Dodgers unbelievable pitcher Fernando Valenzuela kicks the bucket at 63

Fernando Valenzuela, the impulse behind "Fernandomania" while winning Public Association Cy Youthful Honor and The latest phenom praises in 1981 as the Los Angeles Dodgers caught the big showdown, has passed on at 63 years old, the Dodgers reported.

The group said Valenzuela passed on Tuesday night at a Los Angeles emergency clinic however didn't give the reason or different subtleties.

In the wake of contributing the majors for 17 seasons, Valenzuela filled in as a Spanish-language telecaster for the Dodgers starting around 2003. The group resigned his No. 34 shirt in August 2023.

Called up late in the 1980 season as a reliever, Valenzuela, who was brought into the world in Navojoa, Mexico, surprised the baseball world in the strike-abbreviated 1981 season. After Jerry Reuss was hurt on the day going before First day of the time, Dodgers boss Tommy Lasorda gave the ball to the 20-year-old Valenzuela, who had never started a huge affiliation game in his livelihood.

He replied with a 2-0 victory over the Houston Astros, beginning the season with a 8-0 record, including five shutouts, and a 0.50 Time.

"Tommy Lasorda came subject to me and said, 'Would you say you are ready to pitch tomorrow?' I said, 'I'm prepared,'" Valenzuela reviewed in 2023. "That is the very thing that I was searching for, the valuable chance to show what I can do."

Notwithstanding his Mexican roots, Valenzuela's pitching movement - - the heavy figure looking heavenward at the peak of every windup - - was a hit, as well. His unmistakable pitch was the screwball, educated to him by partner Bobby Castillo in 1979. During his warmups, ABBA's hit "Fernando" blastd from the speakers. Latino fans turned out en masse - - both at home and out and about - - to see "El Toro," the Bull.
"His magnetism was unfathomable," Corridor of Distinction Dodgers Spanish language host Jaime Jarrin, who filled in as Valenzuela's mediator from the get-go in his vocation, said in 2023. "The way that he came here to the significant associations [in September 1980] subsequent to spending only half a month in San Antonio at Twofold A - - and all along, he was simply astonishing. Also, individuals went gaga for him. ... He was just 19 years of age. Tad rotund, long hair, Yaqui Indian elements. Those things truly developed individuals and

they became hopelessly enamored with Fernando in a question of half a month."

Valenzuela completed the 1981 season with a 13-7 record, 2.48 Time, 11 complete games and 8 shutouts. He drove the Public Association with 192⅓ innings pitched and finished off the majors with 180 strikeouts, turning into the primary player to win The latest phenom and the Cy Youthful Honor.

That season was the beginning of six straight Top pick appearances for the left-hander. Valenzuela completed third in Cy Youthful democratic in 1982, fifth in 1985 and second in 1986 preceding a shoulder injury blocked him until the end of his profession. He came out on top for a different universe Series championship with the Dodgers in 1988, as well as Silver Slugger grants in 1981 and 1983.

"He is one of the most powerful Dodgers ever and has a place on the Mount Rushmore of establishment legends," Stan Kasten, president and Chief of the Dodgers, said in an explanation. "He revived the fan base during the 1981 Fernandomania season and has kept in contact with us from that point onward, both as a player and a reporter. He has left us all too early. Our most profound sympathies go out to his significant other Linda and his loved ones."

Valenzuela pitched for the Dodgers from 1980 to 1990, remembering a no-hitter for June 29, 1990. Structure 1983 to 1987, Valenzuela arrived at the midpoint of 262 innings pitched and 13 complete games for the Dodgers. He had a dash of 255 successive beginnings, which finished August 1988. He had 20 complete games in 1986, when he won an association high 21 games and had a 3.14 Period. He had 96 complete games in his initial seven seasons.

He resigned in 1997 and stays among the establishment chiefs in wins (141), strikeouts (1,759), innings pitched (2,348 2/3), begins (320), complete games (107) and shutouts (29).
MLB magistrate Burglarize Manfred referred to Valenzuela as "one of the most effective players of his age" in an explanation Tuesday night prior to taking note of his achievements after retirement.

.Fernando was a remarkable minister for baseball," Manfred said. "He reliably upheld the development of the game through the World Baseball Exemplary and at MLB occasions across his nation of origin. As an individual from the Dodger broadcasting group for over 20 years, Fernando assisted with arriving at another age of fans and develop their adoration for the game.

"Fernando will consistently stay a regarded figure in Dodger history and a brilliant wellspring of pride for the huge proportions of Latino fans he engaged."

Valenzuela was unassumingly conveyed by the Dodgers in Walk 1991, days before the season started. He pitched for five different groups throughout the following seven seasons - - the California Holy messengers (1991), Baltimore Orioles (1993), Philadelphia Phillies (1994), San Diego Padres (1995-97) and St. Louis Cardinals (1997) - - prior to resigning with a 173-153 record, 3.54 Time and 2,074 strikeouts north of 17 seasons.

Six years after his playing profession had finished - - and 14 years after he tossed his last pitch for the Dodgers - - Valenzuela returned as an individual from the Dodgers' transmission group in 2003.

The Dodgers, parting from their practice of just resigning Lobby of Famers' numbers, resigned his No. 34 during a pregame service at Dodger Arena in August 2023. The number had been informally resigned, never worn by another player, since Valenzuela had been given up by the group 32 years sooner.

In October 2024, Valenzuela, who turned into a naturalized U.S. resident in 2015, moved back from his telecom obligations preceding the beginning of the end of the season games to "center around his wellbeing," the group said.

The fresh insight about Valenzuela's demise came days before the Dodgers were set to open the Worldwide championship in Los Angeles against the Yankees. In his proclamation, Manfred said the association will "honor Fernando's memory" during the series.

Valenzuela is made due by his better half, Linda, who was a teacher from Mexico whom he wedded in 1981, his children, Fernando Jr. furthermore, Ricky, who worked for a Mexican Association group halfway possessed by their dad, and girls Linda and Maria as well as seven grandkids.