By the time you read this, Fernando Valenzuela's death will feel like old news. The Yankees and Dodgers will already be two games deep into the World Series, with Game 3 looming. Monday night's game will be at Yankee Stadium, and whatever tribute the Dodgers arranged for Valenzuela--a 20-year-old rookie sensation the last time these teams met in 1981--will already be absorbed into our collective memory. We'll be, as Bill Belichick would say, "on to Cincinnati."

I remember that 1981 season. I wasn't a Dodgers fan, but my father was, and in the '60s and early '70s, he took me to plenty of games at Dodger Stadium. My early memories are all about Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale, and Vin Scully's lilting voice--comfortable as a well-worn glove. Even though I cheered for the Giants, the Dodgers were on TV all the time, thanks to Farmer John and Cal Worthington's Dodge dealerships. Worthington's downmarket self-aware ads--complete with exotic animals like zebras and rhinos he invariably called "my dog Spot"--played long into the 21st century.

By 1981, I was far from southern California but followed baseball religiously, and the Dodgers were still on TV a lot. "Fernandomania" was everywhere. Valenzuela was dazzling that year, becoming the only pitcher to win both the Cy Young and Rookie of the Year in the same season--a feat Don Newcombe might have accomplished in 1949 if the Cy Young had existed.

Valenzuela's most pivotal moment came in Game 3 of the '81 Series, with the Dodgers down two games to none. He didn't have his best stuff,........

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