Sunday, September 06, 1981

September 6, 1981: Fernando Valenzuela pitched 7th shutout in rookie season

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On this day in 1981, Fernando Valenzuela pitched his 7th shutout of the season.   

It was an amazing rookie season for young Valenzuela:   13-7, 2.48 ERA, 11 complete games and 8 shutouts.    It earned him NL Rookie of the Year and Cy Young.

We remind you that 1981 was the “strike year" and teams lost about 50 games to the labor stoppage.   He would probably won 20 in a regular season, as he did a couple of times in his career.

Then he beat Houston in the first round, clinched the NL pennant against Montreal and won game 3 against New York in the 1981 post season.

Valenzuela won 173 games and threw a ton of innings for the Dodgers in the 1980's.







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