Fenando Valenzuela, the left-handed Dodgers pitcher who took Los Angeles by storm within the Eighties, has died at 63. The membership introduced the information on social media.
Valenzuela was referred to as up from the minors on the very finish of the Dodgers’ 1980 season and impressed proper out of the gate.
In his official rookie yr, when started when he was simply 20, Valenzuela gained the Cy Younger Award, was named Nationwide League Rookie of the 12 months, turning into the primary participant to take action in the identical season. He was additionally the MLB strikeouts chief.
Along with his dominance on the mound, Valenzuela had an uncommon and memorable pitching movement which included a look skyward on the apex of every wind-up. On condition that plus his youth, dominance and attraction to the Latino market, he was made for Los Angeles.
Crowds flocked to see him. Throughout his warm-up routine at Dodger Stadium, the PA system would play ABBA’s 1976 hit track “Fernando.” What adopted was referred to as “Fernandomania,” an electrical love affair between the city and its favourite pitcher.
Late final yr, the Dodgers retired Valenzuela‘s No. 34 jersey, the culminating occasion after town council declaration of “Fernando Valenzuela Day.”
In a pregame second, the then-62-year-old Valenzuela admitted, “It’s very emotional” to a crowded room of English and Spanish-language media hours earlier than the ceremony. “I by no means anticipated it.”
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