But He Didn’t Sign a Contract for Just a Song

Attention, Angels: Do you know your Fernando Valenzuela trivia?

For instance, what was the name of the song penned in Valenzuela’s honor, who sang it and what were the words to the middle verse?

Give up?

The song was called, “Fernando! You Are the One!� It was written and sung by Alma Pedroza, a prima donna with the Mexico City Opera Company. As for the middle verse. . . .

“You always play ball with much gusto.

“You work very hard for your game.

“You always pitch great for the Dodgers.

“That’s why you deserve all your fame.�

Of course, some work will have to be done on that third line.

Trivia time: Pedroza also took part in the dedication ceremonies of a famous Los Angeles landmark. What was the landmark and what was Pedroza’s contribution?

Yippee Yi Fernando: Valenzuela’s new teammates should be warned about his love of practical jokes and lassos. Said Dodger Manager Tom Lasorda in a 1985 Times story on Valenzuela: “He’s got this lasso. Have you seen it? This little baby lasso. Like the cowboys use, only smaller. And he can make that little sucker do anything he wants. You walk by and you never know when Fernando the cowboy’s going to rope you.

“I mean, he goes around twirling it everywhere, in the clubhouse, in the dugout, and when you don’t expect it, boom, he’s got you. Like a calf in a rodeo. You get about five feet past him and he throws it and slips it right around your foot--hogties you. He lassoed Mike Scioscia’s nose once. The guy just lives to rope you.�

Add Fernando: Said Dodger assistant clubhouse manager David Wright: “I was new here and I was, you know, nervous about meeting Fernando, because he was such a big star. It didn’t take me long to find out that if you just let him lasso you once a day, he’s your friend for life.�

Roll-call continues: Remember the Morning Briefing item about six major leaguers with names 13 letters long? The list--not the number of letters--has grown to eight. A cagey reader of “The Baseball Encyclopedia� phoned The Times insisting that the names of Bill and Austin Knickerbocker be added.

It’s all in the name: OK, so Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski probably was down in the dumps when he learned that key reserves Bill McCaffrey (Vanderbilt) and Crawford Palmer (Dartmouth) were transferring only one month after the Blue Devils won an NCAA basketball championship. But cheer up, Coach K--you’ve just been elected to the National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame.

You think it’s hard getting into the Baseball Hall of Fame? Try earning a spot in this place. Only two elected inductees are allowed each year. This time it was Krzyzewski and former NFL quarterback Ron Jaworski, with former Olympic weightlifter Stanley Stanczyk being added by the veterans committee. That brings membership to 53.

Stan Musial of St. Louis Cardinals was the first inductee. Also, Dodger pitching coach Ron Perranoski is a member.

Induction ceremonies are scheduled June 14 at St. Mary’s College in Orchard Lake, Mich., north of Detroit. You can’t miss the site of the ceremony: Dombrowski Field House. Of course.

Trivia answer: Pedroza sang the national anthem at the dedication of Dodger Stadium.

Quotebook: Jack Clark, on the difference between playing for the Boston Red Sox and the San Francisco Giants: “It’s an honor to get booed by 30,000 fans in Boston. I was booed by 2,000 at Candlestick Park.�