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Legendary Dodgers pitcher Fernando Valenzuela has died at the age of 63

Oct. 22, 2024, 10:59 p.m. ET

Fernando Valenzuela, the originator of “Fernandomania” who won the National League Cy Young Award and Rookie of the Year honors in 1981 when the Los Angeles Dodgers won the World Championship, has died at the age of 63.

The Dodgers announced the news and said Valenzuela died Tuesday night at a Los Angeles hospital. They did not provide any information about the cause or further details.

After playing in the majors for 17 seasons, Valenzuela served as the Spanish-language broadcaster for the Dodgers since 2003. The team retired its number 34 jersey in August 2023.

Valenzuela, who was born in Navojoa, Mexico and was called up as a reliever late in the 1980 season, took the baseball world by storm during the strike-shortened 1981 season. After Jerry Reuss was injured the day before Opening Day, Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda handed 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 win over the Houston Astros and began the season with an 8-0 record, including five shutouts, and a 0.50 ERA.

“Tommy Lasorda came up to me and said, 'Are you ready to pitch tomorrow?' I said, 'I'm ready,'” Valenzuela recalled in 2023. “This is what I was looking for, the opportunity to show what I can do.”

In addition to his Mexican roots, Valenzuela's throwing move – the portly figure looking skyward at the tip of each windup – was also a hit. His signature pitch was the screwball, which his teammate Bobby Castillo taught him in 1979. During his warm-ups, ABBA's hit “Fernando” played over the speakers. Numerous Latino fans showed up at home and away to see “El Toro,” the bull.

“His charisma was incredible,” Hall of Fame Dodgers Spanish-language announcer Jaime Jarrin, who served as Valenzuela’s interpreter early in his career, said in 2023. “The fact that he came here to the big leagues.” [in September 1980] After spending just a few weeks in San Antonio at Double-A – and right from the start he was just great. And people fell in love with him. … He was only 19 years old. A bit chubby, long hair, Yaqui Indian face. These things really cultivated people and they fell in love with Fernando within a few weeks.

Valenzuela finished the 1981 season with a record of 13-7, 2.48 ERA, 11 complete games and 8 shutouts. He led the National League with 192⅓ innings pitched and led the majors with 180 strikeouts. He became the first player to win Rookie of the Year and the Cy Young Award.

This season marked the start of six straight All-Star appearances for the left-hander. Valenzuela finished third in Cy Young voting in 1982, fifth in 1985 and second in 1986 before a shoulder injury sidelined him for the remainder of his career. With the Dodgers he won another World Series title in 1988 and the Silver Slugger Award in 1981 and 1983.

“He is one of the most influential Dodgers ever and belongs on the Mount Rushmore of franchise heroes,” Dodgers president and CEO Stan Kasten said in a statement. “He thrilled the fan base with the 1981 Fernandomania season and has been very close to our hearts ever since, not only as a player but also as a presenter. He left us far too soon. Our deepest condolences go out to his wife Linda and his family.”

Valenzuela played for the Dodgers from 1980 to 1990, including a no-hitter on June 29, 1990. From 1983 to 1987, Valenzuela averaged 262 innings pitched and 13 complete games for the Dodgers. He had a streak of 255 consecutive starts that ended in August 1988. He had 20 complete games in 1986, when he won a league-high 21 games and had a 3.14 ERA. He played 96 complete games in his first seven seasons.

He retired in 1997 and remains one of the franchise's all-time leaders in wins (141), strikeouts (1,759), innings pitched (2,348 2/3), starts (320), complete games (107) and shutouts (29).

MLB commissioner Rob Manfred called Valenzuela “one of the most influential players of his generation” in a statement Tuesday night before highlighting his accomplishments following his retirement.

“…Fernando was an outstanding ambassador for baseball,” Manfred said. “He has consistently supported the growth of the game through the World Baseball Classic and at MLB events in his home country. As a member of the Dodger broadcast team for more than 20 years, Fernando has helped reach a new generation of fans and cultivate their love of the game.

“Fernando will always remain a beloved figure in Dodgers history and a special source of pride for the millions of Latino fans he inspired.”

Valenzuela was unceremoniously released by the Dodgers in March 1991, a few days before the start of the season. Over the next seven seasons, he played for five more teams – the California Angels (1991), the Baltimore Orioles (1993), the Philadelphia Phillies (1994), the San Diego Padres (1995–97) and the St. Louis Cardinals (1997 ). before retiring with a record of 173-153, 3.54 ERA and 2,074 strikeouts in 17 seasons.

Six years after his playing career ended – and 14 years after he threw his last pitch for the Dodgers – Valenzuela returned in 2003 as a member of the Dodgers' broadcast team.

Breaking with their tradition of retiring only Hall of Famers' numbers, the Dodgers retired his number, 34, during a pregame ceremony at Dodger Stadium in August 2023. The number had been unofficially retired and never worn by another player since Valenzuela was loaned to Go by the team 32 years previously.

In October 2024, Valenzuela, who became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2015, stepped down from his broadcasting duties before the start of the playoffs to “focus on his health,” the team said.

News of Valenzuela's death came just days before the Dodgers were scheduled to open the World Series in Los Angeles against the Yankees. In his statement, Manfred said the league would “honor Fernando’s memory” during the series.

Valenzuela is survived by his wife Linda, a teacher from Mexico whom he married in 1981, his sons Fernando Jr. and Ricky, who worked for a Mexican league team partially owned by their father, and daughters Linda and Maria, as well as seven grandchildren.

ESPN's Jorge Castillo, Alden Gonzalez and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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