Fenando Valenzuela, the left-handed Dodgers pitcher who took Los Angeles by storm in the 1980s, has died at 63. The club announced the news on social media.
Left hander Valenzuela, who was born and raised in the rural town of Etchohuaquila in the Mexican state of Sonora, was called up from the minors at the very end of the Dodgers’ 1980 season and impressed right out of the gate.
In his official rookie year, which began when he was just 20, Valenzuela won the National League Cy Young Award and was named NL Rookie of the Year, becoming the first player to do so in the same season. He was also the MLB strikeouts leader, being the first rookie to achieve that mark, as well. The Athletic has called it “the greatest opening to a career in baseball history.” Oh, and the team also beat the Yankees in the World Series that year with its standout rookie pulling out a crucial Game 3 win.
Strange coincidence: Beginning Friday, the Dodgers and the Yankees will face each other in the World Series for the first time since 1981. Memories of Valenzuela’s performance that year are likely to be on the mind of many longtime Dodger fans.
Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred Jr. in a statement late today called Valenzuela “an outstanding ambassador for baseball” and announced, “We will honor Fernando’s memory during the 2024 World Series at Dodger Stadium.”
Valenzuela had a memorable pitching motion which included a look skyward at the top of his wind-up. That, plus his youth, dominance and appeal to the Latino market made Valenzuela perfect for Los Angeles.
Crowds flocked to see him. During his warm-up routine at Dodger Stadium, the PA system would play ABBA’s irresistible 1976 hit “Fernando.” What followed was known as “Fernandomania,” an electric love affair between the town and its favorite pitcher.
Valenzuela played for the Dodgers for 10 years before moving on to a series of teams that included the Angels, the Orioles, the Phillies, the Padres and the Cardinals. He retired in 1997.
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After baseball, Valenzuela found a second career as a broadcaster, calling Dodgers games for 22 years before suddenly, earlier this month, announcing he would not be working postseason matchups so he could “focus on his health.”
Late last year, the Dodgers finally retired Valenzuela‘s No. 34 jersey, the culminating event after the city council declared of “Fernando Valenzuela Day.” Indeed, Valenzuela’s name is on a very short list of Los Angeles’ most revered sports figures, alongside Magic Johnson and a few others.
In a pregame moment, the then-62-year-old Valenzuela admitted, “It’s very emotional” to a crowded room of English and Spanish-language media hours before the ceremony. “I never expected it.”
Bruce Haring contributed to this report.
