On April 9, 1981, the Los Angeles Dodgers, led by manager Tommy Lasorda, began their season with high expectations. The Dodgers wound up meeting those, going on to defeat the New York Yankees in six games to win the 1981 World Series.
Several months prior to that, a 20-year-old Mexican native took the mound on Opening Day for his first career Major League start. Fernando Valenzuela had thrown 17.2 scoreless innings over 10 relief appearances with the Dodgers in 1980, but he remained relatively unknown going into the 1981 season.
That did not last long though, as Valenzuela spawned the ‘Fernandomania’ phenomenon, beginning with an Opening Day start in which he threw a complete-game shutout against the Houston Astros.