So I came home from Cake Decorating Class (number 4 of 4) and my husband tells me he just watched the GREATEST documentary about Fernando Valenzuela. I wasn't really convinced, but he was persistant.
Fernando Nation began with the story of Mexican immigrant workers who were living on a piece of land that the Dodgers were planning to build a new stadium on. They forcibly removed all these families of Mexican immigrants in order to move forward with building plans. They built a huge stadium - and it ended up being filled with Mexican baseball fans, all clamoring to see the INCREDIBLE Fernando.
Fernando Valenzuela was born in rural Mexico. He lived in a hut in the middle of a field and shared a bedroom (if you could call a half-walled space a "room") with his five brothers and sisters. That is, until a scout found him and brought him to America and he joined the Dodgers pitching staff - and the game of baseball was never the same.
Fernando brought an excitement to baseball that hadn't been seen since the days of Babe Ruth and Sandy Koufax and will doubtfully be equaled. When Valenzuela was at the top of his game, he was unbeatable. He pitched the only two-in-one-night no hitter in the history of baseball. The story goes that he was watching TV in the clubhouse before a game and caught a few minutes news about a no-hitter game that was just pitched in Canada. He then announced to his teammates that it wasn't the only no-hitter of the night, that HE was about to pitch one too. Nine innings later, history was made.
No matter if you like baseball or can't tell an error from a run, the movie Fernando Nation is touching on other levels - a human interest story where the underdog wins AND a hero still walks among us.
The IMDB Link
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