Mexican Icon Fernando Valenzuela Dies at 63
Los Angeles, CA - March 30: Fernando Valenzuela during Opening Day ceremonies prior to a baseball game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Arizona Diamondbacks at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles on Thursday, March 30, 2023. (Photo by Keith Birmingham/MediaNews Group/Pasadena Star-News via Getty Images)
Dodgers legend Fernando Valenzuela, one of the most dominant players of his era, has passed away. He was 63 years old. The Los Angeles Dodgers announced the news.
In 1981, when the Mexican-born Valenzuela debuted, “Fernandomania” swept through baseball as the 20-year-old rookie began the season with an 8-0 record and a 0.50 ERA. Valenzuela would go on to win both the NL Rookie of the Year and the Cy Young Award that season, as he helped lead the Dodgers to the World Series title. From then on, he was a star.
Valenzuela, a pitcher who was also renowned for being a good hitter, played for 17 MLB seasons and six different teams, with the Los Angeles Dodgers being his longest tenure. He was a 6-time All-Star and currently holds the record for most wins (173) and strikeouts (2,074) of any Mexican-born pitcher.
For the last 22 years, Valenzuela was one of the Spanish-language broadcasters for the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Tributes started pouring in right away, with some people trying to put Valenzuela’s legacy into context.
Journalist Jeff Pasan said: “For those too young to understand what Fernando Valenzuela meant to Mexico, to Los Angeles, to baseball, here are numbers from the first eight starts of his career in 1981. He was 20. He threw a devastating screwball. And for a month, he was the biggest sports star in the world.”
Meanwhile, journalist Nathalie Alonso shared a picture of Valenzuela and said: “My favorite photo of Fernando Valenzuela, because it captures the joy and the magic of Fernandomania. The boy shaking his hand is proud to wear his charro outfit, proud to be exactly who he is. Fernandomania was all about the power of representation and the power of authenticity.”
The MLB Network also celebrated “Fernandomania.”
And stars like Mario Lopez celebrated Valenzuela’s legacy, with Lopez saying “A piece of my childhood is gone.”
The Los Angeles Dodgers are set to face the New York Yankees in this year’s World Series, set to begin Friday. Fernando Valenzuela is expected to be honored.
