LOS ANGELES — Pitcher Fernando Valenzuela, a Dodgers icon whose “Fernandomania” fame swept through all of baseball in the 1980s, has died at age 63.
The team confirmed his death on X, posting “The Los Angeles Dodgers mourn the passing of legendary pitcher Fernando Valenzuela.”
The cause of death has not been released, but Valenzuela in recent weeks had stepped away from his role as a Spanish-language broadcaster for health reasons.
Fernando Valenzuela was born in 1960 in the small town of Etchohuaquila in Sorona, Mexico — the youngest of 12 children — and inherited the love of baseball from his father Avelino, a farmer.
All of his older brothers played baseball, and naturally, Fernando followed in their footsteps.
At the age of 17, Valenzuela began his journey towards Major League Baseball — first playing pro ball in the Mexican Central League and Mexican Baseball League.
In 1978, legendary Dodger scout Mike Brito made a trip to Silao, Mexico and got his first glimpse of Valenzuela on the mound. The 17-year-old impressed the veteran scout, not just with his athletic ability, but his fearlessness on the bump.
Peter O’Malley, wanting a Mexican star to play for the Dodgers, paid $120,000 on July 7, 1979, to purchase Valenzuela’s contract from Puebla, of the Mexican League, then sending the 19-year-old to Lodi in the California League.
While playing in Lodi, Brito noticed that Valenzuela’s fastball didn’t improve and told General Manager Al Campanis that Valenzuela would need another pitch besides his curveball to survive the majors.
In 1979 in Arizona, Dodger Pitcher Bobby Castillo, who was recovering from an injury, taught Valenzuela how to throw a screwball.
Within a year Valenzuela was throwing the screwball as well as Castillo, and quickly rose through the Dodgers’ minor league teams. Then in 1981, Jerry Reuss was scheduled to start on Opening Day for the Dodgers but injured his ankle, and Tommy Lasorda named 20-year-old Fernando Valenzuela the Opening Day starter.
Valenzuela shut out the Astros 2-0 and “Fernandomania” was born.
The nation was introduced to Valenzuela’s unusual pitching motion as he glanced skyward in his wind-up, and started his rookie season 8-0 with five shutouts.
The 1981 players strike wiped out part of the season, but Valenzuela still finished 13-7 with a 2.48 ERA. He also won both the Rookie of the Year and the CY Young Award.
Valenzuela helped the Dodgers win the 1981 World Series over the Yankees, but more importantly, he helped build a bridge between the organization and the Mexican community.
“Fernandomania” didn’t just take over Los Angeles but all of Major League Baseball, as it gave the sport a shot in the arm. Reporters waited for Valenzuela at every visiting city, magazines wanted in-depth stories and fans filled ballparks.
Valenzuela didn’t speak English, was soft-spoken overall and a private person, which helped him deal with the pressure of instant stardom. The joke was — Fernando didn’t know the meaning of the word “pressure.”
Valenzuela pitched 11 years of his 17-year career with the Dodgers, finishing with 173 wins and a 3.54 ERA. He pitched his only no-hitter on June 29, 1990, against the Cardinals.
After his final Major League pitch, Valenzuela continued pitching. His last professional game was in 2006 for Los Aguilas de Mexicali.
He joined the Dodgers’ Spanish broadcast team in 2003 and spent the next 21 years calling games for the Dodgers.
As a show of respect, the Dodgers unofficially kept Valenzuela’s jersey #34 out of circulation. And last season, on August 11, the Dodgers officially retired his number, becoming the 12th Dodger to receive the honor.
Copyright © 2024 KABC Television, LLC. All rights reserved.
