By Miguel Mike Medina
PHOTO: JULIO CESAR AGUILAR/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
Los Angeles Dodgers legend Fernando Valenzuela died Tuesday at age 63. He changed MLB and sparked “Fernandomania.”
Valenzuela was the color commentator for the Dodgers’ Spanish-language television broadcast. He left the job in September without giving any explanation. We can speculate that he was sick for quite some time.
He is survived by his wife, Linda, four children, seven grandchildren, and extended family.
https://twitter.com/Dodgers/status/1848980062265078197
https://twitter.com/Dodgers/status/1848942975432462707
https://twitter.com/Dodgers/status/1848930562515615
Valenzuela became the first and, to this day, the only player to win the National League Cy Young and Rookie of the Year awards during the same season.
Valenzuela finished the 1981 season with a 13-7 record, 2.48 ERA, 11 complete games, and eight shutouts. He led the National League with 192⅓ innings pitched.
He was one of the most dominant pitchers in the 1980s. Although he never made it to the Baseball Hall of Fame, his impact at the Stadium and single-handedly bringing a lot of Mexican Americans to the ballpark were significant.
Valenzuela had an unorthodox pitching style that we had never seen before. His screwball was his go-to pitch, making hitters look bad. His charisma on the mound was incredible.
Valenzuela finished third in Cy Young voting in 1982, fifth in 1985, and second in 1986. He won another World Series title with the Dodgers in 1988 but did not pitch. Regardless, he earned a ring.
One of his best moments is when he pitched a no-hitter on June 29, 1990, against the St Louis Cardinals. Dodgers won 6-0.
He is one of the most influential players to play for the Dodgers. However, his relationship with the front office wasn’t always happy, and there were some ups and downs.
However, time healed all wounds, and Valenzuela and the organization patched things up before it was too late.
The Dodgers retired his jersey number in 2023.
Valenzuela remains among the franchise leaders in wins (141), strikeouts (1,759), innings pitched (2,348⅔), starts (320), complete games (107) and shutouts (29).
Here’s a nice moment between Vin Scully and Valenzuela:
https://twitter.com/MLBONFOX/status/1848998823055536144.
Miguel Mike Medina is a publisher of The MMM Journal. He can be reached at medinamiguelmike@gmail.com
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