Baseball: Puigmania brings back memories of Fernandomania
By Vincent Bonsignore, Staff Writer
At the height of Fernandomania 32 years ago, Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda had enough on his plate managing a playoff-contending team with 25 vastly different personalities against a stacked National League with powerhouse rivals in Philadelphia, Houston, Montreal and Cincinnati.
Let alone looking out for opposing teams eager to cash in on 20-year-old pitching sensation Fernando Valenzuela, who burst onto the scene on Opening Day and went on to pitch the Dodgers to a World Series championship and became the first player in history to win the Rookie of the Year and Cy Young Awards in the same season.
But Lasorda soon discovered managing Valenzuela required functions not normally associated with managing a typical ballclub.
"I'd literally get calls from opposing teams asking me if I could figure out a way so Fernando could pitch while we were in their cities," Lasorda remembers. "I mean, I'm just trying to manage my club on an every-day basis. But everywhere we went, people wanted to see him."
And make a fast buck, of course.
"I'm sure none of those teams really wanted to face Fernando. Let's face it, he was dominating baseball," said then-Dodgers public relations director Steve Brener, laughing. "But if facing him meant a big gate, well ..."
In that sense, the frenzy surrounding new Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig, the 22-year-old Cuban rookie who has captured the imagination of baseball the same way Valenzuela did three decades ago, is somewhat different.
"At least with Yasiel, you have a shot to see him play every day you come to the park - on the road or at home," longtime Dodgers broadcaster Vin Scully said. "It was different with Fernando, a pitcher who didn't play every day."
Aside from that, the similarities between Fernandomania and Puigmania are uncanny.
Both players seemingly came out of nowhere, a pair of intriguing figures with mysterious, foreign backgrounds who ostensibly walked onto baseball fields and dominated the best players in the game.
And in the process instantaneously captivated an entire sport, not to mention Dodgers fans eagerly swarming to Chavez Ravine to get a glimpse of their stars.
"It's very much a similar situation," said Brener, who returned to the organization two years ago to oversee the publicity department through the transition from former owner Frank McCourt to the Guggenheim Baseball partners, only to find himself immersed in another Dodger-induced mania.
"You just feel that same aura and excitement around the ballpark," Brener said. "It's the anticipation you are on the verge of seeing something special. You don't want to look away because you might miss something great."
Not that this is unique for the Dodgers.
Going as far back as Jackie Robinson, who broke the color barrier in 1947 and immediately seized the fascination of baseball fans, the Dodgers have a tradition of sudden-impact stars causing hysteria.
Valenzuela rekindled that history in 1981 by winning the first eight games he pitched, baffling opponents with a devastating screwball and using an unconventional path to the big leagues to create a fascinating mystique.
Hideo Nomo did the same in 1995, when he became the first Japanese-born player to appear in the big leagues in 30 years and dominated the National League with a league-leading 236 strikeouts and a 2.54 ERA to win Rookie of the Year honors and play in the All-Star Game.
Manny Ramirez was an established star by the time he came to the Dodgers in 2008, but he was perceived as an aging, uncaring malcontent when he left Boston for Los Angeles.
Ramirez re-awakened upon joining the Dodgers with 17 home runs and 53 RBIs in 53 unforgettable games, led them to the National League Championship Series and ignited Chavez Ravine in a way it hadn't been charged up in years.
And now comes Puig, who joined the Dodgers seven days ago from Double-A Chattanooga and has taken baseball by storm in becoming just the second player since 1900 to hit four home runs in his first five games while totaling 13 hits in his first 29 plate appearances for a .464 batting average.
Of his four home runs, one was a grand slam to put a game away and another a late solo shot to tie a game the Dodgers eventually won.
He's also shown off a powerful throwing arm by retiring two runners from deep right field and flown around the bases with the speed of a sprinter.
Puig is the rare five-tool player. Take your eyes off him for one second and you might miss something spectacular.
"Which only adds to the mystique, because it takes some five-tool guys a month to show off all their skills," Scully said. "Yasiel has come along in one week and put it all on display. In all my years, I don't recall anyone who's shown every tool in such a short period of time."
He's done it all with a contagious flair and enthusiasm that illuminates the stadium and invigorates the clubhouse.
"It's just infectious the way he plays," Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said. "Seems like there's a joy in his game. It's the way you're supposed to play.
"He just looks so fresh."
His story only adds to the intrigue.
Puig defected from Cuba in 2012 and set up residency in Mexico in order to become a free agent eligible to sign with whatever team offered the most money.
He was regarded as somewhat of an unknown prospect, but the Dodgers stunned baseball by signing him to a record-breaking, seven-year deal worth $42 million.
He played just 23 minor-league games last year, none above Single-A. And after a fabulous spring with the Dodgers, he reported to Double-A Chattanooga, where he played 40 games this season.
And with a mere 63 professional games under Puig's belt, the injury-ravaged Dodgers were forced to call him up last week.
All he's done since is mesmerize an entire sport.
Including his own clubhouse.
"There's a different energy from the Cuban," teammate Skip Schumaker said. "He's just been amazing for us and it feels like something is going to happen every time he comes up."
Much like his mania-creating predecessors.
"The phones ringing off the hook in the offices, everybody wanting a piece of them, the excitement in the stadium, the media requests," Brener said. "The similarities are all there."
Including the jersey and memorabilia sales, and as Puig already has shown, he has extraordinary monetary value.
"His T-shirt and jerseys are both flying off the racks," Brener said.
All that's left now is for Puigmania to have the extended life of a Fernandomania or Nomomania.
"It's only been (six games)," former Dodgers catcher Steve Yeager pointed out. "Let's give it some time before we start comparing it to other eras."
If so, it will be on Puig to somehow set aside the external excitement swirling around and continue his charismatic play.
"My one piece of advice to him is to have fun," Valenzuela said. "Just play the game, the game you know how to play. Focus on that, and everything will take care of itself."
Valenzuela paused, as if recalling the intense spotlight he found himself in as a 20-year-old in a new country 32 years ago.
"Because if you start thinking and worrying about everything going on around you, then it starts affecting this," Valenzuela said, pointing his head.
Count on the Dodgers to lend a hand in that regard.
Much like it did with Valenzuela, the team will make a concerted effort to manage Puig's time in the limelight.
When Valenzuela and the Dodgers went on the road during the peak of his popularity, the club coordinated news conferences in each city he visited rather than make him talk to individual reporters - a move Valenzuela appreciated.
"I can only imagine what it would have been like talking to each reporter, one on one," Valenzuela said. "Do it one time in every city, get it done with and go play baseball."
It's expected the Dodgers will do the same when Puig goes on the road for the first time this week. The Dodgers play in Pittsburgh, New York and San Diego over the next two weeks.
The club also is providing an interpreter to help bridge the language barrier.
"The objective is to allow (the player) sufficient time to himself so he can focus on his job, which is to play baseball," Brener said. "And that takes an organized plan and effort on the part of the team."
The rest is up to Puig.
And only time will tell if this show has an extended run.
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