Fernando Valenzuela
| Fernando Valenzuela | |||
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Valenzuela with the Dodgers in 1981
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| Pitcher | |||
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Born: November 1, 1960 Navojoa, Sonora, Mexico |
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| MLB debut | |||
| September 15, 1980, for the Los Angeles Dodgers | |||
| Last MLB appearance | |||
| July 14, 1997, for the St. Louis Cardinals | |||
| MLB statistics | |||
| Win–loss record | 173–153 | ||
| Earned run average | 3.54 | ||
| Strikeouts | 2,074 | ||
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| Career highlights and awards | |||
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| Member of the Mexican Baseball Hall of Fame | |||
 Baseball Hall of Fame
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| Inducted | 2014 | ||
Fernando Valenzuela Anguamea (Spanish pronunciation: [ferˈnando βalenˈswela]; born November 1, 1960), is a Mexican former Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher who played seventeen seasons, from 1980 to 1997, for six teams, primarily the Los Angeles Dodgers. He batted and threw left-handed. He has a career won-loss record of 173–153 and a 3.54 earned run average (ERA). Valenzuela was notable for his unorthodox windup and for being one of a small number of pitchers who threw a screwball regularly. Never a particularly hard thrower, the Dodgers felt he needed another pitch; he was taught the screwball in 1979 by teammate Bobby Castillo
Valenzuela was signed by the Dodgers on July 6, 1979 and debuted late in the 1980 season. In 1981, in what came to be called “Fernandomania”, Valenzuela rose from relative obscurity to achieve superstardom. He won his first eight starts (five of them shutouts). Valenzuela finished with a record of 13-7 and had a 2.48 ERA; the season was shortened by a player’s strike. He became the first, and to date, the only player to win both Cy Young and rookie of the year awards in the same season.
Fernando Valenzuela’s best statistical seasons were 1981 through the 1986 seasons. He was named a National League (NL) All-Star in each season and won a major league-leading 21 games in 1986, losing a second Cy Young Award to Mike Scott of the Houston Astros. Valenzuela was also known as one of the better hitting pitchers of his era. He had ten career home runs and was occasionally used by Los Angeles Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda as a pinch-hitter For the remainder of his Dodgers career, however, Valenzuela was less effective due largely to shoulder problems. He was on the Dodgers’ 1988 World Series championship team, but he did not play in the postseason due to his ailing shoulder. On June 29, 1990, Valenzuela pitched his only major league no-hitter in a 6-0 win against the visiting St. Louis Cardinals. The no-hitter was notable for being the second one pitched that day. Earlier, right-hander Dave Stewart of the Oakland Athletics no-hit the Toronto Blue Jays in Toronto, Ontario, Canada in a 5-0 win. It is the only instance in Major League Baseball history of two no-hitters being pitched on the same day. However, after the season, Valenzuela was released by the Dodgers. The remainder of his career was spent with the former California Angels, the Baltimore Orioles, the Philadelphia Phillies, the San Diego Padres, and the St. Louis Cardinals.
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