MAYO MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL PITCHER FERNANDO VALENZUELA BORN
Born in Etchohuaquila, Mexico, Valenzuela, with his screwball (the “Fernando Fadeaway”), led the Texas League in strikeouts in 1980. Joining the Dodgers in late 1980, he threw 17 2/3 straight scoreless innings in relief. In 1981, Valenzuela threw a shutout on Opening Day, began with a 10-0 record with 5 shutouts, was National League All-Star Game starting pitcher, and 1st to win both Rookie of the Year & Cy Young Awards. His odd delivery & Latino popularity led to “Fernandomania.” In 1986, Fernando set a major league record of 44 straight innings without an earned run to start a season and, in the All-Star Game, struck out 5 straight batters. He also won a Silver Bat (1983) & Gold Glove (1986). He retired in 1997 with 173 wins, 153 losses, and ERA of 3.54. Fernando later pitched in the Mexican League (ML), was a Dodgers Spanish-language radio color commentator, coached Team Mexico in 4 World Baseball Classics, and bought an ML team. Honors: Hispanic Heritage Baseball & Caribbean Halls of Fame (2003 & 2013); MLB’s Latino Legends Team (2005); Baseball Reliquary’s Shrine of the Eternals (2006); and “Legends of Dodger Baseball” (2019). The ML retired his jersey number #34 from the league (2019).
Sources: “Fernando Valenzuela,” BaseballLibrary.com. Retrieved 4/25/2022, Fernando Valenzuela | BaseballLibrary.com (archive.org) Wikipedia Photo: Jim Accordino, 1981. Permissive use under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en
Indigenous America Calendar 