On Fernando Valenzuela's birthday, LA celebrates its first World Series parade in decades

Los Angeles celebrated its first World Series parade in more than three decades on the birthday of Fernando Valenzuela, the legendary Dodger known as "El Toro." 

During the 1980s, the left-handed pitcher inspired what came to be known as "Fernandomania" as he rose to fame, starting with an award-winning rookie season that ended with a World Series title in 1981. It was the last time the Dodgers and Yankees faced off in the Fall Classic. 

Just three days before the start of this year's World Series, Valenzuela died at the age of 63.

"No. 34 is up here celebrating this with us," Dodgers announcer Joe Davis told the sold-out crowd at Dodger Stadium at the start of the ceremony commemorating the World Series win. "Let's celebrate a cultural and baseball icon." 

One fan attending Friday's parade was wearing Valenzuela's #34 jersey, emblazoned with a tribute to his 1981 debut, when he became the only major league player to win the Cy Young Award and Rookie of the Year. Jerry, a native of Tijuana, said he was still living in Mexico when he watched Valenzuela's first game. He wore the jersey to LA's last World Series parade, in 1988.

"It's been 36 years to come back and do it again, so it's a special day — not only for us but for Fernando Valenzuela, for the whole Dodger Nation," he said.

As a native of Etchohuaquila, Sonora, Mexico, Valenzuela has been widely credited with raising the popularity of the sport among Latinos. "He created more baseball fans, and Dodger fans, than any other player," Jaime Jarrín, the Dodgers broadcaster who called games from 1959-2022, said ahead of Valenzuela's jersey retirement last year. "Thanks to this kid, people fell in love with baseball. Especially within the Mexican community."

At the parade, Dodgers fan Vincent Edward Rodriguez held up a 1981 Kellogg's Corn Flakes box with Valenzuela's photo across it, which he has held onto for decades. "It was right after the first World Series he was in," Rodriguez said, saying that he plans to attend the unveiling of a mural of Valenzuela in Boyle Heights, one of many painted in LA in the days following his death.

Tributes to the player known for his distinct pitching style and brutal screwball were seen across Friday's parade and championship ceremony at Dodger Stadium, where a mural of him went up just before World Series Game 1. 

The opening game featured a mariachi performance paying tribute to him as his LA career highlights were aired on a videoboard. His wife and family members stood on the field for a moment of silence in his memory.

During Valenzuela's famed rookie season, before the Dodgers even headed to the World Series, Valenzuela was invited to the White House to meet with President Ronald Reagan and Mexico President José López Portillo, where he signed a baseball for Reagan. The June 1981 meeting was followed a few years later with the passing of a historic immigration law.

"At the time there had been no meaningful U.S. immigration law passed for 30 years," the Los Angeles Times reports. "But in the 1986, the Reagan White House helped pass the Immigration and Control Act, which granted amnesty to many undocumented immigrants. Many credit "the Fernando factor" for helping raise the President's awareness on the issue."

The Los Angeles City Council recently dubbed Nov. 1, his birthday, "Fernando Valenzuela Day."