Fernando Valenzuela, winner of the National League Cy Young Award and Rookie of the Year honors in 1981 as the Los Angeles Dodgers captured the world championship, has died at the age of 63.
After pitching in the majors for 17 seasons, Valenzuela served as a Spanish-language broadcaster for the Dodgers since 2003. The team retired his No. 34 jersey in August 2023.
BIO:
Called up late in the 1980 season as a reliever, Valenzuela, who was born in Navojoa, Mexico, took the baseball world by storm in the strike-shortened 1981 season. After Jerry Reuss was injured on the day before Opening Day, Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda gave the ball to the 20-year-old Valenzuela, who had never started a major league game in his career.
He responded with a 2-0 victory over the Houston Astros, beginning the season with an 8-0 record, including five shutouts, and an 0.50 ERA.
In addition to his Mexican roots, Valenzuela’s pitching motion — glancing skyward at the apex of each windup — was a hit, too. His signature pitch was the screwball, taught to him by teammate Bobby Castillo in 1979. During his warmups, ABBA’s hit “Fernando” blared from the speakers. Latino fans turned out in large numbers — both at home and on the road — to see “El Toro,” the Bull.
He retired in 1997 and remains among the franchise leaders in wins (141), strikeouts (1,759), innings pitched (2,348 2/3), starts (320), complete games (107) and shutouts (29).
