00:00:00
Speaker 1: Welcome back to the Extra Inning Postgame Show with Bill Laskin. He pitched 15 years in Major League Baseball. He was a two-time National League All-Star and also a World Series champion for the 1986 New York Mets. Let's bring in Sid Fernandez.
00:00:14
Speaker 2: Sid, how are you? I'm doing great. Thanks for asking.
00:00:17
Speaker 1: Hi, thank you for joining me, Sid. You grew up in Honolulu, Hawaii. What were some of the teams and players you were watching as you were growing up?
00:00:26
Speaker 2: Well, I grew up in the 60s. I was born in the 62s. So obviously we had the Giants and the Dodgers. So, yeah, so that group was listening when it was available on TV, watching those two teams.
00:00:44
Speaker 1: Was there a certain pitcher you emulated?
00:00:48
Speaker 2: Well, when I got drafted by the Dodgers, yeah, I didn't emulate no major league pitchers, but I never thought I'd make the major leagues. But, yeah, Sandy Koufax was a very nice man.
00:01:00
Speaker 1: All of them.
00:01:01
Speaker 2: Everybody in the Dodgers were nice to me. Well, let's go back.
00:01:05
Speaker 1: You went to Kaiser High School in Honolulu. You ended up getting drafted out of high school in 1981 by the Dodgers. You ended up signing right out of high school. Did you have any fear of doing that? Was that something you wanted to do and coming out of high school? That's a big jump for you.
00:01:21
Speaker 2: Yeah, I was kind of fearful because I was so young. And when I got drafted, you know, the whirlwind came and I went to Canada. We were in Lethbridge playing with the rookie ball team in the Pioneer League. And, I don't know, just camaraderie with the new guys I've met. And I didn't think about it because I just didn't think about it. And then someone had told me about the odds of making minor league baseball amazing. guys to get drafted out of high school with the odds were one in a hundred, guys who make it. So I wish I didn't hear that, but it didn't stop me.
00:02:04
Speaker 1: Well, you ended up playing with the Dodgers for a few years in 1983 at the age of 20. You got to come up to the big leagues in September and you threw two games, six innings, something that you got to play in the big leagues. That had to have been exciting for you. And at a young age, what did you learn from it? And who told you you were going to the big leagues back then?
00:02:24
Speaker 2: Well, Terry Collins was my manager in AA San Antonio. And Terry Collins and Dave Wallace, the pitching coach, they were my managers in the San Antonio Tech. The day called up was Kenny Howell, myself, and J.R. Reynolds.
00:02:44
Speaker 1: So you came up to the big leagues a little fear of what was happening? Did you kind of look around the locker room and say, man, I'm in the big leagues. I got a Dodger uniform on me.
00:02:54
Speaker 2: Yeah, because the Dodgers actually were in first place, I believe. Tommy Lasorda made it easy. He said, you guys aren't going to see much playing time, so just soak it up as much as you can. They were in the playoffs in September. They were heading for the playoffs, so we weren't going to see much time. We were told that. It was nerve-wracking because every game was like a playoff game.
00:03:21
Speaker 1: It was fun to watch, definitely. There was a lot of excitement going on, and I think that's the biggest thing. Sid Fernandez joined me on the Extra Inning Post Game show, and what happened that winter, December 8th, you get traded in 1983 to the New York Mets. That had to surprise you.
00:03:38
Speaker 2: Yeah, it did. Coming from Hawaii, I'd never been further east than Chicago, so I didn't know much about the East Coast or what you really study about in schools and maps. So, I mean, yeah.
00:03:57
Speaker 1: You didn't pitch long in the minor leagues when you got over to the Mets. Is that something they told you once you got traded over? You went to spring training? What were some of the progression that they had for you?
00:04:09
Speaker 2: Well, 1984 was my first year at the Mets. I started off in AAA for a month because I was told by Davey Johnson that we had a a lot of off days for some reason that in April and he didn't want me to sit the bench. So he wanted me to pitch. So I got five good quality starts in before I got called up. So it was, it helped me a lot. Well, it progressed you very well. 84, 85, you were nine and 970 innings, but really in 1986 was one of your best years, 16 and six, 3.5 or in run average. You reached over 200 innings. You did that three times in your career. And you started 31 games. Everything looked great in 1986.
00:04:58
Speaker 1: And what happens? You make your first All-Star team. What an excitement that was. And you ended up going to Astrodome in Texas. How was that exciting time for you?
00:05:09
Speaker 2: It was very exciting to me. To make an All-Star team is something every kid dreams about. And it was fantastic. The only thing I regret about that, I don't know if you've ever been to an All-Star game, and underneath it, how much pieces of memorabilia you have to sign. I swear to God, there's no way you can get to it in one day.
00:05:34
Speaker 1: Well, you had a pitch in one inning in that game. You walked a couple guys, you punched out three. Tell me a little bit about that game. Yeah.
00:05:43
Speaker 2: You know, the funny story was... You know, later in life, I had two kids, three kids, and my son is my youngest. So ESPN was showing the All-Star game, 86 All-Star game. And I told my son, I pitched in that game. And so we watched it, we were watching, and they skipped over my start, my inning pitch. He goes, I thought you said you'd pitch. I did, I swear to God, I pitched. I was there, came in.
00:06:13
Speaker 1: The excitement of your kids. That's great. Well, in 1987, another good year for you. 12-8 at 156 innings. Earned run average back down. And you ended up getting your second All-Star game. And this was pretty cool. This was in Oakland. And the game went into extra innings. And they ended up scoring two runs. And you ended up coming in and get the save. First time.
00:06:36
Speaker 2: I was the last one. Yeah, I was the last guy in the pen. So it was either me or that was it. That was the last one.
00:06:46
Speaker 1: Well, I saw where Lee Smith came in and threw three innings. And I'm like, I've never seen Lee Smith throw three innings. And who do I see? Sid Fernandez coming in for one inning and you got the save. It had to have been exciting for you.
00:06:59
Speaker 2: Of course it was. I think the person who made the last shot was Dave Winfield. So, you know, I got to face some really good ballplayers, Hall of Famers, and I'm very proud of that. You know, I got to compete against. People say that nowadays the game is good, and the game is good. But I didn't play against any slouches either. It's so true.
00:07:23
Speaker 1: There's a lot of Hall of Famers back in the 80s that we both pitched against then. It's interesting when you look at statistics and you look at, you know, who did well off you and you look at some of these Hall of Famers and you're like, man, I control that guy real well. And he's in the Hall of Fame. We'll get to that a little later. But I want to ask you, Sid, when you were in high school, were you a good hitter? Because you definitely hit well in the big leagues.
00:07:48
Speaker 2: Everyone in high school is a good hitter. But, you know, I didn't really hit much in high school. More in the winter game, like American Legion stuff. I mean, I could hit, but it was more like a DH. Even when I was in high school, I had someone else hit.
00:08:15
Speaker 1: Well, let's throw some numbers at you. Ended up with 98 hits. You hit a buck 82. But here are the numbers that are really good. 15 doubles, two triples, and one home run. September 21st, 1989, the Mets were playing the Cardinals, and you ended up hitting a home run. Do you remember who you hit it off of?
00:08:35
Speaker 2: Yeah, Dan Quisenberg.
00:08:36
Speaker 1: Yes, sir, you definitely did. The one home run, but I was really impressed with the 15 doubles.
00:08:45
Speaker 2: Yeah, well, thank you. I really was, I don't know. I remember the home run. Other hits, I don't remember the doubles or the triples.
00:08:59
Speaker 1: Sid Fernandez joined me on the Extra Inning Postgame Show. One of the biggest things that I remember about you is your deceptive delivery. The long stride, the sidewinder from the side, and you had a quick fastball. You elevated the fastball real well, and you had a pretty damn good curveball. What were some of the things you had to do to develop each year in these 15 years? But you had to get better, and you definitely did.
00:09:24
Speaker 2: Well, I got better with controlling my breaking ball. And what I learned, especially when Dodger camp, you know, Sandy Koufax would always tell these young pitchers, and I was one of them, that you got to control one side of the plate. I mean, as for lefty, Sandy loved to pitch away. He wasn't much of a pitcher inside. He'd show you for effect, but he's going to get you out of the way. And Tom Seaver said the same thing. I'm going to get you out of the way. I'm going to do all these other stuff, but I'm going to get you out of the way. And that's how it was taught. Cause I know in my prime, I could hit that outside corner nine out of 10 times guaranteed. That's my go-to pitch because I knew I could store a strike there.
00:10:14
Speaker 1: Yeah. Well, you know, the other thing, Sid, 25 complete games, nine shutouts. You don't see much of the complete games anymore in active baseball. When you think about complete games, we always thought when we went on the mound as starting pitchers, you wanted to complete a game. You never wanted the bullpen to come in. What made that mentality so strong for you to make 25 complete games on it?
00:10:39
Speaker 2: Well, I don't know. That's what our job was. I didn't think our job was to pitch five innings. Like today, guys pitch five or six innings and they're done for the day. I don't know. It just wasn't taught to us back then like that. You went out to pitch, you pitched. And you tried to complete the game. That was the goal.
00:11:07
Speaker 1: And the goal went right. Look what you did, 114 wins in your career, a 3.3 earned run average, 1,793 strikeouts. Just a fabulous career for 15 years. When you think about what you had to do each time out there as a starting pitcher, when you thought about that in the bullpen, what were your thoughts coming into that first inning?
00:11:31
Speaker 2: My thoughts are very simple because Mel Stoudemire kept it simple for me. My thoughts are strike one. strike one and out one. I don't know what the percentages are, but once you get the first strike on any hitter and the first out of every inning, the chances of putting up a crooked number diminishes by a lot. And so my thoughts are strike one, always strike one.
00:11:57
Speaker 1: When you were pitching, Sid, did you think about innings or did you think about outs? Because a lot of pitchers think, hey, I'm looking for outs. I want to get three outs before I get to the next inning. But sometimes you get lost in that and you start thinking, oh, it's only the fourth inning. I got to get to the seventh inning. Any thoughts of that going in your head as you were pitching?
00:12:16
Speaker 2: I don't think you can do that because if you think about it, I'm only in the fourth inning. You're talking yourself out of the game already. I go by outs. Like I said, strike one, strike two, preferably. That was my goal, to get the first strike on every hitter. Unless you're facing St. Louis. Yeah.
00:12:41
Speaker 1: Yeah. Sid Fernandez joined me for a few more minutes. Defense was pretty good for you, Sid. You were a big dude where you're throwing, but you were pretty agile on the mound in 15 years. You didn't make too many errors. Any idea how many errors you made?
00:12:56
Speaker 2: No. I don't know. I know I never threw the ball away.
00:13:00
Speaker 1: How about six errors in your entire career?
00:13:03
Speaker 2: How's that? All right. Pretty good. You're talking about something, some stuff, somebody's fact I never knew.
00:13:11
Speaker 1: Well, four times you didn't have any errors. Four years you collected more and more assists and put outs with no errors. And when you look at six errors in your entire career, that's pretty good. What did you, you know, coming off as a lefty, you had to come off the mound to the right-hand side. How important was it to break to first base sometimes when those balls went over your left shoulder?
00:13:35
Speaker 2: It was hard for me because I really fell off to the right. I mean, to the right side of my right side, third base side of the mound. So I had to completely turn around and bust my hump to first base. It was very important.
00:13:54
Speaker 1: So let's talk about the hitters that you controlled and the hitters that controlled you. Let's talk about Juan Samuel first off. Six for 55, hit 109 off you. Vince Coleman, 8 for 43, 186. Two very good hitters. Pretty good speed on both of them. If you can recall how you threw to him, what'd you do?
00:14:17
Speaker 2: But Vince, I just tried to go after him because I don't want to walk him, obviously. Because he had, what, was it Ozzie hitting behind him or Willie McGee? Those two speedsters get on base easily. then you're in trouble because then you got Jack Clark coming up. Yeah, you had to be under the order. Who I thought was the most, no one talks about him as far as power. I was always a Jack Clark fan growing up. Listen to him when he played for the Giants. So I wish, you know, I wish I got to shake his hand or something, but, you know.
00:14:54
Speaker 1: The Ripper, as we call them out here in San Francisco. The two hitters you had trouble with and pretty much all pitchers did was Tony Gwynn 17 for 55 off you, just over 300. But here's one for you, Mariano Duncan. And he went 17 for 42 off you, six doubles. I was a little surprised about that one. What did he do different that he connected with you more?
00:15:19
Speaker 2: Well, you know, Mariano Duncan, I played with him with the Dodgers, too. I don't remember that vividly about it. I probably made some really bad, hung some curveballs that I shouldn't have. Tony Gwynn, when I was playing in Philadelphia, Vukovic, the bench coach, told me, hell, just pitch him away and we'll play him away. You can't get this guy out. He doesn't track out. So true. Yeah, just pitch him away and we'll play him away.
00:15:51
Speaker 1: Yeah. Well, let's finish up here, Sid. In 86, you went to the bullpen when the World Series was being played, and you pitched really well. How was that for you?
00:16:03
Speaker 2: Was that tough to.
00:16:04
Speaker 1: Do from being in a rotation going into bullpen because you were successful with it?
00:16:08
Speaker 2: Yeah, I pitched well. A lot of people saying I couldn't pitch in Boston because of the short wall, but I proved them wrong. I was hurt at first. But we're in the World Series. How many kids even get to go to a World Series? Yeah, so true. And so, whatever. And it didn't take me long to warm up. If you can't warm up for a World Series, you should try another sport. It's so true.
00:16:39
Speaker 1: Well, Sid Fernandez, I want to ask you one quick question. Who gave you El Sid as a nickname? I don't know.
00:16:49
Speaker 2: The number 50 was given to me by LaSorda, which put a hard burden on me because I was only 19 when I first big league camp. And that belonged to Ron Renneke, a proven player. So a lot of guys didn't like that. He took it off Ron Renneke and gave it to me. I didn't want the number.
00:17:10
Speaker 1: Well, it turned out great for you. The 50th state was Hawaii. That's what everybody kept saying, Hawaii wore number 50. But I was always inquiring who gave you El Cid as a nickname, so it had to have been. Was it in the past, or did they do it in the minor leagues or big leagues?
00:17:24
Speaker 2: No, probably in New York. It started in New York. It wasn't with the Dodgers.
00:17:31
Speaker 1: Well, last question for you, Cid. When you reflect on 15 years and coming out of Hawaii also, it had to have been pretty tough for you just learning the game of baseball. when you collect all your thoughts on your 15 year career, what's one, a good memory that you can think of?
00:17:49
Speaker 2: Well, obviously, you know, I got to, I got to play with two great organizations, the Dodgers and Mets. I was very fortunate there because some people go to different organizations. They're not, I got to play with the best organization, which is the Dodgers and Mets for, in my time. I don't know about now. Um, And the World Series, obviously. Those three things stick to mind with me.
00:18:18
Speaker 1: Well, I want to congratulate you on a great career, Sid. 15 years in professional baseball. Like I said, 114 wins, a 3.3 earned run average. Thank you for your time today, and it was great reminiscing with you.
00:18:30
Speaker 2: All right. Same here. Thank you.
00:18:32
Speaker 1: That was Sid Fernandez on KNBR.
Speaker 1: Welcome back to the Extra Inning Postgame Show with Bill Laskin. He pitched 15 years in Major League Baseball. He was a two-time National League All-Star and also a World Series champion for the 1986 New York Mets. Let's bring in Sid Fernandez.
00:00:14
Speaker 2: Sid, how are you? I'm doing great. Thanks for asking.
00:00:17
Speaker 1: Hi, thank you for joining me, Sid. You grew up in Honolulu, Hawaii. What were some of the teams and players you were watching as you were growing up?
00:00:26
Speaker 2: Well, I grew up in the 60s. I was born in the 62s. So obviously we had the Giants and the Dodgers. So, yeah, so that group was listening when it was available on TV, watching those two teams.
00:00:44
Speaker 1: Was there a certain pitcher you emulated?
00:00:48
Speaker 2: Well, when I got drafted by the Dodgers, yeah, I didn't emulate no major league pitchers, but I never thought I'd make the major leagues. But, yeah, Sandy Koufax was a very nice man.
00:01:00
Speaker 1: All of them.
00:01:01
Speaker 2: Everybody in the Dodgers were nice to me. Well, let's go back.
00:01:05
Speaker 1: You went to Kaiser High School in Honolulu. You ended up getting drafted out of high school in 1981 by the Dodgers. You ended up signing right out of high school. Did you have any fear of doing that? Was that something you wanted to do and coming out of high school? That's a big jump for you.
00:01:21
Speaker 2: Yeah, I was kind of fearful because I was so young. And when I got drafted, you know, the whirlwind came and I went to Canada. We were in Lethbridge playing with the rookie ball team in the Pioneer League. And, I don't know, just camaraderie with the new guys I've met. And I didn't think about it because I just didn't think about it. And then someone had told me about the odds of making minor league baseball amazing. guys to get drafted out of high school with the odds were one in a hundred, guys who make it. So I wish I didn't hear that, but it didn't stop me.
00:02:04
Speaker 1: Well, you ended up playing with the Dodgers for a few years in 1983 at the age of 20. You got to come up to the big leagues in September and you threw two games, six innings, something that you got to play in the big leagues. That had to have been exciting for you. And at a young age, what did you learn from it? And who told you you were going to the big leagues back then?
00:02:24
Speaker 2: Well, Terry Collins was my manager in AA San Antonio. And Terry Collins and Dave Wallace, the pitching coach, they were my managers in the San Antonio Tech. The day called up was Kenny Howell, myself, and J.R. Reynolds.
00:02:44
Speaker 1: So you came up to the big leagues a little fear of what was happening? Did you kind of look around the locker room and say, man, I'm in the big leagues. I got a Dodger uniform on me.
00:02:54
Speaker 2: Yeah, because the Dodgers actually were in first place, I believe. Tommy Lasorda made it easy. He said, you guys aren't going to see much playing time, so just soak it up as much as you can. They were in the playoffs in September. They were heading for the playoffs, so we weren't going to see much time. We were told that. It was nerve-wracking because every game was like a playoff game.
00:03:21
Speaker 1: It was fun to watch, definitely. There was a lot of excitement going on, and I think that's the biggest thing. Sid Fernandez joined me on the Extra Inning Post Game show, and what happened that winter, December 8th, you get traded in 1983 to the New York Mets. That had to surprise you.
00:03:38
Speaker 2: Yeah, it did. Coming from Hawaii, I'd never been further east than Chicago, so I didn't know much about the East Coast or what you really study about in schools and maps. So, I mean, yeah.
00:03:57
Speaker 1: You didn't pitch long in the minor leagues when you got over to the Mets. Is that something they told you once you got traded over? You went to spring training? What were some of the progression that they had for you?
00:04:09
Speaker 2: Well, 1984 was my first year at the Mets. I started off in AAA for a month because I was told by Davey Johnson that we had a a lot of off days for some reason that in April and he didn't want me to sit the bench. So he wanted me to pitch. So I got five good quality starts in before I got called up. So it was, it helped me a lot. Well, it progressed you very well. 84, 85, you were nine and 970 innings, but really in 1986 was one of your best years, 16 and six, 3.5 or in run average. You reached over 200 innings. You did that three times in your career. And you started 31 games. Everything looked great in 1986.
00:04:58
Speaker 1: And what happens? You make your first All-Star team. What an excitement that was. And you ended up going to Astrodome in Texas. How was that exciting time for you?
00:05:09
Speaker 2: It was very exciting to me. To make an All-Star team is something every kid dreams about. And it was fantastic. The only thing I regret about that, I don't know if you've ever been to an All-Star game, and underneath it, how much pieces of memorabilia you have to sign. I swear to God, there's no way you can get to it in one day.
00:05:34
Speaker 1: Well, you had a pitch in one inning in that game. You walked a couple guys, you punched out three. Tell me a little bit about that game. Yeah.
00:05:43
Speaker 2: You know, the funny story was... You know, later in life, I had two kids, three kids, and my son is my youngest. So ESPN was showing the All-Star game, 86 All-Star game. And I told my son, I pitched in that game. And so we watched it, we were watching, and they skipped over my start, my inning pitch. He goes, I thought you said you'd pitch. I did, I swear to God, I pitched. I was there, came in.
00:06:13
Speaker 1: The excitement of your kids. That's great. Well, in 1987, another good year for you. 12-8 at 156 innings. Earned run average back down. And you ended up getting your second All-Star game. And this was pretty cool. This was in Oakland. And the game went into extra innings. And they ended up scoring two runs. And you ended up coming in and get the save. First time.
00:06:36
Speaker 2: I was the last one. Yeah, I was the last guy in the pen. So it was either me or that was it. That was the last one.
00:06:46
Speaker 1: Well, I saw where Lee Smith came in and threw three innings. And I'm like, I've never seen Lee Smith throw three innings. And who do I see? Sid Fernandez coming in for one inning and you got the save. It had to have been exciting for you.
00:06:59
Speaker 2: Of course it was. I think the person who made the last shot was Dave Winfield. So, you know, I got to face some really good ballplayers, Hall of Famers, and I'm very proud of that. You know, I got to compete against. People say that nowadays the game is good, and the game is good. But I didn't play against any slouches either. It's so true.
00:07:23
Speaker 1: There's a lot of Hall of Famers back in the 80s that we both pitched against then. It's interesting when you look at statistics and you look at, you know, who did well off you and you look at some of these Hall of Famers and you're like, man, I control that guy real well. And he's in the Hall of Fame. We'll get to that a little later. But I want to ask you, Sid, when you were in high school, were you a good hitter? Because you definitely hit well in the big leagues.
00:07:48
Speaker 2: Everyone in high school is a good hitter. But, you know, I didn't really hit much in high school. More in the winter game, like American Legion stuff. I mean, I could hit, but it was more like a DH. Even when I was in high school, I had someone else hit.
00:08:15
Speaker 1: Well, let's throw some numbers at you. Ended up with 98 hits. You hit a buck 82. But here are the numbers that are really good. 15 doubles, two triples, and one home run. September 21st, 1989, the Mets were playing the Cardinals, and you ended up hitting a home run. Do you remember who you hit it off of?
00:08:35
Speaker 2: Yeah, Dan Quisenberg.
00:08:36
Speaker 1: Yes, sir, you definitely did. The one home run, but I was really impressed with the 15 doubles.
00:08:45
Speaker 2: Yeah, well, thank you. I really was, I don't know. I remember the home run. Other hits, I don't remember the doubles or the triples.
00:08:59
Speaker 1: Sid Fernandez joined me on the Extra Inning Postgame Show. One of the biggest things that I remember about you is your deceptive delivery. The long stride, the sidewinder from the side, and you had a quick fastball. You elevated the fastball real well, and you had a pretty damn good curveball. What were some of the things you had to do to develop each year in these 15 years? But you had to get better, and you definitely did.
00:09:24
Speaker 2: Well, I got better with controlling my breaking ball. And what I learned, especially when Dodger camp, you know, Sandy Koufax would always tell these young pitchers, and I was one of them, that you got to control one side of the plate. I mean, as for lefty, Sandy loved to pitch away. He wasn't much of a pitcher inside. He'd show you for effect, but he's going to get you out of the way. And Tom Seaver said the same thing. I'm going to get you out of the way. I'm going to do all these other stuff, but I'm going to get you out of the way. And that's how it was taught. Cause I know in my prime, I could hit that outside corner nine out of 10 times guaranteed. That's my go-to pitch because I knew I could store a strike there.
00:10:14
Speaker 1: Yeah. Well, you know, the other thing, Sid, 25 complete games, nine shutouts. You don't see much of the complete games anymore in active baseball. When you think about complete games, we always thought when we went on the mound as starting pitchers, you wanted to complete a game. You never wanted the bullpen to come in. What made that mentality so strong for you to make 25 complete games on it?
00:10:39
Speaker 2: Well, I don't know. That's what our job was. I didn't think our job was to pitch five innings. Like today, guys pitch five or six innings and they're done for the day. I don't know. It just wasn't taught to us back then like that. You went out to pitch, you pitched. And you tried to complete the game. That was the goal.
00:11:07
Speaker 1: And the goal went right. Look what you did, 114 wins in your career, a 3.3 earned run average, 1,793 strikeouts. Just a fabulous career for 15 years. When you think about what you had to do each time out there as a starting pitcher, when you thought about that in the bullpen, what were your thoughts coming into that first inning?
00:11:31
Speaker 2: My thoughts are very simple because Mel Stoudemire kept it simple for me. My thoughts are strike one. strike one and out one. I don't know what the percentages are, but once you get the first strike on any hitter and the first out of every inning, the chances of putting up a crooked number diminishes by a lot. And so my thoughts are strike one, always strike one.
00:11:57
Speaker 1: When you were pitching, Sid, did you think about innings or did you think about outs? Because a lot of pitchers think, hey, I'm looking for outs. I want to get three outs before I get to the next inning. But sometimes you get lost in that and you start thinking, oh, it's only the fourth inning. I got to get to the seventh inning. Any thoughts of that going in your head as you were pitching?
00:12:16
Speaker 2: I don't think you can do that because if you think about it, I'm only in the fourth inning. You're talking yourself out of the game already. I go by outs. Like I said, strike one, strike two, preferably. That was my goal, to get the first strike on every hitter. Unless you're facing St. Louis. Yeah.
00:12:41
Speaker 1: Yeah. Sid Fernandez joined me for a few more minutes. Defense was pretty good for you, Sid. You were a big dude where you're throwing, but you were pretty agile on the mound in 15 years. You didn't make too many errors. Any idea how many errors you made?
00:12:56
Speaker 2: No. I don't know. I know I never threw the ball away.
00:13:00
Speaker 1: How about six errors in your entire career?
00:13:03
Speaker 2: How's that? All right. Pretty good. You're talking about something, some stuff, somebody's fact I never knew.
00:13:11
Speaker 1: Well, four times you didn't have any errors. Four years you collected more and more assists and put outs with no errors. And when you look at six errors in your entire career, that's pretty good. What did you, you know, coming off as a lefty, you had to come off the mound to the right-hand side. How important was it to break to first base sometimes when those balls went over your left shoulder?
00:13:35
Speaker 2: It was hard for me because I really fell off to the right. I mean, to the right side of my right side, third base side of the mound. So I had to completely turn around and bust my hump to first base. It was very important.
00:13:54
Speaker 1: So let's talk about the hitters that you controlled and the hitters that controlled you. Let's talk about Juan Samuel first off. Six for 55, hit 109 off you. Vince Coleman, 8 for 43, 186. Two very good hitters. Pretty good speed on both of them. If you can recall how you threw to him, what'd you do?
00:14:17
Speaker 2: But Vince, I just tried to go after him because I don't want to walk him, obviously. Because he had, what, was it Ozzie hitting behind him or Willie McGee? Those two speedsters get on base easily. then you're in trouble because then you got Jack Clark coming up. Yeah, you had to be under the order. Who I thought was the most, no one talks about him as far as power. I was always a Jack Clark fan growing up. Listen to him when he played for the Giants. So I wish, you know, I wish I got to shake his hand or something, but, you know.
00:14:54
Speaker 1: The Ripper, as we call them out here in San Francisco. The two hitters you had trouble with and pretty much all pitchers did was Tony Gwynn 17 for 55 off you, just over 300. But here's one for you, Mariano Duncan. And he went 17 for 42 off you, six doubles. I was a little surprised about that one. What did he do different that he connected with you more?
00:15:19
Speaker 2: Well, you know, Mariano Duncan, I played with him with the Dodgers, too. I don't remember that vividly about it. I probably made some really bad, hung some curveballs that I shouldn't have. Tony Gwynn, when I was playing in Philadelphia, Vukovic, the bench coach, told me, hell, just pitch him away and we'll play him away. You can't get this guy out. He doesn't track out. So true. Yeah, just pitch him away and we'll play him away.
00:15:51
Speaker 1: Yeah. Well, let's finish up here, Sid. In 86, you went to the bullpen when the World Series was being played, and you pitched really well. How was that for you?
00:16:03
Speaker 2: Was that tough to.
00:16:04
Speaker 1: Do from being in a rotation going into bullpen because you were successful with it?
00:16:08
Speaker 2: Yeah, I pitched well. A lot of people saying I couldn't pitch in Boston because of the short wall, but I proved them wrong. I was hurt at first. But we're in the World Series. How many kids even get to go to a World Series? Yeah, so true. And so, whatever. And it didn't take me long to warm up. If you can't warm up for a World Series, you should try another sport. It's so true.
00:16:39
Speaker 1: Well, Sid Fernandez, I want to ask you one quick question. Who gave you El Sid as a nickname? I don't know.
00:16:49
Speaker 2: The number 50 was given to me by LaSorda, which put a hard burden on me because I was only 19 when I first big league camp. And that belonged to Ron Renneke, a proven player. So a lot of guys didn't like that. He took it off Ron Renneke and gave it to me. I didn't want the number.
00:17:10
Speaker 1: Well, it turned out great for you. The 50th state was Hawaii. That's what everybody kept saying, Hawaii wore number 50. But I was always inquiring who gave you El Cid as a nickname, so it had to have been. Was it in the past, or did they do it in the minor leagues or big leagues?
00:17:24
Speaker 2: No, probably in New York. It started in New York. It wasn't with the Dodgers.
00:17:31
Speaker 1: Well, last question for you, Cid. When you reflect on 15 years and coming out of Hawaii also, it had to have been pretty tough for you just learning the game of baseball. when you collect all your thoughts on your 15 year career, what's one, a good memory that you can think of?
00:17:49
Speaker 2: Well, obviously, you know, I got to, I got to play with two great organizations, the Dodgers and Mets. I was very fortunate there because some people go to different organizations. They're not, I got to play with the best organization, which is the Dodgers and Mets for, in my time. I don't know about now. Um, And the World Series, obviously. Those three things stick to mind with me.
00:18:18
Speaker 1: Well, I want to congratulate you on a great career, Sid. 15 years in professional baseball. Like I said, 114 wins, a 3.3 earned run average. Thank you for your time today, and it was great reminiscing with you.
00:18:30
Speaker 2: All right. Same here. Thank you.
00:18:32
Speaker 1: That was Sid Fernandez on KNBR.
