Sitting in a restaurant in Cincinnati last week, Jaime Jarrin shook his head and smiled.
"Increible," Jarrin said.
He repeated the word several times over a lunch that lasted nearly three hours when describing his 50-year Hall of Fame career as the Spanish voice of the Dodgers.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Wednesday, June 25, 2008 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 1 inches; 41 words Type of Material: Correction
Dodgers: Tuesday's article in the Sports section about Dodgers Spanish-language announcer Jaime Jarrin included two photographs of Jarrin and fellow broadcaster Pepe Yniguez in a broadcast booth at Dodger Stadium. Their captions should have identified the photos as dating from 1999.
He talked about how he came to the United States from Ecuador with $40 in his pocket on June 24, 1955, the anniversary of which will be celebrated this evening at Dodger Stadium before the Dodgers' game against the Chicago White Sox. He talked about how he used to translate Vin Scully's English-language broadcasts over the air from a studio in Pasadena. He talked about times he had to call games seated next to stadium loudspeakers or in places where his view of the field was obstructed.
For everything he endured, from his humble start in a factory on Alameda Street to surviving a nearly fatal car accident in spring training in 1990, Jarrin called himself fortunate.
He was fortunate to be at KWKW in 1958, when the station picked up the Spanish-language rights to the Dodgers and he was pushed by an ambitious station manager to learn a game about which he knew nothing. And he was fortunate to still be there in 1980, by which time he had worked alongside Rene Cardenas, Jose Garcia and Rodolfo Hoyos Jr.
That was when Fernando Valenzuela hit town.
"For me, Fernandomania didn't start in '81," Jarrin said. "For me, it started in '80."
Specifically, in the final series of the season against Houston. The Dodgers entered trailing the Astros by three games in the National League West. Valenzuela pitched a pair of scoreless innings out of the bullpen in both the first and third games of sweep, forcing a one-game playoff the Dodgers would lose.
By the next spring, the entire country was in a frenzy over the 20-year-old Mexican left-hander who looked into the heavens when winding up.
The club asked Jarrin to be Valenzuela's interpreter.
"We had to go to cities a day early for press conferences," said Valenzuela, who works with Jarrin as an analyst. "Jaime was always there. He advised me on how to answer questions; he told me to think carefully before responding."
Without any hesitation, Jarrin calls Valenzuela the player who had the single greatest impact on the Dodgers' franchise.
"He created more new baseball fans than any other player," Jarrin said of Valenzuela. "Fernando had that special talent, that special charisma to draw Mexicans, Central Americans and South Americans who were completely indifferent to the game."
