Dodgers to retire Fernando Valenzuela's No. 34 before Friday's game against Rockies
The Los Angeles Dodgers will retire beloved pitcher Fernando Valenzuela's jersey number before Friday's matchup against the Colorado Rockies.
The retirement ceremony highlights an entire weekend dedicated to Valenzuela's lengthy career as one of baseball's most enthralling players. The "Fernandomania" weekend, begins Friday and lasts through Sunday, honoring the legendary pitcher's 11-year Dodgers career.
His number 34, which has not been worn since, will be the twelfth retired in franchise history, but the first by a former team member that isn't enshrined in the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame.
"To be a part of the group that includes so many legends is a great honor," said Fernando Valenzuela. "But also for the fans — the support they've given me as a player and working for the Dodgers, this is also for them. I'm happy for all the fans and all the people who have followed my career. They're going to be very excited to know that my No. 34 is being retired."
Prior to the ceremony, Valenzuela, now 62, will be honored at Los Angeles City Hall, where the city council will declare August 11 as "Fernando Valenzuela Day."
The Etchohuaquila, Sonora, Mexico native fondly known as "El Toro" took the Los Angeles crowds by storm back in the 1980s, captivating fans with his signature windup and high leg kick prior to nearly every pitch, many of which were his devastating screwball.
Over the course of his professional career, Valenzuela was named to six All-Star Games, won the 1981 Rookie of the Year and Cy Young Awards, won the 1981 World Series with the Dodgers and earned one Gold Glove and two Silver Slugger Awards. He threw the sole no-hitter of his career in 1990, what would be his final season with the Boys in Blue, against the St. Louis Cardinals. The accomplishment garnered one of Vin Scully's most memorable exclamations: "If you have a sombrero, throw it to the sky!"
Through his 11 seasons as a Dodger, Valenzuela solidified his spot as one of the franchise's best-ever pitchers, still ranking in the top 10 amongst all-time leaders in wins (sixth), strikeouts (fifth), innings (fourth), starts (fourth), complete games (fourth) and shutouts (fifth).
He is widely credited with getting so many Mexican-Americans to begin following the Dodgers, and finished his 17-year career with the the most ever wins (173) and strikeouts (2,074) among Mexican-born players.
"He created more baseball fans, and Dodger fans, than any other player," said Jaime Jarrín, beloved former broadcaster who called Dodger games from 1959-2022. "Thanks to this kid, people fell in love with baseball. Especially within the Mexican community."
"For my generation, I'm talking Generation X, the children of Mexican immigrants that grew up in Southern California in the 1980s, he's not a myth, he was a hero. He was the Mexican who made it and was destroying all of the competition. All fathers wanted their sons to be the next Fernando Valenzuela, and all of us kids would imitate his delivery, looking up to the sky, hands up in the air high and everything. He was one of us, and we wanted to be like him," said Cruz Angeles, who directed an ESPN 30 for 30 documentary centered around Valenzuela.
Following his tenure in Los Angeles, Valenzuela pitched for several other big league teams including the then-California Angels, the Baltimore Orioles, Philadelphia Phillies, San Diego Padres and the St. Louis Cardinals. He also spent several off seasons pitching in Mexico, and continued to pitch in the Mexican Baseball League until he retired in 2006.
Valenzuela was inducted into the Hispanic Heritage Baseball Museum Hall of Fame in August 2003 during a on-field ceremony at Dodger Stadium. He was enshrined into the Caribbean Baseball Hall of Fame in 2013 and had his No. 34 retired by the Mexican Baseball League in 2019.
Since retiring, and on top of calling Dodger games, Valenzuela has coached and managed for Team Mexico in international competitions, which include the World Baseball Classic.
As "Fernandomania" weekend continues, the first 40,000 fans to enter Dodger Stadium will receive a Fernando Valenzuela bobblehead. Attendees of Sunday's matinee matchup against the Rockies will receive a replica Valenzuela 1981 World Series ring.