Array
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.
