Fernando Valenzuela Anguamea (, born November 1, 1960) is a Mexican former
professional baseball
Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world.
Modern professiona ...
pitcher
In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, who attempts to e ...
. Valenzuela played 17
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL) ...
(MLB) seasons, from to and to . While he played for six MLB teams, he is best remembered for his time with the
Los Angeles Dodgers
The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brookly ...
. Valenzuela batted and threw left-handed. His career highlights include a
win-loss record of 173–153, with an
earned run average
In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the numb ...
(ERA) of 3.54. Valenzuela was notable for his unorthodox windup and for being one of a small number of pitchers who threw a
screwball regularly. Never a particularly hard thrower, the Dodgers felt he needed another pitch; he was taught the screwball in 1979 by teammate
Bobby Castillo.
Valenzuela was signed by the Dodgers on July 6, 1979, and he made his debut late in the season. In , in what came to be called "Fernandomania," Valenzuela rose from relative obscurity to achieve super-stardom. He won his first eight starts (five of them shutouts). Valenzuela finished with a record of 13–7 and had a 2.48 ERA; the season was shortened by a
player's strike. He became the first, and to date, the only player to win both
Cy Young and
Rookie of the Year awards in the same season.
Valenzuela had the best period of his career from to . He was named a
National League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...
(NL)
All-Star in each season and won a major league-leading 21 games in , although
Mike Scott of the
Houston Astros narrowly beat him out in the Cy Young Award voting. Valenzuela was also known as one of the better hitting pitchers of his era. He had ten career
home run
In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run is ...
s and was occasionally used by Los Angeles Dodgers
manager
Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business.
Management includes the activities ...
Tommy Lasorda as a
pinch-hitter. However, for the remainder of Valenzuela's Dodgers career, his pitching efforts were rendered less effective, largely due to nagging shoulder problems. He was on the Dodgers’
1988 World Series
The 1988 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1988 season. The 85th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff played between the American League (AL) champion Oakland Athletics and the ...
championship team, but he did not play in the postseason because of his ailing shoulder. On June 29, 1990, Valenzuela threw his only MLB
no-hitter
In baseball, a no-hitter is a game in which a team was not able to record a hit. Major League Baseball (MLB) officially defines a no-hitter as a completed game in which a team that batted in at least nine innings recorded no hits. A pitcher w ...
, pitching at
Dodger Stadium
Dodger Stadium is a baseball stadium in the Elysian Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. It is the home stadium of Major League Baseball's Los Angeles Dodgers. Opened in 1962, it was constructed in less than three years at a cost of ...
against the
St. Louis Cardinals, a 6–0 victory. Despite having recently shown flashes of his former self, he was unceremoniously released by the Dodgers just prior to the season. The remainder of his big league career was spent with the
California Angels,
Baltimore Orioles
The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...
,
Philadelphia Phillies,
San Diego Padres
The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penna ...
, and
St. Louis Cardinals.
Valenzuela retired from baseball after the 1997 season. In 2003, he returned to the Dodgers as a broadcaster. In 2015, he became a naturalized American citizen.
Early life
Fernando Valenzuela, the youngest of twelve children, was born in
Etchohuaquila, a small town within the municipality of
Navojoa in the state of
Sonora
Sonora (), officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora ( en, Free and Sovereign State of Sonora), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. The state is divided into 72 municipalities; the ...
, Mexico.
[ His birth date is officially listed as November 1, 1960, but during his rookie season in 1981, several commentators questioned his age, guessing him to be significantly older than 20.] His parents, Avelino and María, were poor farmers who worked the land with the help of their children, and are of Mayo indigenous ancestry.
Playing career
Early career in Mexico
In 1977, Valenzuela began his professional baseball career when he signed with the Mayos de Navojoa. A year later, he was sent to the Guanajuato Tuzos of the Mexican Central League, posting a 5–6 win–loss record with a 2.23 earned run average
In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the numb ...
(ERA). The following year, the Mexican Central League was absorbed into the expanded Mexican League, automatically elevating then 18-year-old Valenzuela to the Triple-A level. Pitching for the Leones de Yucatán that year, Valenzuela went 10–12 with a 2.49 ERA and 141 strikeouts.
A number of MLB teams scouted Valenzuela during this time. Los Angeles Dodgers scout Mike Brito had gone to a game in Mexico to evaluate a shortstop named Ali Uscanga. Valenzuela threw three balls to Uscanga to fall behind in the count and then threw three straight strikes to strike out the batter. Brito said later that at that point, he "forgot all about the shortstop". The Dodgers finally gambled on the young lefty, buying out his Liga contract on July 6, 1979, for $120,000.
Move to the Los Angeles Dodgers organization
After acquiring Valenzuela in the summer of 1979, the Dodgers assigned him to the Lodi Dodgers
Lodi may refer to:
Places Canada
* Lodi, Ontario, a community in North Stormont, Ontario, Canada
Italy
* Lodi, Lombardy, in the Province of Lodi of the Lombardy region
** Treaty of Lodi, 1454 between Italian city-states
** Battle of Lodi, 1796 ...
of the High-A level California League where he posted a 1–2 record and a 1.13 earned run average
In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the numb ...
(ERA) in limited action.[Fernando Valenzuela Minor League Statistics & History]
Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved May 17, 2015. The Dodgers felt that Valenzuela needed to learn to throw an off-speed pitch, so they had Dodgers pitcher Bobby Castillo teach him to throw the screwball before the 1980 season.[Crowe, Jerry]
A screwball chain of events led the Dodgers to Fernando Valenzuela
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...
. March 27, 2011. In 1980 Valenzuela was promoted to the Double-A level San Antonio Dodgers. There Valenzuela led the Texas League
The Texas League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated in the South Central United States since 1902. It is classified as a Double-A league. Despite the league's name, only its five South Division teams are actually based in the ...
with 162 strikeouts, finishing the season with a 13–9 win–loss record and a 3.10 ERA.[1980 Texas League pitching leaders]
Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved May 17, 2015.
Valenzuela was called up to the Los Angeles Dodgers bullpen in September 1980. In the last month of the season, Valenzuela helped the Dodgers to a tie with the Houston Astros for the National League Western Division lead, pitching 17 scoreless innings of relief over the course of ten games, during which he earned two wins and a save. However, the Dodgers then lost a one-game playoff—and thus, the division championship—to the Astros.
"Fernandomania"
The following season, Valenzuela was named the Opening Day starter as a rookie after Jerry Reuss was injured 24 hours before his scheduled start, and Burt Hooton was not ready to fill in. Valenzuela shut out the Houston Astros 2–0. He started the season 8–0 with five shutouts and an ERA of 0.50. In addition to his dominance on the mound, Valenzuela's unusual and flamboyant pitching motion—including a glance skyward at the apex of each wind-up—drew attention of its own. It was a habit he claims to have developed spontaneously, although not until joining the Dodgers.
An instant media icon, Valenzuela drew large crowds from Los Angeles' Latino community every time he pitched and triggered high demand across the country for his rookie 1981 Topps and Fleer baseball cards. The craze surrounding Valenzuela came to be known as "Fernandomania". During his warm-up routine at Dodger Stadium, the PA system would play ABBA
ABBA ( , , formerly named Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Anni-Frid or Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Frida) are a Swedish supergroup formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. The grou ...
's 1976 hit song '' Fernando''. He became the first player to win the Rookie of the Year Award and the Cy Young Award
The Cy Young Award is given annually to the best pitchers in Major League Baseball (MLB), one each for the American League (AL) and National League (NL). The award was first introduced in 1956 by Baseball Commissioner Ford Frick in honor of Ha ...
in the same season. He was also the first rookie to lead the National League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...
in strikeouts. The Dodgers won the World Series that season.[
Prior to the 1982 season, Valenzuela became the first player to be awarded a $1 million salary in ]arbitration
Arbitration is a form of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) that resolves disputes outside the judiciary courts. The dispute will be decided by one or more persons (the 'arbitrators', 'arbiters' or ' arbitral tribunal'), which renders the ...
(equivalent to $ million in ).
Valenzuela was less dominant after the 1981 player strike wiped out the middle third of the season, but the left-hander still finished with a 13–7 record and a 2.48 ERA. He led all pitchers in complete games (11), shutouts (8), innings pitched (192.1), and strikeouts (180). In the NL West Division Series against the Houston Astros, Valenzuela became the youngest pitcher to start the first game of any postseason series and later pitched a complete game
In baseball, a complete game (CG) is the act of a pitcher pitching an entire game without the benefit of a relief pitcher. A pitcher who meets this criterion will be credited with a complete game regardless of the number of innings played—pit ...
in Game Three of the World Series
The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 World Series, 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The ...
against the New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one o ...
. In total, he went 3–1 in the postseason as he helped the Dodgers to their first world championship since 1965.
In addition to his skills on the mound, Valenzuela also displayed much better offensive skills than most pitchers. During his rookie season, Valenzuela batted .250 and struck out just 9 times in 64 at-bats, and he was the recipient of the National League's Silver Slugger Award for pitchers.
"El Toro"
Following his outstanding debut, Valenzuela, nicknamed "El Toro" (the Bull) by fans, settled down into a number of years as a workhorse starter and one of the league's best pitchers.
Prior to the 1986 season, he signed a contract worth $5.5 million over three years (equivalent to $ million in ), then the wealthiest contract for a pitcher in baseball history. His annual average salary of $1,833,333 and 1988 salary of $2.05 million (equivalent to $ million in ) also both set records for a pitcher.
He had one of his best seasons in 1986, when he finished 21–11 with a 3.14 ERA and led the league in wins, complete games and innings pitched. He lost a narrow vote for the 1986 National League Cy Young Award to the Astros' Mike Scott.
At the 1986 All-Star Game, Valenzuela made history by striking out five consecutive American League batters, tying a record set by fellow left-handed screwballer Carl Hubbell in the 1934 contest.
In 1987 his performance declined; he earned a 14–14 win–loss record with a 3.98 ERA. In 1988, a year in which the Dodgers won the World Series
The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 World Series, 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The ...
, he won just five games and missed much of the season, despite not being on the postseason roster, he still earned a second World Series ring. He improved slightly in 1989 and went 10–13; he posted a 13–13 record in 1990. He had one last great moment on June 29, 1990, when he threw a 6–0 no-hitter against the St. Louis Cardinals just hours after the Oakland Athletics
The Oakland Athletics (often referred to as the A's) are an American professional baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The t ...
' Dave Stewart had thrown one against the Toronto Blue Jays. According to teammate Mike Scioscia, Fernando and many Dodger players watched Stewart, who was a former Dodgers player, throw the no-hitter on TV. Afterward, before his game, Fernando said to his teammates, "You just saw a no-hitter on TV. Now you will see one in person."
Early in his major league career, Valenzuela had trouble communicating with his catchers because he spoke very little English. Mike Scioscia, after being called up as a rookie, made the effort to learn Spanish and eventually became Valenzuela's "personal catcher" with the Dodgers before becoming the full-time catcher.
Post-Dodgers career
After pitching ineffectively in spring training in 1991, Valenzuela was released by the Dodgers. At the time of Valenzuela's release, several Dodgers leaders, including Tommy Lasorda, Fred Claire
Fred Claire (born October 5, 1935) is a former major league baseball executive who served in numerous roles for the Los Angeles Dodgers from 1969–1998 including the role of general manager from 1987 to 1998.
Early life
Claire was born on Oc ...
, and Peter O'Malley, praised Valenzuela for creating exciting memories over several seasons and they indicated that it was a difficult decision to release him.
An abortive attempt at a comeback with the California Angels failed later that summer. Valenzuela signed with the Detroit Tigers
The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...
in the spring of 1992, but he never played for the team, and was out of the Majors in 1992, with his contract being purchased by Jalisco of the Mexican League that summer. He pitched and played some first base when he wasn't on the mound before making another brief comeback in 1993 with the Baltimore Orioles
The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...
.
Jumping between the big leagues and Mexico for the next few seasons, he put together one more solid big-league season in 1996 for the San Diego Padres
The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penna ...
, going 13–8 with a 3.62 ERA. He retired a year later with a final record of 173–153 and a 3.54 ERA as a member of the St. Louis Cardinals.
The Los Angeles Dodgers invited him to spring training in 1999, but he declined the offer.
On June 29, 2004, Valenzuela announced he would return to the mound in the Liga Mexicana del Pacífico
The Mexican Pacific League (), known as Liga ARCO Mexicana del Pacífico for sponsorship reasons or simply LMP for its acronym in Spanish, is a professional baseball winter league based in Northern Mexico. The ten-team regular season schedule r ...
(the Mexican Pacific Coast League) to play for Los Aguilas de Mexicali in October; he was nearly 44 years old at the time. He pitched again in the Mexican winter league during the 2005–06 season. On December 20, 2006, in Mexicali, BC, Mexico, Fernando Valenzuela was the starting pitcher for Los Aguilas de Mexicali in the last professional game of his career.
Hitting
Valenzuela was considered an atypically good hitter for a pitcher. His best year at the plate was 1990—his last year with the Dodgers—when he hit .304 with five doubles, one home run, and 11 RBI
RBI most often refers to:
*Reserve Bank of India
*Run batted in
RBI may also refer to:
Organisations
*Radio Berlin International
*Raiffeisen Bank International
*Reed Business Information
*Restaurant Brands International
*Ruđer Bošković In ...
in 69 at-bats. That gave him a 101 OPS+, meaning Valenzuela ranked just above average among all National League hitters that year, including non-pitchers. With 187 hits in 936 career at-bats—roughly two full seasons worth of at-bats for a full-time position player—his career batting average was .200, with 10 home runs, 26 doubles, and 84 RBI. Valenzuela was even used on occasion as a pinch-hitter, batting .368 (7-for-19) in such situations. Twice while with the Dodgers, Valenzuela was called upon to play outfield and first base in marathon extra-inning games in which he did not pitch. He won the Silver Slugger award for pitchers in 1981 and 1983.
After retirement
In 2003, Valenzuela returned to the Dodgers organization as the Spanish-language radio color commentator for National League West games, joining Jaime Jarrín and Pepe Yñiguez in the Spanish-language booth. In 2015, he was switched to the color commentator job on the Spanish-language feed of SportsNet LA.
Valenzuela also served on the coaching staff of Team Mexico during the 2006 World Baseball Classic, 2009 World Baseball Classic
The 2009 World Baseball Classic (WBC) was an international baseball competition. It began on 5 9 and finished 5 26.
Unlike in 2006, when the round-robin format of the first two rounds led to some eliminations being decided by run-difference t ...
, 2013 World Baseball Classic, and 2017 World Baseball Classic.
He purchased the Mexican League team Tigres de Quintana Roo in 2017.
Legacy
Valenzuela was inducted into the Hispanic Heritage Baseball Museum Hall of Fame on August 23, 2003, in a pregame on the field ceremony at Dodger Stadium
Dodger Stadium is a baseball stadium in the Elysian Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. It is the home stadium of Major League Baseball's Los Angeles Dodgers. Opened in 1962, it was constructed in less than three years at a cost of ...
. In 2005, he was named one of three starting pitchers on MLB's Latino Legends Team
The Latino Legends Team was an all-time all-star baseball team selected in 2005 to honor the history of Latin American players in Major League Baseball. The players were chosen by fan voting. Ballots were available both online at MLB.com and at ...
. In 2013
File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment ...
, he was enshrined into the Caribbean Baseball Hall of Fame
The Pabellón de la Fama del Caribe (In English, the ''Caribbean Baseball Hall of Fame'') was established in 1996 by Juan Francisco Puello Herrera, commissioner of the Confederación de Béisbol del Caribe (''Caribbean Confederation of Profession ...
.[ Valenzuela was inducted into the Baseball Reliquary's Shrine of the Eternals in 2006.]["Shrine of the Eternals – Inductees"](_blank)
Baseball Reliquary. Retrieved 2019-08-14.
As a show of respect, the Dodgers have unofficially kept Valenzuela's jersey number
In team sports, the number, often referred to as the uniform number, squad number, jersey number, shirt number, sweater number, or similar (with such naming differences varying by sport and region) is the number worn on a player's uniform, t ...
34 out of circulation and they named him as part of the initial class of "Legends of Dodger Baseball" in 2019.
On October 26, 2010, ESPN broadcast a documentary commemorating Valenzuela's arrival with the Dodgers titled ''Fernando Nation'' as part of their '' 30 for 30'' documentary series.
On October 25, 2017, Valenzuela threw the first pitch at Game 2 of the 2017 World Series at Dodger Stadium, introduced by recently retired announcer Vin Scully
Vincent Edward Scully (November 29, 1927 – August 2, 2022) was an American sportscaster. He was best known for his 67 seasons calling games for Major League Baseball's Los Angeles Dodgers, beginning in 1950 (when the franchise was located ...
, and joined by Steve Yeager.
The Mexican Baseball League commemorated Valenzuela's legacy on 6 July 2019, and retired his jersey number #34 from the entire league.
Personal life
In 1981, Valenzuela married Linda Burgos, a schoolteacher from Mexico. Early in his career, Valenzuela and his family spent offseasons between the Mexican cities of Etchohuaquila and Mérida. The couple has four children.[Broadcasters]
. MLB.com. Retrieved May 17, 2015. One of Valenzuela's sons, Fernando, Jr., played in the San Diego Padres
The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penna ...
and Chicago White Sox
The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...
organizations as a first baseman. Since 2006, Fernando Jr. has played minor league baseball in Mexico or in independent leagues.
Valenzuela became a U.S. citizen on July 22, 2015, at a ceremony in downtown Los Angeles. He has participated in two Tournament of Roses Parades—in 1983 aboard the float from the Government of Mexico and in 2008 aboard the Los Angeles Dodgers' float. In 1981, Valenzuela participated in the East Los Angeles Christmas Parade as Grand Marshal.
See also
* List of Los Angeles Dodgers no-hitters
* List of Major League Baseball annual shutout leaders
*
* List of Major League Baseball career strikeout leaders
* List of Major League Baseball career wild pitches leaders
* List of Major League Baseball players from Mexico
This is an alphabetical list of 129 baseball players from Mexico who played Major League Baseball between and .
__NOTOC__
A
* Juan Acevedo
* Alfredo Aceves
* Cy Acosta
* Mel Almada
* Gabe Alvarez
* Tavo Álvarez
* Víctor Álvarez
* Rub ...
* List of members of the Mexican Professional Baseball Hall of Fame
* Los Angeles Dodgers award winners and league leaders
References
Sources
*
*
*
External links
Fernando Valenzuela
at Baseball Almanac
Fernando Valenzuela
at Baseballbiography.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Valenzuela, Fernando
1960 births
Living people
Águilas de Mexicali players
Baltimore Orioles players
Baseball players from Sonora
Bowie Baysox players
California Angels players
Charros de Jalisco players
Cy Young Award winners
Edmonton Trappers players
Gold Glove Award winners
Leones de Yucatán players
Lodi Dodgers players
Los Angeles Dodgers announcers
Los Angeles Dodgers players
Major League Baseball broadcasters
Major League Baseball pitchers
Major League Baseball players from Mexico
Mayos de Navojoa players
Mexican Baseball Hall of Fame inductees
Mexican emigrants to the United States
Mexican expatriate baseball players in Canada
Mexican expatriate baseball players in the United States
Mexican League baseball pitchers
Mexican people of indigenous peoples descent
Midland Angels players
National League All-Stars
National League strikeout champions
National League wins champions
Naturalized citizens of the United States
Palm Springs Angels players
People from Navojoa Municipality
Philadelphia Phillies players
Rochester Red Wings players
San Antonio Dodgers players
San Diego Padres players
Screwball pitchers
Silver Slugger Award winners
St. Louis Cardinals players
Tuzos de Guanajuato players
Mayo people