Book Birthdays celebrate one year of a book’s life in tweets, reviews, and more. This month we’re saying Happy First Book Birthday to Daybreak at Chavez Ravine: Fernandomania and the Remaking of the Los Angeles Dodgers (Nebraska, May 2023) by Erik Sherman.
About the Book:
Daybreak at Chavez Ravine retells Fernando Valenzuela’s arrival and permanent influence on Dodgers history while bringing redemption to the organization’s controversial beginnings in LA. Through new interviews with players, coaches, broadcasters, and media, Erik Sherman reveals a new side of this intensely private man and brings fresh insight to the ways he transformed the Dodgers and started a phenomenon that radically altered the country’s cultural and sporting landscape.
A Word from the Author:
Of the now nine books on baseball that I have written, I like to say how the subjects in all of them ‘transcended’ the sport—and Daybreak at Chavez Ravine: Fernandomania and the Remaking of the Los Angeles Dodgers was no different.
Like with the other books, promoting Daybreak over the last year—mostly in Southern California—was both a privilege and a surreal experience in many ways. But perhaps most memorable was how I caught a very lucky break just prior to the book’s release that I couldn’t possibly have dreamed of.
In the book’s final chapter entitled, “Legacy,” I made the argument about how the Dodgers needed to retire Valenzuela’s Number 34 as a way of showing their appreciation for how he single-handedly erased much of the tension between the team and the Latino community—a rift that had existed since the construction of Dodger Stadium and the forced removals of Mexican Americans in the three Chavez Ravine neighborhoods to make way for it. Fernando was the Mexican Sandy Koufax the club had searched years for—and would go on to equal the number of All-Star seasons Koufax had. He also forever changed the dynamic of the Dodger Stadium fan—bringing more Latinos to the storied ballpark then ever before.
However, standing in the way of this honor was a long-standing, unwritten Dodgers rule that they only retired the numbers of Hall of Famers (with the popular Junior Gilliam, who died suddenly at 48, being the only exception).
But all that was about to change.
In the weeks prior to publication date, the Dodgers requested several copies of Daybreak from the University of Nebraska Press. Shortly thereafter, the club announced that they would retire Valenzuela’s number. Did my book have anything to do with their decision? Perhaps. In any event, I’m owning it—or that at least the book may have tipped the scales in his favor.
What followed was a season-long celebration of Fernando—capped off with an August weekend of festivities and honors bestowed upon the pitcher they called ‘El Toro!’ Not only did it shine a long overdue spotlight on Valenzuela, but also brought about awareness of all he meant to the Dodgers and the Latino community in Los Angeles and around the globe. And, as a result, Daybreak rode the wave all summer long—becoming the definitive biography of Fernando Valenzuela.
When a book can make a difference like Daybreak did, it’s the most an author can hope for. I couldn’t be prouder of this project.
Reviews:
“. . . Sherman offers a vivid portrayal of the forced displacement of Mexican Americans residing in Chavez Ravine. At times, it’s difficult to read, but nevertheless enlightening. So, although Daybreak at Chavez Ravine is unmistakably a baseball book, it also holds lasting appeal to students of American history with its gripping account of the injustices faced by Latin-American, blue-collar workers trying to establish themselves in post-World War II America.”—David Ostrosky, Atlanta Jewish Times
“Daybreak at Chavez Ravine enhances the general sociological knowledge about the expansion of the Mexican-American audience for Los Angeles Dodgers baseball, while providing a glimpse into the personality of pitcher Fernando Valenzuela within its highly baseball-focused biographical sections.”—Charlie Bevis, Bevis Baseball Research blog
“I can recommend Erik Sherman’s book to anyone who wants to know more about Fernando Valenzuela and that amazing period of Dodgers history or to anyone who lived through it and wants to feel that thrill again.”—Claudia Caplan Wolff, NINE: A Journal of Baseball History and Culture
“The human misery index of the Dodger’s move to the West Coast has been portrayed in a number of books. Yet the overwhelming number of titles focus on how the shift affected the Brooklyn denizens. New York Hall of Fame inductee Sherman bypasses Kings County and addresses the LA team’s original sin. Construction of Dodgers Stadium in Chavez Ravine displaced an entire Hispanic neighborhood. Fernando Valenzuela put numbers in the win column, in the seats, and more importantly gave the Dodgers redemption.”—John Vorperian, Society for American Baseball Research
“. . . this book adroitly demonstrates what a treasure [Fernando Valenzuela] was to the game and its fans, of all backgrounds.”—Mike Shannon, Spitball
“Sherman pulls out rich, insightful observations from a diverse group of players, including Valenzuela’s teammates — Dusty Baker, Rick Monday, Jerry Reuss and Steve Garvey, to name a few. Dodgers scout Mike Brito, Jarrin and even opponents like pitchers Bill Lee and Jeff Reardon also offer valuable perspective.”—Bob D’Angelo, The Sports Bookie
“[Daybreak at Chavez Ravine] puts Valenzuela’s life, baseball career, and profound ties to the Mexican diaspora on dazzling display.”—Patrick Sauer, Los Angeles Daily News
“Sherman has captured the life of Valenzuela with few rocks unturned . . . Daybreak At Chavez Ravine is a baseball education well worth signing up for.”—Don Laible, WIBX
“The work is chock full of beautifully written stories about Fernando.”—Howard Cole, Off Base with Howard Cole
Interviews:
Awards:
Finalist for the 2023 CASEY Award
Runner-up for the 2024 Seymour Medal
Named a Best Baseball Book of 2023 by Sports Collectors Digest
On the Blog:
From the Desk of Erik Sherman: Celebrating the Retirement of Fernando Valenzuela’s #34
Reading List: 10 Home Run Reads
UNP blog 