Fernando Valenzuela’s Former Teammates React to Death of Dodgers Legend
“A crushing blow” was delivered to the Dodgers and baseball community late Tuesday night as the Los Angeles Dodgers confirmed the passing of Fernando Valenzuela. He was 63.
Read more: Dodgers Legendary Pitcher, Broadcaster Fernando Valenzuela Dies at 63
The former pitcher had been hospitalized for weeks with an undisclosed illness that his family wished to keep private.
“This is a crushing blow even though I knew he was in really, really bad shape,” retired broadcaster Jaime Jarrin, who was Valenzuela’s interpreter during his first years in the majors and then as his broadcast partner later, told the Orange County Register. “He was very special to me — and to Dodger fans.”
Several of Valenzuela’s former teammates took to social media or were interviewed about his passing.
Second baseman Steve Sax remembered Valenzuela’s impact on the minor league players.
“It was just astounding how much players were attached,” Sax recalled in an interview with MLB Network Radio. “There was a TV in the dugout so we could capture everything Fernando was doing. That’s how much he was captivating, even to other players.”
Ron Cey remembered how Valenzuela created a new audience.
“To have a Hispanic player come to the top and create a new audience essentially to come to Dodger Stadium was a big deal.”
The Dodgers signed Valenzuela in 1979 and he arrived in the big leagues a year later, but his big breakout was on Opening Day in 1981. He unexpectedly stepped up as the Dodgers’ Opening Day starter after Jerry Reuss was sidelined with an injury.
“The way he got that first start,” Orel Hershiser, a longtime teammate of Valenzuela’s said to the Orange County Register. “He had just thrown his side session the day before but when they asked him he just said, ‘Sure, I can take the ball.’ … He was just a baseball player through and through.”
Valenzuela wrapped up his career with a 173-153 record and a 3.54 ERA, which included 141 wins as a Dodger—ranking him ninth on the franchise’s all-time wins list.
It wasn’t enough for him to be enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame, but his No. 34 was never worn again by a Dodgers player and was officially retired by the club last year.
“I’m so glad they broke protocol and retired his number. It was well-deserved,” said Hershiser. “His impact on baseball, on the L.A. Dodgers, the city and what he meant to Latino fans changed the way Dodger baseball was seen.
“I hate to compare him to Jackie Robinson. It wasn’t breaking the color barrier. But what he did … he was a change agent.”
Major League Baseball will honor Valenzuela at the World Series.
Read more: Fernando Valenzuela to Be Honored at 2024 World Series Between Dodgers and Yankees
Photo Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
