando's
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  10 -game major league winning streak come to
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  a grinding halt against the world champion Phillies
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  May 18. Rick Monday came to the rescue May 20th
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  to avoid a Philadelphia sweep. Monday's pinch
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  -hit home run leading off the 10th off Tug McGraw
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  gave the Dodgers a 3 -2 win. Here's McGraw's
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  pitch. A drive to right field. Hughes opened
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  a trip by winning three out of four from the
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  Reds. And Bert Hooten won his seventh consecutive
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  game by beating the Braves in Atlanta. But the
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  night of May 28th was to be a nightmare for Fernando
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  at Atlanta Fulton County Stadium. The Braves
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  knocked Fernando from the box with a seven -run
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  fourth inning. No balls and one strike to Gaylord
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  Perry with a base and loaded two out in the fourth.
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  One -nothing in favor of... weekend series with
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  the Reds, the Dodgers capped the series by exploding
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  for 16 runs and 18 hits in a 16 -4 win after
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  trailing 4 -0. Dusty Baker's two -run single
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  keyed a seven -run third inning. Here's a 2 -0
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  pitch. Line drive, face it. Left field. One run
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  in. Here's Darrell headed home. Here's a throw
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  to the plate. It's going to be a little bit...
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  Rick Monday's two -run homer highlighted a six
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  -run seven that sent the Reds on their way. All
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  right, here comes the stopper, Joe Price, who's
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  worked 15 innings in his last 10 games, not allowed
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  a run. And he was the winning pitcher against
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  the Giants this week, up north. And Monday, it's
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  a fly ball to deep left field. Foster away back,
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  this ball is in the bullpen. Hold on. Fernando
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  started off June by avenging his loss to the
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  Braves and becoming the first nine -game winner
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  in the majors. He struck out 11. Rick Monday's
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  first inning homer gave Fernando a lead to work
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  with. One and one to count. Monday hits a high
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  drive into center. Back goes Murphy, a way back.
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  Dodger bullpen in left field, and he hit what
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  looked like a marble over the center field fence.
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  It was hit so high, his fifth home run. He has
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  eight runs batted in. The Dodgers lead 2 -0,
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  and Dusty Baker takes ball one. The Dodgers led
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  by a half a game when the player strike halted
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  the season June the 12th. They would later be
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  declared winners of the first half. The Dodgers
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  opened the second half by winning a three -game
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  series from the Reds. Then they employed their
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  comeback script. to rally from a 4 -0 deficit
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  to capture a 6 -5 decision from the Braves on
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  August the 16th. Steve Garvey's two -run double
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  ignited a three -run seventh inning. Garvey has
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  six home runs, 38 runs batted in. And the pitch
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  to Garvey. Look to the left center field, base
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  hit, might find the alley. Here's one run in.
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  the eye single, fuel the fire. One strike, pitch
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  on the way to save. Ground ball, it up the middle,
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  base hit. Here comes Garvey, and the Dodgers
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  will take the lead for the first time. A tough
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  loss on a controversial interference call against
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  Pedro Guerrero in Chicago was quickly forgotten
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  in St. Louis, where Jerry Royce fired a four
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  -hit shutout and Fernando followed with another
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  four -hitter and 12 strikeouts. Back home, Fernando
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  pitched a four -hit shutout, his sixth and first
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  of the second half. On August 27th, Fernando
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  struck out 10 Cubs to become the first 11 -game
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  winner in the majors. Into the lineup with a
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  two -strike pitch. as he turns back the Chicago
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  Cubs by a score of 6 -0. On September the 5th,
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  Dusty Baker proved he can hit as well when he's
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  sick as others do when they're well. Despite
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  a heavy cold, Dusty's pinch hit home run leading
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  off the 11th inning of Jim Cotton gave the Dodgers
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  a 4 -3 win over the Cardinals. 3 -3 in the 11th.
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  All right, here's the 2 -2 pitch. Fastball driven
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  to left. This might go at the bullpen. Dodgers
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  win. dazzling combination of pitching and hitting
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  in a 5 -0 win over the Cardinals September the
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  6th. The 4 -hit shutout was his 7th and gave
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  him his 12th win. 2 -2 to Valenzuela with the
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  bases loaded and nobody out. Here's the pitch.
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  Breaking ball, rip the right field. It's a base
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  hit. Ron Say's two -run homer helped beat the
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  Giants September the 8th, but the Dodgers were
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  to lose their penguin for the remainder of the
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  regular season and the National League Western
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  Division Series on September 9th. Say suffered
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  a fracture to his left forearm when struck by
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  a pitch by the Giants' Tom Griffin. Ron back
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  up, Griffin, right foot on the rubber. Now delivers,
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  and a pitch inside, and it hits Say, and he's
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  going to be awarded first base. But Say is acting
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  like a man who's hurt. He slammed his helmet
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  down and bad and walked away as if he was not
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  only angry, but he knew he needed some help.
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  And he's taking a walk right now and might have
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  gotten it around the wrist. And Bill Buehler
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  working on him right now would be the left wrist
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  or forearm. And Say, from the looks of things,
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  will be coming out. He had that action about
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  him when he was hit as if he... It was finished
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  for the night. But there was always Fernando.
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  He tied the Major League rookie record and set
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  a National League record with his eighth shutout,
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  a 2 -0 -3 hitter against Atlanta on September
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  17th. Chambliss waiting, and Fernando delivers.
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  Screwball! Swung on and missed. 0 -1. Valenzuela,
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  last year for the Dodgers, pitched only 18 innings.
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  Though he is still very much the rookie. The
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  strike one pitch. Screwball lined at Garvey.
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  And it's all over. Fernando with his eighth shutout
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  of the year. Before a capacity crowd, he has
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  done it again. Viva Fernando and bring on the
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  Astros. That was the rallying cry of the Dodgers
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  and their 10th player. as the regular season
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  ended and the playoffs began.