ESPN's 30 for 30 film Fernando Nation premiered at Dodger Stadium

Dodger Stadium played host Thursday to the world premiere of the documentary Fernando Nation, part of ESPN's 30 for 30 film series.

Viewed at the Stadium Club, the documentary is not your basic feel-good baseball story.

"If you want to see the fairy tale version, Major League Baseball has already made that one," said Cruz Angeles, the film's director.  "I didn't want to make a baseball film.  Fernandomania transcended baseball."

Angeles instead focuses on the cultural impact the pitcher had on the Hispanic population in Los Angeles. Chronicling the history of Chavez Ravine, a tight-knit Mexican community that was torn apart when it's people were evicted to make way for the construction if Dodger Stadium, Angeles goes deeper.

"I wanted to give visibility to the invisible," says Angeles.  "A lot of people feel like you can't tell the story of Fernando without talking about Chavez Ravine."

The filmmaker illustrated the hostility felt by the Mexican population as the Dodgers moved in.  Dodger owner, Walter O'Malley was aware of the alienation and of the untapped potential of the Hispanic market.  O'Malley repeatedly called on his scouts to find a "Mexican Sandy Koufax" to help make the Mexican community feel more welcomed and valued.

That's just what the Dodgers got when they signed the Mexican-born Valenzuela.

"Joe DiMaggio did it for the Italian people," Angeles explains.  "Sandy Koufax did it for Jewish people, and of course, there's Jackie Robinson.  That's what Fernando did for Mexicans.  That's the film I wanted to make, the story I wanted to tell."

Though the film focuses on the cultural impact of Valenzuela, it does highlight his baseball career, including Valenzuela's Rookie of the Year and Cy Young Award winning season of 1981, and his no-hitter in 1990.  It was the baseball scenes that earned the strongest ovations at the screening.

In attendance were many of the key players of the story.  Mike Brito, the scout who signed the 18-year old Valenzuela, and Bobby Castillo, the teammate who taught the left to throw his signature screwball, were among those who answered questions after the viewing.

Fernando Nation will air on ESPN Tuesday October 26th at 5:00 pm Pacific Standard Time as part of the network's 30 for 30 series.  Expect another post on Examiner.com about Fernando on Tuesday morning.

Click on the Discussions tab on Smiley's Baseball Examiner page to talk baseball and suggest future baseball-related topics you'd like to read about.  Jim always encourages your email comments.