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Pitcher Fernando Valenzuela, a Dodgers icon whose “Fernandomania” fame swept through all of baseball in the 1980s, has died at age 63.
The team confirmed his death on X, posting “The Los Angeles Dodgers mourn the passing of legendary pitcher Fernando Valenzuela.”
The cause of death has not been released, but Valenzuela in recent weeks had stepped away from his role as a Spanish-language broadcaster for health reasons.
Fernando Valenzuela was born in 1960 in the small town of Etchohuaquila in Sorona, Mexico — the youngest of 12 children — and inherited the love of baseball from his father Avelino, a farmer.
All of his older brothers played baseball, and naturally, Fernando followed in their footsteps.
At the age of 17, Valenzuela began his journey towards Major League Baseball — first playing pro ball in the Mexican Central League and Mexican Baseball League.
In 1978, legendary Dodger scout Mike Brito made a trip to Silao, Mexico and got his first glimpse of Valenzuela on the mound. The 17-year-old impressed the veteran scout, not just with his athletic ability, but his fearlessness on the bump.
Peter O’Malley, wanting a Mexican star to play for the Dodgers, paid $120,000 on July 7, 1979, to purchase Valenzuela’s contract from Puebla, of the Mexican League, then sending the 19-year-old to Lodi in the California League.
