by Cary Osborne
An iconic Dodger, a Cy Young Award winner, Rookie of the Year, World Series champion and the most important Mexican-born player in Major League history — Fernando Valenzuela is recognized as all of those.
But missing from all of those achievements is enshrinement in the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
That could change.
Valenzuela is one of eight former players on the Hall of Fame’s Contemporary Baseball Era player ballot, which focuses on players whose primary contributions to the game came since 1980.
Valenzuela is one of three former Dodger players on the ballot, joined by outfielder Gary Sheffield and second baseman Jeff Kent. Former Dodger manager Don Mattingly, who played his entire 14-year Major League career with the New York Yankees, is also on the ballot, as are Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Carlos Delgado and Dale Murphy.
Candidates need to receive votes on 75% of the ballots cast by the 16-member committee to become part of the 2026 Baseball Hall of Fame Class. The voting results will be announced live on MLB Network at 4:30 p.m. PT on Dec. 7.
Valenzuela played 17 Major League seasons, including his first 11 with the Dodgers from 1980–1990. He created a sensation in 1981 called “Fernandomania,” when as a 20 year old he pitched five shutouts in his first eight starts. He remains the only MLB player since 1945 to win his first eight career starts.
Valenzuela is the only pitcher in MLB history to win the Cy Young Award, Rookie of the Year and a World Series championship in the same season (1981). He was far more than a one-year sensation. He was a six-time All-Star — all from 1981–1986. He finished in the top three of the Cy Young Award balloting three times. He was a Gold Glove Award winner (1986) and a two-time Silver Slugger Award winner (1981 and 1983).
Valenzuela is the all-time leader among Mexican-born players in strikeouts (2,074), wins (173), starts (424), innings (2,930), complete games (113) and shutouts (31). Valenzuela also threw a no-hitter on June 29, 1990.
Valenzuela passed away on Oct. 22, 2024.
Kent, an LA native, finished his 17-year Major League career with the Dodgers from 2005–2008. Kent’s 354 home runs as a second baseman are a Major League record. He hit 377 in his career.
Sheffield spent four seasons with the Dodgers from 1998–2001 and hit 509 home runs over a 22-year career. He had a career .907 OPS with 2,689 hits.
Fernando Valenzuela is back on a Hall of Fame ballot was originally published in Dodger Insider on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.