Just three days before the Dodgers start play in the World Series against the Yankees on Friday, we found out that one of the most beloved of all Dodgers players, Fernando Valenzuela, passed away at the age of 63.
Valenzuela, called El Toro or El Zurdo by many fans, was not just a fantastic pitcher but also part of a major cultural shift in the Los Angeles sports scene. After he started the 1981 season with an Opening Day shutout of the Houston Astros, Fernando pitched eight straight complete games, five of them shutouts. Dodger Stadium was packed to see the team's first-ever Mexican-born star. It became a phenomenon dubbed "Fernandomania."
The 1981 season was interrupted by a players' strike, leaving Valenzuela with a 13-7 record and a 2.48 ERA. He led the league in strikeouts with 180 and won the Cy Young Award and the Rookie of the Year, as well as starting the All-Star game for the National League. The season ended with the Dodgers winning the World Series against the Yankees, with Fernando winning his only start, a gutsy 5-4 decision in Game 4.
Valenzuela was just 20 years old in the 1981 season. He did not speak English in postgame interviews, which somewhat added to the mystique of a pitcher who seemingly came out of nowhere. ("Nowhere" was actually the town he grew up in, Etchohuaquila, in the Mexican state of Sonora.)
Fernando made the All-Star team every year from 1981 through 1986, but, like many pitchers, he started to break down from overuse. His 1987 season was subpar, and he missed most of the Dodgers World Series-winning 1988 season. His last big night as a Dodger came on June 29, 1990, when he threw a no-hitter at Dodger Stadium against St. Louis.
Valenzuela returned to the Dodgers for spring training in 1991, but the team waived him before the regular season started. He signed with the Angels but could only get in two games before he was released. Fernando rested and reinvented his pitching style, pitching in Mexico in 1992, before returning to the major leagues for five more seasons pitching in Baltimore, Philadelphia, San Diego, and St. Louis.
In 2003, Valenzuela returned to the Dodgers, working in the Spanish language radio team alongside Jamie Jarrin, who once served as his translator in his early days in the big leagues. In 2023, the Dodgers retired his number, 34.
