Fernando Valenzuela, the impetus behind “Fernandomania” while winning National League Cy Young Award and Rookie of the Year honors in 1981 as the Los Angeles Dodgers captured the world championship, has died at the age of 63.
The Dodgers announced the news, saying Valenzuela died Tuesday night at a Los Angeles hospital. They did not provide the cause or other details.
After pitching in the majors for 17 seasons, Valenzuela served as a Spanish-language broadcaster for the Dodgers since 2003. The team retired his No. 34 jersey in August 2023.
Called up late in the 1980 season as a reliever, Valenzuela, who was born in Navojoa, Mexico, took the baseball world by storm in the strike-shortened 1981 season. After Jerry Reuss was injured on the day before Opening Day, Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda gave the ball to the 20-year-old Valenzuela, who had never started a major league game in his career.
He responded with a 2-0 victory over the Houston Astros, beginning the season with an 8-0 record, including five shutouts, and an 0.50 ERA.
“Tommy Lasorda came up to me and said, ‘Are you ready to pitch tomorrow?’ I said, ‘I’m ready,'” Valenzuela recalled in 2023. “That’s what I was looking for, the opportunity to show what I can do.”
In addition to his Mexican roots, Valenzuela’s pitching motion — the portly figure glancing skyward at the apex of each windup — was a hit, too. His signature pitch was the screwball, taught to him by teammate Bobby Castillo in 1979. During his warmups, ABBA’s hit “Fernando” blared from the speakers. Latino fans turned out in large numbers — both at home and on the road — to see “El Toro,” the Bull.
“His charisma was unbelievable,” Hall of Fame Dodgers Spanish language announcer Jaime Jarrin, who served as Valenzuela’s interpreter early in his career, said in 2023. “The fact that he came here to the major leagues [in September 1980] after spending just a few weeks in San Antonio at Double-A — and from the beginning, he was just amazing. And the people fell in love with him. … He was only 19 years old. Little bit chubby, long hair, Yaqui Indian features. Those things really cultivated the people and they fell in love with Fernando in a matter of a few weeks.”
Valenzuela finished the 1981 season with a 13-7 record, 2.48 ERA, 11 complete games and 8 shutouts. He led the National League with 192⅓ innings pitched and topped the majors with 180 strikeouts, becoming the first player to win Rookie of the Year and the Cy Young Award.
That season was the start of six straight All-Star appearances for the left-hander. Valenzuela finished third in Cy Young voting in 1982, fifth in 1985 and second in 1986 before a shoulder injury hindered him for the remainder of his career. He won another World Series title with the Dodgers in 1988, as well as Silver Slugger awards in 1981 and 1983.
“He is one of the most influential Dodgers ever and belongs on the Mount Rushmore of franchise heroes,” Stan Kasten, president and CEO of the Dodgers, 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. Our deepest condolences go out to his wife Linda and his family.”
Valenzuela pitched for the Dodgers from 1980 to 1990, including a no-hitter on June 29, 1990. Form 1983 to 1987, Valenzuela averaged 262 innings pitched and 13 complete games for the Dodgers. He had a streak of 255 consecutive starts, which ended August 1988. He had 20 complete games in 1986, when he won a league-high 21 games and had a 3.14 ERA. He had 96 complete games in his first seven seasons.
He retired in 1997 and remains among the franchise leaders in wins (141), strikeouts (1,759), innings pitched (2,348 2/3), starts (320), complete games (107) and shutouts (29).
MLB commissioner Rob Manfred called Valenzuela “one of the most impactful players of his generation” in a statement Tuesday night before noting his accomplishments after retirement.
“…Fernando was an outstanding ambassador for baseball,” Manfred said. “He consistently supported the growth of the game through the World Baseball Classic and at MLB events across his home country. 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.”
Valenzuela was unceremoniously released by the Dodgers in March 1991, days before the season started. He pitched for five other teams over the next seven seasons — the California Angels (1991), Baltimore Orioles (1993), Philadelphia Phillies (1994), San Diego Padres (1995-97) and St. Louis Cardinals (1997) — before retiring with a 173-153 record, 3.54 ERA and 2,074 strikeouts over 17 seasons.
Six years after his playing career had ended — and 14 years after he threw his last pitch for the Dodgers — Valenzuela returned as a member of the Dodgers’ broadcast team in 2003.
The Los Angeles Dodgers mourn the passing of legendary pitcher Fernando Valenzuela. pic.twitter.com/MXeBlDzDWJ
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) October 23, 2024
The Dodgers, breaking from their tradition of only retiring Hall of Famers’ numbers, retired his No. 34 during a pregame ceremony at Dodger Stadium in August 2023. The number had been unofficially retired, never worn by another player, since Valenzuela had been let go by the team 32 years earlier.
In October 2024, Valenzuela, who became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2015, stepped away from his broadcasting duties prior to the start of the playoffs to “focus on his health,” the team said.
The news of Valenzuela’s death came days before the Dodgers were set to open the World Series in Los Angeles against the Yankees. In his statement, Manfred said the league will “honor Fernando’s memory” during the series.
Valenzuela is survived by his wife, Linda, who was a schoolteacher from Mexico whom he married in 1981, his sons, Fernando Jr. and Ricky, who worked for a Mexican League team partly owned by their father, and daughters Linda and Maria as well as seven grandchildren.
ESPN’s Jorge Castillo, Alden Gonzalez and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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