World baseball, the city of Los Angeles and Mexican sports are mourning one of the saddest news they have received in recent times. Fernando Valenzuela, the beloved Dodgers pitcher who captivated audiences in 1981, has died at 63.
The cause of Valenzuela’s death has not yet been announced, nor has it been confirmed whether he was admitted to a hospital in recent weeks, as was reported on social networks. In any case, the death of the greatest Mexican baseball player in history who worked as a radio analyst for the Dodgers is considered surprising because in recent years it was not known that he had any illness or disease.
Fernando Valenzuela, who lost a lot of weight since last year, left the Dodgers’ Spanish broadcasts when the regular season had not yet concluded due to his health problems. The team confirmed days later that the pitcher turned commentator would no longer return to the broadcast booth in 2024.
Valenzuela is survived by his wife Linda and his four children (Fernando, Ricardo, Linda and María), as well as several grandchildren.
One of Valenzuela’s last appearances on the field at Dodger Stadium took place between August 9 and 11, when he was part of a series of franchise events to celebrate living Dodger legends and offer some individual honors.
A year earlier, on August 11, 2023, Valenzuela experienced one of his most emotional and anticipated nights when the Dodgers finally retired his number 34, which was added to the club’s Ring of Honor despite not being a member of the Hall of Fame. Baseball Fame, in a notable exception to the club’s internal rule and that could only occur in honor of the man born on November 1, 1960 in the small town of Etchohuaquila, Sonora, which he practically put on the map.
The unrepeatable ‘Fernandomania’ in 1981 in Los Angeles
Valenzuela, Mexican Baseball League Rookie of the Year in 1979 with the Yucatan Lions, made his Major League debut at the end of the 1980 season in relief duties with the Dodgers, allowing no earned run in 10 appearances.
Then came the magic. Manager Tom Lasorda decided, after a last-minute injury to his ace Jerry Reuss, that the young Mexican rookie start the Dodgers’ first game of the 1981 season against the Houston Astros. Valenzuela proceeded to pitch a 2-0 shutout. Valenzuela never forgot that Lasorda believed in him.
“Fernandomania” had begun in Los Angeles. Fernando did not receive a run in his first 35 innings pitched in the Big League, he won his first eight games (eight complete games), with five shutoutsand his career average was an astonishing 0.40.
The barely 20-year-old left-hander finished with a 13-7 record in a season shortened by the players’ strike. His earned run average was 2.48 and he led the league with 25 games started, 11 complete, 8 shutouts, 192.1 innings and 180 strikeouts. He was historically awarded the National League Rookie of the Year and Cy Young trophies as the best pitcher.
The statistical legacy of Fernando Valenzuela
In his 17-season MLB career, the famous number 34 compiled a record of 173-153, 3.54, 2,074 strikeouts and 2,930 innings pitched. He completed a staggering 113 games, of which 31 were shutouts. After the Dodgers decided to release him in what was a huge shock to fans, Fernando spent time with the California Angels (1991), Baltimore Orioles (1993), Philadelphia Phillies (1994), San Diego Padres ( 1995-97) and St. Louis Cardinals (1997).
Valenzuela was an extraordinary pitcher on special occasions. His playoff numbers were 5-1 and a 1.98 earned run average. That included his magical 1981 postseason, when he was the instrumental arm for the Dodgers. In Game 3 of the World Series against the Yankees, he overcame his lack of control (7 walks) to throw an epic complete game of 147 pitches and start the team’s comeback to win the championship.
The most idolized Mexican baseball player ever, he was also part of the 1988 World Series champion team although he did not play in those playoffs due to an injury suffered mid-season. In addition to his Cy Young in 1981, he was second in the voting in 1986, third in 1982 and fifth in 1985.
He was selected to the All-Star Game six times and did not allow a run in the five appearances he made. In the 1986 game he made history by striking out five batters in a row. to equal the legendary record established by Carl Hubbell in 1934.
As a hitter, Valenzuela was one of the best pitchers of his era with an average of .200, with 10 home runs and 84 RBIs. He won the Silver Slugger in 1981 and 1983 as the league’s best hitting pitcher and received a Gold Glove (1986) as the best fielder among pitchers.
The “Toro” Valenzuela, an unrepeatable phenomenon in baseball
The immense love of the fans of Los Angeles and Mexico for Fernando Valenzuela is first explained in that incredible year of 1981, when he signed possibly the most amazing and successful performance of a pitcher in the best baseball in the world. Not only did he make history as the first to be Rookie of the Year and Cy Young in the same season, but he was also the starting pitcher of the All-Star Game and won the World Series as a great protagonist. All this before turning 21 years old.
But beyond the numbers and awards, It was Valenzuela’s life story that made him a darling of the public for eternity: a young man of very humble origins who was discovered by chance. in the Mexican province by the legendary Dodgers scout, Mike Brito, who signed him in 1979. The Cuban died in 2022.
Then came that overwhelming start to his career in the Major League, packed stadiums in Los Angeles and wherever he pitched. Fernando was also a kind of reconciler between the Dodgers and the Mexican community in Southern California after the controversial construction of Dodger Stadium in Chavez Ravine. And now as a star, he dedicated countless days visiting Los Angeles schools in social work that had great influence in the community.
The loss of Fernando Valenzuela, undoubtedly the most beloved Latino athlete in the Los Angeles area, is the most felt in the region at least since the Kobe Bryant tragedy in early 2020.
Rest in peace.
Keep reading:
– MLB remembers Fernando Valenzuela with emotional video in Hispanic Heritage Month
– “For me it is the best”: Valenzuela talks about what the retirement of his number 34 meant
– The incredible drone show that the Dodgers offered in honor of Fernando Valenzuela