“A strong argument can be made that Fernando Valenzuela brought more new fans to the game of baseball than anyone going back to probably Babe Ruth’s era,” notes baseball historian and New York Times best-selling collaborator Erik Sherman, author of Daybreak at Chavez Ravine: Fernandomania and the Remaking of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Before tackling the (largely) untold story of the phenom hailed by sportswriters as “the Mexican Sandy Koufax,” and assessing Valenzuela’s impact on the game, Erik made a name for himself as one of publishing’s leading chroniclers of our national pastime. As a ghostwriter, he helped to write Out at Home with Glenn Burke, baseball’s first openly gay player; Steve Blass: A Pirate for Life; Mookie: Life, Baseball, and the ’86 Mets with Mookie Wilson; Davey Johnson: My Wild Ride in Baseball and Beyond; and After the Miracle: The Lasting Brotherhood of the ’69 Mets, with Art Shamsky. On his own, he has also written the companion volumes Kings of Queens and Two Sides of Glory, featuring chapter-length profiles of the Mets and Red Sox players on both sides of the storied 1986 World Series.   A 2023 inductee to the New York State Baseball Hall of Fame for his baseball writing, Erik lectures annually at the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. He is the host of the popular podcast “The Erik Sherman Show,” featuring interviews with sportswriters, broadcasters, baseball executives and former players. Learn more about Erik Sherman:  Website Facebook Twitter (Note: the Gay Talese/Frank Sinatra and Laurence Shames/John Lennon profiles mentioned in this conversation are both hidden behind an Esquire paywall. For more insights into the Talese piece, visit Vulture and for more on the Shames piece, read this open article on Esquire.) Please support the sponsors who support our show. Daniel Paisner's Balloon Dog Film Movement Plus (PODCAST) | 30% discount Libro.fm (ASTOLDTO) | 2 audiobooks for the price of 1 when you start your membership Film Freaks Forever! podcast, hosted by Mark Jordan Legan and Phoef Sutton