There have been 147 Mexican-born gamers in MLB historical past. The best amongst them was the legendary Fernando Valenzuela, who turned an instantaneous sensation with the Dodgers within the early Eighties and the one pitcher in Main League historical past to win each a Rookie of the Yr Award and a Cy Younger Award in the identical yr (1981).
Valenzuela, who handed away in 2024, had one in all baseball’s most original deliveries, one which featured the left-hander wanting as much as the sky earlier than unleashing every pitch. And he made his mark on the sport in ways in which few others have.
Now that he’s on the Modern Baseball Period poll, with the vote happening on the Winter Conferences in Orlando, Fla., subsequent month, it’s a superb time to look at Valenzuela’s case for Cooperstown, one which might make him the primary Mexican-born participant to be elected to the Baseball Corridor of Fame.
Fernandomania, an iconic baseball second
You may’t inform the story of baseball within the early Eighties — or the story of baseball in Mexico, for that matter — with out speaking about “Fernandomania,” a euphoric six months in Los Angeles in 1981, when Valenzuela burst onto the Main League scene and captured the hearts of untold numbers of baseball followers all over the world.
Making his debut out of the bullpen at simply 19 years previous the prior September, Valenzuela made his first massive league begin on April 9, 1981, changing into the primary rookie to start out on the mound on Opening Day for the Dodgers. On that day towards the Astros at Dodger Stadium, he threw a five-hit shutout.
With an arsenal headlined by his signature screwball, Valenzuela then proceeded to throw six extra full video games in succession (4 of them have been shutouts). He then threw 9 extra innings in his subsequent outing, a sport the Dodgers received within the backside of the ninth.
It was an unbelievable eight-game stretch over which Valenzuela struck out 68, walked 17 and yielded solely 4 runs over 72 innings (0.50 ERA).
And because it all unfolded, so did a cultural phenomenon that was dubbed “Fernandomania,” which led to throngs of latest baseball followers and a jam-packed Dodger Stadium on days Valenzuela pitched.
Valenzuela went on to be named an All-Star and completed the season with a 2.48 ERA over 25 begins (11 full video games, eight shutouts).
He additionally helped the Dodgers attain and win the 1981 World Collection, posting a 2.21 ERA over 5 playoff begins — pitching not less than eight innings in 4 of them. That included a complete-game victory in Recreation 3 of the World Collection towards the Yankees.
Favorable Cooperstown comps
From 1981-86, no beginning pitcher threw extra innings than Valenzuela’s 1,537. Just one pitcher threw greater than Valenzuela’s 84 full video games — Jack Morris (89). And in Morris, we’ve got fairly an attention-grabbing comparability of contemporaries, one in all whom is a Corridor of Famer and the opposite on this yr’s Modern Baseball Period poll.
Morris was elected to the Corridor of Fame by means of the Fashionable Baseball Period committee in 2018. While you evaluate Morris’ numbers — in addition to these of one other Corridor of Fame right-hander, Catfish Hunter — to Valenzuela’s, there are some clear parallels:
Jack Morris (HOF)18 seasons, 3,824 IP, 3.90 ERA, 105 ERA+, 3.94 FIP, 43.5 bWAR (2.7 bWAR/162 video games), 32.5 WAR-7 (mixed WAR for participant’s seven finest seasons), 5-time All-Star, World Collection MVP (1991)
Fernando Valenzuela17 seasons, 2,930 IP, 3.54 ERA, 104 ERA+, 3.61 FIP, 41.4 bWAR (3.2 bWAR/162), 33.5 WAR-7, 6-time All-Star, NL Cy Younger Award/Rookie of the Yr (1981)
Catfish Hunter (HOF)15 seasons, 3,449 1/3 IP, 3.26 ERA, 104 ERA+, 3.66 FIP, 40.9 bWAR (2.8 bWAR/162), 34.9 WAR-7, 8-time All-Star, AL Cy Younger Award (1974)
Past these favorable comparisons, Valenzuela’s resume additionally options some distinctive distinctions.
Valenzuela is the final pitcher to throw 20 or extra full video games in a season (20 in 1986). He was additionally an iron man on the mound, making 255 consecutive begins earlier than happening the injured listing for the primary time in 1988.
Valenzuela was nice on the mound. However his impression and legacy transcend the sector. He represented the hopes of a complete nation when he made his massive league debut in 1980. And he captivated a metropolis and even followers all over the world along with his large 1981 marketing campaign.
He was the person for the second. And what he completed past the numbers is definitely worthy of Corridor of Fame consideration.
“What Fernandomania did for the Dodgers was construct era after era of Mexican-American followers,” John Thorn, MLB’s official historian, stated in 2021. “The Mexican-American neighborhood has all the time been massive in Los Angeles, however it was not connected to the Dodgers after they have been imported from Brooklyn.
“I believe it isn’t an excessive amount of to say that for Mexican-American communities, Valenzuela was a hero like Hank Greenberg was for the Jews. He made everyone really feel greater and welcome. They went to the stadium to see him.”
Fernandomania was a singular second in baseball historical past that continues to resonate amongst followers, notably Mexican-American followers who lived by the phenomenon and handed on its reminiscence to the subsequent era.
There are at the moment no Mexican-born gamers within the Baseball Corridor of Fame. A posthumous election of Valenzuela to Cooperstown would symbolize the last word recognition of his contributions to the sport and his impression on its development globally.
Valenzuela was with the Dodgers by the 1990 season earlier than pitching for the Angels, Orioles, Phillies, Padres and Cardinals from 1991-97.
However earlier than he donned Dodger blue in a sport for the ultimate time, he had yet one more magnificent second with the workforce for whom he made so many unforgettable recollections.
On June 29, 1990, the bespectacled veteran southpaw threw a no-hitter towards St. Louis at Dodger Stadium.
If Valenzuela is ultimately inducted into the Corridor of Fame, maybe somebody in Cooperstown on that day will heed the suggestion made by legendary Dodgers broadcaster Vin Scully upon the ultimate out of Valenzuela’s no-hitter.
“When you’ve got a sombrero,” Scully stated, “throw it to the sky.”
