In our hearts we like to hold the notion that baseball is a kid’s game. Fernando Valenzuela played it so well and with so much joy, he gladdened our hearts. He confirmed our deepest, most optimistic wishes for the game and those who play it.
Fernando had the shy smile of a child, the rounded body of a blue-collar worker and the left arm of a magician. He gazed heaven-ward mid-delivery, as if calling on angels, and threw a screwball that to a hitter was hell on earth.
