Fernando Valenzuela, Mexican-born pitcher whose feats for Dodgers fueled ‘Fernandomania,’ dies at 63

By Beth Harris, The Associated Press on October 23, 2024.

LOS ANGELES (AP) – Fernando Valenzuela, the Mexican-born phenom for the Los Angeles Dodgers who inspired “Fernandomania” while winning the NL Cy Young Award and Rookie of the Year in 1981, has died. He was 63.

The team said he died Tuesday night at a Los Angeles hospital but did not provide the cause or other details.

His death comes as the Dodgers prepare to open the World Series on Friday night at home against the New York Yankees. Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred said Valenzuela would be honored during the series at Dodger Stadium.

Valenzuela left his color commentator job on the Dodgers’ Spanish-language television broadcast in September without explanation. He was reported to have been hospitalized earlier this month. His job kept him as a regular at Dodger Stadium, where he held court in the press box dining room before games and remained popular with fans who sought him out for photos and autographs.

“God bless Fernando Valenzuela!” actor and Dodgers fan Danny Trejo posted on X.

Valenzuela was one of the most dominant players of his era and a wildly popular figure in the 1980s, although he was never elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. However, he is part of Cooperstown, which features several artifacts including a signed ball from his no-hitter in 1990.

“He is one of the most influential Dodgers ever and belongs on the Mount Rushmore of franchise heroes,” Stan Kasten, team president and CEO, said in a statement. “He galvanized the fan base with the Fernandomania season of 1981 and has remained close to our hearts ever since, not only as a player but also as a broadcaster. He has left us all too soon.”

Valenzuela’s rise from humble beginnings as the youngest of 12 children in Mexico and his feats on the mound made him hugely popular and influential in Los Angeles’ Latino community while helping attract new fans to Major League Baseball. Their fondness for him continued after his retirement.

“63 is way too young…. A piece of my childhood is gone,” actor and “Access Hollywood” co-host Mario Lopez posted on X. “Growing up as a Mexican kid one of the main reasons I’m a Dodgers fan is because of Fernando. … Not only a great player, but a great man to the community. What a legend.”

Eva Torres, who is originally from Mexico City, drove from Anaheim to look at murals of Valenzuela on Sunset Boulevard near Dodgers Stadium.

“I wasn’t a fan of baseball, but I am a fan of his,” she said. “He’s like me: an immigrant that came here to do great things.”

In 1981, Valenzuela became the Dodgers’ opening day starter as a rookie after Jerry Reuss was injured 24 hours before his scheduled start. He shut out the Houston Astros 2-0 and began the season 8-0 with five shutouts and an ERA of 0.50. He became the first player to win a Cy Young and Rookie of the Year in the same season.

His performances created the delirium known as “Fernandomania” among Dodgers fans. The ABBA hit “Fernando” would play as he warmed up on the mound.

“Fernando Valenzuela was a true icon of the Dodgers and the game,” U.S. Rep. Jimmy Gomez, D-Calif., posted on X. “His legacy and connection with the Latino community in LA is one of the reasons I fell in love with the Dodgers.”

Valenzuela was 13-7 and had a 2.48 ERA in his first season, which was shortened by a players’ strike.

He was an All-Star selection every year from 1981-86, when he recorded 97 victories, 84 complete games, 1,258 strikeouts and a 2.97 ERA. He was 5-1 with a 2.00 ERA in eight postseason starts. He earned two Silver Slugger Awards and a Gold Glove.

Valenzuela’s no-hitter on June 29, 1990, a 6-0 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals, was an emotional career highlight. He struck out seven and walked three.

“If you have a sombrero, throw it to the sky!” Hall of Fame broadcaster Vin Scully exclaimed in his game call.

Nicknamed “El Toro” by the fans, Valenzuela had an unorthodox and memorable pitching motion that included looking skyward at the apex of each windup. His repertoire included a screwball – making him one of the few pitchers of his era who threw that pitch regularly. It was taught to him by teammate Bobby Castillo after the Dodgers felt Valenzuela, who wasn’t known as a hard thrower, needed another pitch.

Early in his Dodgers career, Valenzuela spoke little English and had trouble communicating with his catchers. Rookie Mike Scioscia learned Spanish and became Valenzuela’s personal catcher before becoming the team’s full-time catcher.

Valenzuela was a better-than-average hitter, with 10 career home runs.

Eventually, his pitching was compromised by nagging shoulder problems that kept him out of the 1988 postseason, when the Dodgers won the World Series.

The team released Valenzuela just before the 1991 season. He also pitched for the former California Angels, Baltimore Orioles, Philadelphia Phillies, San Diego Padres and St. Louis Cardinals.

He retired in 1997, going 173-153 with a 3.54 ERA in 17 seasons, the all-time major league leader in wins and strikeouts (2,074) by a Mexican-born player. In 11 seasons with the Dodgers, he was 141-116 with a 3.31 ERA.

After retiring from MLB, Valenzuela remained active in Mexico’s winter league. He played for the Águilas de Mexicali in the Pacific League until he was 44. He retired on Dec. 20, 2006.

“We regret the passing of a Mexican baseball legend, his legacy will remain forever in our league and in the heart of our fans,” the league said in a statement.

The baseball summer league as well other sports entities in Mexico, including the Mexican Soccer Federation and the National Sports Commission, also mourned his death.

“I think we, all Mexicans, are sad for the Valenzuela loss, and we express our solidarity with his family,” new Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said at her daily news conference.

Valenzuela is not only considered Mexico’s greatest baseball player, but he also is widely considered one of its top three athletes of all time, along with soccer player Hugo Sánchez and boxer Julio César Chávez.

“It’s a sad night. The news has shocked me, my soul and my spirit, it’s a tremendous loss,” said Sánchez, now a sports analyst for ESPN. “He was a symbol for Mexican sports during a historic moment.”

Valenzuela’s rise from his tiny hometown of Etchohuaquila in the Mexican state of Sonora to stardom in the U.S. was improbable. He was the youngest child in a large family who tagged along when his older brothers played baseball.

He signed his first pro contract at age 16, and soon began overpowering older players in the Mexican Central League.

In 1978, legendary Dodgers scout Mike Brito was in Mexico to watch a shortstop when Valenzuela entered the game as a reliever. He immediately commanded Brito’s attention and at age 18, Valenzuela signed with the Dodgers in 1979. He was sent to the California League that same year.

In 1980, Valenzuela was called up to the Dodgers in September and soon made his big league debut as a reliever.

He remains the only pitcher in MLB history to win the Cy Young and Rookie of the Year awards in the same season. The left-hander was the National League’s starting pitcher in the All-Star Game in 1981, the same year the Dodgers won the World Series.

During his career, he made the cover of Sports Illustrated and visited the White House.

In 2003, Valenzuela returned to the Dodgers as the Spanish-language radio color commentator for NL games. Twelve years later, he switched to the color commentator job on the team’s Spanish-language TV feed.

“He consistently supported the growth of the game through the World Baseball Classic and at MLB events across his home country,” Manfred said in a statement. “As a member of the Dodger broadcasting team for more than 20 years, Fernando helped to reach a new generation of fans and cultivate their love of the game. Fernando will always remain a beloved figure in Dodger history and a special source of pride for the millions of Latino fans he inspired.”

He was inducted into the Mexican Professional Baseball Hall of Fame in 2014. Five years later, the Mexican League retired Valenzuela’s No. 34 jersey. The Dodgers followed in 2023 after keeping his number out of circulation since he last pitched for the team in 1991. The team has a rule that requires a player to be in the Baseball Hall of Fame before the Dodgers retire his number, but they made an exception for Valenzuela.

The Dodgers named Valenzuela as part of the “Legends of Dodger Baseball” in 2019 and inducted him into the team’s Ring of Honor in 2023.

He became a U.S. citizen in 2015.

Valenzuela served on the coaching staff for Mexico during the World Baseball Classic in 2006, 2009, 2013 and 2017. He was a part-owner of the Mexican League team Tigres de Quintana Roo, with son Fernando Jr. serving as team president and son Ricky serving as general manager. Fernando Jr. played in the San Diego Padres and Chicago White Sox organizations as a first baseman.

“To talk about Mexican baseball is to talk about Fernando Valenzuela. Thank you for putting Mexico’s name high,” Baseball’s National Teams Committee said on X. “We join the Valenzuela Burgos family in their sorrow.”

In addition to his sons, he is survived by his wife, Linda, who was a schoolteacher from Mexico whom he married in 1981, and daughters Linda and Maria as well as seven grandchildren.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB

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