Dodgers legend Fernando Valenzuela has died at the age of 63

Los Angeles Dodgers star Fernando Valenzuela has died. the Dodgers announced Tuesday. He was 63 years old.

Few words bring back memories as joyful as “Fernandomania,” the summer days when Valenzuela was introduced to and then took over baseball. He will always be remembered for the 1981 season in which he won the Rookie of the Year, the Cy Young Award and a World Series ring with one of the greatest rookie years in professional sports history.

But Valenzuela’s career was about much more than numbers and trophies. He was and remains an icon among Latin American baseball fans and players and a national hero in his native Mexico. “El Toro” had an appeal in his prime that few players could ever match, especially when he threw shutout after shutout in 1981.

The Dodgers previously announced that Valenzuela would leave the broadcast booth on October 2 to focus on his health, with a goal of returning in 2025. Dodgers President Stan Kasten released a statement of condolence:

With the Dodgers set to begin the World Series against the New York Yankees on Friday, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred confirmed in a statement The league will honor Valenzuela’s memory.

How Fernando Valenzuela became “Fernandomania”.

Valenzuela grew up poor as the youngest of twelve children. He began his career as a teenager in the Mexican League, where he was discovered by Dodgers great scout Mike Brito. The Dodgers bought out his contract in 1979 and watched him rise quickly in the minor leagues with a bizarre pitching move that had him looking at the sky.

In 1980, Valenzuela made his debut in the Dodgers bullpen. And in 1981, no one was ready for 1981.

Valenzuela began his season with a shutout against the defending NL West champion Houston Astros. He then threw a complete game against the San Francisco Giants. Then another shutout. And another one. And another one. He began his career 8-0, with eight straight complete games, five of them shutouts, and a 0.50 ERA in 72 innings.

His starts became scheduled performances at Dodger Stadium and he became an ace for a team that won the Dodgers’ first World Series title since 1965. Valenzuela remained one of the best pitchers in baseball for the next five years, then began his decline after 1986.

The 1990 season was Valenzuela’s last with the Dodgers and his worst in Los Angeles, but he had a moment then too. On June 29, Valenzuela threw his first and only no-hitter against the St. Louis Cardinals.

“If you have a sombrero, throw it into the sky!” exclaimed Vin Scully after the finale.

The Dodgers released Valenzuela before the 1991 season and he eventually played for five other teams before retiring in 1997. He played into his 40s with stints in the Mexican winter leagues. That summer he began working as a Spanish-language commentator for the Dodgers, which he continued until his death.

The Dodgers retired Fernando Valenzuela’s number at the perfect time

The Dodgers’ standard policy for retired players is to honor only players who have been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame after playing the majority of their careers for the Dodgers. There are two exceptions to this rule: Jim Gilliam and Valenzuela.

For years, Valenzuela was considered a weak point in this policy. He was a legend, but he wasn’t big enough to get on the BBWAA ballot in Cooperstown, and the committees weren’t any help either.

In 2023, the Dodgers finally made another exception for Valenzuela’s number 34, to the delight of a man who played 11 seasons for the team and worked as a broadcaster for decades longer, via The Athletic:

A year later, this seems like a very good decision.