There have been 147 Mexican-born players in MLB history. The greatest among them was the legendary Fernando Valenzuela, who became an instant sensation with the Dodgers in the early 1980s and the only pitcher in Major League history to win both a Rookie of the Year Award and a Cy Young Award in the same year (1981).
Valenzuela, who passed away in 2024, had one of baseball’s most unique deliveries, one which featured the left-hander looking up to the sky before unleashing each pitch. And he made his mark on the game in ways that few others have.
Now that he’s on the Contemporary Baseball Era ballot, with the vote taking place at the Winter Meetings in Orlando, Fla., next month, it’s a good time to examine Valenzuela’s case for Cooperstown, one which could make him the first Mexican-born player to be elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Fernandomania, an iconic baseball moment
You can’t tell the story of baseball in the early 1980s — or the story of baseball in Mexico, for that matter — without talking about “Fernandomania,” a euphoric six months in Los Angeles in 1981, when Valenzuela burst onto the Major League scene and captured the hearts of untold numbers of baseball fans around the world.
Making his debut out of the bullpen at just 19 years old the prior September, Valenzuela made his first big league start on April 9, 1981, becoming the first rookie to start on the mound on Opening Day for the Dodgers. On that day against 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 more complete games in succession (four of them were shutouts). He then threw nine more innings in his next outing, a game the Dodgers won in the bottom of the ninth.
It was an incredible eight-game stretch over which Valenzuela struck out 68, walked 17 and yielded only four runs over 72 innings (0.50 ERA).
And as it all unfolded, so did a cultural phenomenon that was dubbed “Fernandomania,” which led to throngs of new baseball fans and a jam-packed Dodger Stadium on days Valenzuela pitched.
Valenzuela went on to be named an All-Star and finished the season with a 2.48 ERA over 25 starts (11 complete games, eight shutouts).
He also helped the Dodgers reach and win the 1981 World Series, posting a 2.21 ERA over five playoff starts — pitching at least eight innings in four of them. That included a complete-game victory in Game 3 of the World Series against the Yankees.
Favorable Cooperstown comps
From 1981-86, no starting pitcher threw more innings than Valenzuela’s 1,537. Only one pitcher threw more than Valenzuela’s 84 complete games — Jack Morris (89). And in Morris, we have quite an interesting comparison of contemporaries, one of whom is a Hall of Famer and the other on this year’s Contemporary Baseball Era ballot.
Morris was elected to the Hall of Fame by way of the Modern Baseball Era committee in 2018. When you compare Morris’ numbers — as well as those of another Hall of Fame right-hander, Catfish Hunter — to Valenzuela’s, there are some clear parallels:
Fernando Valenzuela
17 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 Young Award/Rookie of the Year (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 Young Award (1974)
Beyond those favorable comparisons, Valenzuela’s resume also features some unique distinctions.
Valenzuela is the last pitcher to throw 20 or more complete games in a season (20 in 1986). He was also an iron man on the mound, making 255 consecutive starts before going on the injured list for the first time in 1988.
Valenzuela was great on the mound. But his impact and legacy go beyond the field. He represented the hopes of an entire nation when he made his big league debut in 1980. And he captivated a city and even fans around the world with his tremendous 1981 campaign.
He was the man for the moment. And what he accomplished beyond the numbers is certainly worthy of Hall of Fame consideration.
“What Fernandomania did for the Dodgers was build generation after generation of Mexican-American fans,” John Thorn, MLB’s official historian, said in 2021. “The Mexican-American community has always been large in Los Angeles, but it was not attached to the Dodgers when they were imported from Brooklyn.
“I think it is not too much to say that for Mexican-American communities, Valenzuela was a hero like Hank Greenberg was for the Jews. He made everybody feel bigger and welcome. They went to the stadium to see him.”
Fernandomania was a singular moment in baseball history that continues to resonate among fans, particularly Mexican-American fans who lived through the phenomenon and passed on its memory to the next generation.
There are currently no Mexican-born players in the Baseball Hall of Fame. A posthumous election of Valenzuela to Cooperstown would represent the ultimate recognition of his contributions to the game and his impact on its advancement globally.
Valenzuela was with the Dodgers through the 1990 season before pitching for the Angels, Orioles, Phillies, Padres and Cardinals from 1991-97.
But before he donned Dodger blue in a game for the final time, he had one more magnificent moment with the team for whom he made so many unforgettable memories.
On June 29, 1990, the bespectacled veteran southpaw threw a no-hitter against St. Louis at Dodger Stadium.
If Valenzuela is eventually inducted into the Hall of Fame, perhaps someone in Cooperstown on that day will heed the suggestion made by legendary Dodgers broadcaster Vin Scully upon the final out of Valenzuela’s no-hitter.
“If you have a sombrero,” Scully said, “throw it to the sky.”
