Few baseball players have captured the popular imagination as Fernando Valenzuela did in the summer of 1981, when the word "Fernandomania" came into the English lexicon, as the young lefthander with the incredible screwball astounded the baseball world by tossing five shutouts during an eight game winning streak to start the season. In a career that lasted from 1980 to 1996, Valenzuela was known almost as much for his burly physique and unorthodox windup as for his effectiveness and durability.

Fernando Valenzuela was born in Etchohaquila, in the Mexican state of Sonora, about 350 miles south of the Arizona border. The youngest of twelve children, by the age of sixteen Fernando was earning $80 a month as a pitcher in the Mexican leagues. Beating out the Yankees by half a step, the Los Angeles Dodgers bought the lefthander's contract from Puebla for $120,000 in 1979. The following year, Valenzuela made his...