Dodgers kick off celebration of Fernando Valenzuela with jersey retirement - ESPN

LOS ANGELES — «Fernandomania» has broken out again at Dodger Stadium.

The Dodgers retired Fernando Valenzuela's No. 34 jersey on Friday night before hosting the Colorado Rockies.

«It's very emotional,» Valenzuela, 62, told a crowded room of English and Spanish-language media hours before the ceremony. «I never expected it.»

Earlier in the day, Valenzuela was in downtown Los Angeles, where the city council declared it «Fernando Valenzuela Day.»

The activities were part of a weekend celebration of one of the most enduring and popular players in Dodgers history. A postgame drone show honoring Valenzuela was set for after the game.

On Saturday, the team is giving away his bobblehead, and on Sunday, the giveaway is a replica of Valenzuela's 1981 World Series ring.

Valenzuela became a sensation that year. Besides winning the World Series, he won Rookie of the Year and the Cy Young Award, the first player to do so in the same year.

He was named the Opening Day starter that year by manager Tommy Lasorda after Jerry Reuss got hurt a day earlier. He responded with a 2-0 victory over Houston, beginning the season with an 8-0 record, including five shutouts, and an 0.50 ERA.

«Tommy Lasorda came up to me and said, 'Are you ready to pitch tomorrow?' I said, 'I'm ready,'» Valenzuela recalled. «That's what I was looking for, the opportunity to show what I can do.»

Valenzuela's pitching motion — glancing skyward at the apex of each windup — was a hit, too. His signature pitch was the screwball, taught to him by teammate Bobby Castillo in 1979.

During his warmups, ABBA's hit «Fernando» blared from the speakers.

The native of Mexico was credited for drawing large numbers of Latino fans to Dodger Stadium and they nicknamed him «El Toro» —