The Los Angeles Dodgers announced on Tuesday evening that pitcher and broadcaster Fernando Valenzuela — one of the most popular and beloved Dodgers of all time — passed away earlier in the day at the age of 63.
“On behalf of the Dodger organization, we profoundly mourn the passing of Fernando,” said Stan Kasten, President & CEO, Los Angeles Dodgers. “He is one of the most influential Dodgers ever and belongs on the Mount Rushmore of franchise heroes. 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.”
Born in Etchohuaquila, Sonora, Mexico as the youngest of 12 children, Valenzuela made his Major League debut at age 19 with the Dodgers on September 15, 1980, throwing 17.2 innings without allowing an earned run for the remainder of the season. In 1981, beginning with a 2-0 Opening Day shutout of the Houston Astros in an emergency start, he went on an unprecedented career-opening run, with complete games in his first eight career starts – five of them shutouts – and a 0.50 ERA.
Immediately after, “Fernandomania” became a fan sensation. “He turned the game into a religion,” Hall of Fame broadcaster Jaime Jarrin once said.
Tilting his eyes skyward in his pitching motion and baffling hitters with his signature screwball, Valenzuela went on to start the 1981 All-Star Game and finish the regular season 13-7 with a 2.48 ERA and 11 complete games, including eight shutouts in 25 starts. He became the first player in MLB history to win Rookie of the Year and Cy Young awards in the same season.
In the postseason, he went 3-1 with a 2.21 ERA, averaging eight innings per start, capped by a 146-pitch complete game to win Game 3 of the 1981 World Series. “This was not the best Fernando game,” said Hall of Fame announcer Vin Scully. “It was his finest.”
The achievements and accolades continued through the decade for Valenzuela. He was an All-Star selection every year from 1981-86. In the last of those, he struck out the first five All-Stars he faced – Don Mattingly, Cal Ripken Jr., Jesse Barfield, Lou Whitaker and Teddy Higuera – on his way to a career-high 21-win season.
A lifetime .200 hitter with 10 home runs, Valenzuela won two Silver Slugger Awards. And his smarts and agility on defense throughout his career culminated in a Gold Glove Award in ’86. In his final season with the Dodgers, he pitched a no-hitter on June 29, 1990 against the St. Louis Cardinals, inspiring another of Scully’s famous calls: “If you have a sombrero, throw it to the sky.”
In 17 big league seasons, Valenzuela compiled a 173-153 record and 3.54 ERA with the Dodgers (1980-90), Los Angeles Angels (1991), Baltimore Orioles (1993), Philadelphia Phillies (1994), San Diego Padres (1995-97) and St. Louis Cardinals (1997). He later joined the Dodgers Spanish language broadcasting team in 2003 and remained for 22 seasons.
The Dodgers inducted Valenzuela as part of the inaugural class of the Legends of Dodger Baseball in 2018 and retired his number on August 11, 2023. Valenzuela has been named to numerous Halls of Fame, including the Hispanic Heritage Baseball Museum and Caribbean Baseball Hall of Fame. He was very active in supporting various team and Latino initiatives in the community. He was honored for his work in Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities Program (RBI) with their Lifetime Achievement Award in 2007.
Valenzuela is survived by his wife Linda and four children, Fernando Jr., Ricardo, Linda and Maria Fernanda, and seven grandchildren.
(Juan Dorado provided the information furnished in this report)