Dodgers legendary pitcher Fernando Valenzuela dies at 63 - ESPN

Fernando Valenzuela, the impetus behind «Fernandomania» while winning National League Cy Young Award and Rookie of the Year honors in 1981 as the Los Angeles Dodgers captured the world championship, has died at the age of 63, the Dodgers announced.

The team said Valenzuela died Tuesday night at a Los Angeles hospital but did not provide the cause or other details.

After pitching in the majors for 17 seasons, Valenzuela served as a Spanish-language broadcaster for the Dodgers since 2003. The team retired his No. 34 jersey in August 2023.

Called up late in the 1980 season as a reliever, Valenzuela, who was born in Navojoa, Mexico, took the baseball world by storm in the strike-shortened 1981 season. After Jerry Reuss was injured on the day before Opening Day, Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda gave the ball to the 20-year-old Valenzuela, who had never started a major league game in his career.

He responded with a 2-0 victory over the Houston Astros, 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 in 2023. «That's what I was looking for, the opportunity to show what I can do.»

In addition to his Mexican roots, Valenzuela's pitching motion — the portly figure 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. Latino fans turned out in large numbers — both at home and on the road — to see «El Toro,» the Bull.

«His charisma was unbelievable,» Hall of Fame Dodgers Spanish language announcer Jaime Jarrin, who served as