Remembering Fernando Valenzuela and the Summer of 1981 When "Fernandomania" Swept the Baseball World

Fernando Valenzuela, who was just 63 years old when he passed away yesterday, is one of the most memorable athletes from my childhood. He had a distinctive pitching motion in which, as Ed Guzman put it in his L.A. Times obituary for Valenzuela, he "would look skyward almost as if he sought guidance from a higher power."

In the pre-internet, pre-social media era, Valenzuela became about as big of a phenomenon as any athlete in the world, appearing on the covers not only of sports magazines but also of general interest magazines. "Fernandomania" was the buzzword describing Valenzuela's emergence as not just a sports star but a cultural touchstone. In 1981, Valenzuela became the first--and still the only--player to win the National League Rookie of the Year award and the National League Cy Young award in the same season. That was a magical summer during which he was an immediate sensation, giving up just four runs in his first eight starts with seven complete games, five shutouts, 68 strikeouts and a 0.50 ERA in 72 innings (Valenzuela pitched briefly during the 1980 season, but according to MLB rules he was classified as a rookie in 1981). Valenzuela finished that strike-shortened campaign with a 13-7 record while leading MLB in strikeouts (180) and shutouts (eight) and pacing the NL in games started (25), complete games (11), and innings pitched (192.1). He earned an All-Star selection and a Silver Slugger award.

In the 1981 playoffs, Valenzuela went 3-0, including a complete game victory in game three of the 1981 World Series after his L.A. Dodgers lost the first two games to the New York Yankees. The Dodgers won the next three games to capture their first World Series title since 1965.

Valenzuela's former teammate Dusty Baker told MLB.com in 2021, "He could do everything on a baseball field but run. He could hit, he could bunt, field his position. He knew how to play the game. He was a breath of fresh air as a youngster with a man's knowledge on how to play the game."

I grew up as a Cincinnati Reds fan, so I did not root for Fernando Valenzuela--who spent most of his career with the Dodgers, the Reds' chief division rival during my childhood--but I was captivated by him and I closely followed his career. The Reds won the National League West title in 1972-73, 1975-76, and 1979, while the Dodgers won the National League West title in 1974, 1977-78, and 1981--so in the first 11 years of my childhood, only two other teams won the NL West (San Francisco Giants in 1971, Houston Astros in 1980). The Reds reached the World Series four times (1970, 1972, 1975-76) during that time span, and won the World Series twice (1975-76), while the Dodgers reached the World Series four times (1974, 1977-78, 1981) and won the 1981 World Series.

After that special 1981 season, Valenzuela never quite reached that same status again, but he made the NL All-Star team each of the next five seasons while finishing second in Cy Young voting in 1986, third in 1982, and fifth in 1985. He earned another Silver Slugger award in 1983, and he led the NL with 21 wins in 1986 while also pacing MLB with 20 complete games that season. Valenzuela won a Gold Glove in 1986. Although his physique was not svelte, he was durable, amassing a streak of 255 consecutive starts before being sidelined in 1988 due to a shoulder injury. That injury forced him to miss the 1988 playoffs when the Dodgers captured another World Series title.

The Dodgers released Valenzuela after he went 13-13 in 1990, and he posted a 32-37 record with five other MLB teams before retiring after the 1997 season. For his career, Valenzuela finished with a record of 173-153, a 3.54 ERA, 2,930 innings pitched, and 2,074 strikeouts. He threw 113 complete games, including 31 shutouts.

Valenzuela was a fan favorite throughout the baseball world, but particularly so for Mexican fans and Mexican-American fans who idolized him in way similar to the way that Jewish fans admired Hank Greenberg and Sandy Koufax.

This has been a sad few months for baseball fans with the deaths of Fernando Valenzuela, Pete Rose, and Willie Mays, three distinctive stars who helped their teams win while playing with great flair.