{"id":85070,"date":"2025-12-07T14:26:47","date_gmt":"2025-12-07T14:26:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/85070\/"},"modified":"2025-12-07T14:26:47","modified_gmt":"2025-12-07T14:26:47","slug":"why-its-past-time-to-elect-fernando-valenzuela-to-the-hall-of-fame","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/85070\/","title":{"rendered":"Why it’s past time to elect Fernando Valenzuela to the Hall of Fame"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In 2023, the Dodgers finally retired<\/a> the number 34, worn with distinction by Fernando Valenzuela<\/a>. It had been 42 years since the season of Fernandomania, 26 years since Valenzuela last threw a pitch in the major leagues.<\/p>\n

Better late than never. The Dodgers generally do not retire the numbers of players not selected for the Hall of Fame, but it is never too late to do the right thing.<\/p>\n

On Sunday, a committee is set to vote<\/a> on whether Valenzuela should be admitted to the Hall of Fame. To the committee members: We commend Valenzuela to you with that same adage \u2014 it is never too late to do the right thing.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe deserves to be in the Hall of Fame,\u201d said longtime Dodgers broadcaster Jaime Jarr\u00edn<\/a>, himself a Hall of Famer.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Hall of Fame is a special, special place, of course. But, what Fernando did for baseball, very few have done.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eight players are on the ballot, given a second chance at Cooperstown after the Baseball Writers Assn. of America passed on them all: Valenzuela, Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Carlos Delgado, Jeff Kent, Don Mattingly, Dale Murphy and Gary Sheffield.<\/p>\n

The 16-person committee includes seven Hall of Famers, two owners (the Angels\u2019 Arte Moreno<\/a> is one), four former general managers, two writers and one statistician. Each committee member can vote for up to three players; 12 votes are required for election.<\/p>\n

By the numbers alone, Valenzuela\u2019s candidacy is borderline. Sandy Koufax<\/a> or Clayton Kershaw<\/a>, he was not.<\/p>\n

Still, of the 90 pitchers in the Hall, according to Baseball Reference, Valenzuela had a better earned-run average<\/a> (3.54) than 11 of them. One of them, Jack Morris, had a 3.90 ERA. He was elected by a committee just like the one that will consider Valenzuela.<\/p>\n

Morris was a workhorse and five-time All-Star best known for one game<\/a>: a 10-inning shutout in Game 7 of the 1991 World Series. But Valenzuela, a workhorse, Cy Young Award winner and six-time All-Star, threw a 147-pitch complete game<\/a> in Game 3 of the 1981 World Series, with the Dodgers at risk of losing the first three games of the series. The career postseason ERA for Valenzuela: 1.98. For Morris: 3.80.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re evaluating Valenzuela on the numbers alone, you\u2019re missing half the story, and the legacy of a player that transformed a city and a sport.<\/p>\n

The Dodgers built their stadium on land that was previously home to three Latino neighborhoods. The city of Los Angeles had envisioned grand housing projects there and kicked out the residents, long before the Dodgers moved from Brooklyn. The projects never were built, but many Latinos considered the destruction of the neighborhoods and removal of the residents as something of the Dodgers\u2019 original sin and vowed never to set foot inside Dodger Stadium.<\/p>\n

Until 1981, that is, when a shy, modestly pudgy and virtually anonymous Mexican 20-year-old showed up, looked to the heavens before every pitch, and started his rookie season with eight consecutive victories<\/a>, including seven complete games and five shutouts.<\/p>\n

That was the origin of Fernandomania<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Shohei Ohtani<\/a> lures baseball fans from everywhere. Valenzuela lured humans from everywhere.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople who hadn\u2019t really thought about baseball, or Dodger Stadium,\u201d said Peter O\u2019Malley<\/a>, who became the Dodgers\u2019 president in 1970 and then owner from 1979-1998. \u201cSuddenly, they were coming. They were flying from all over to see him.<\/p>\n

\"Los <\/p>\n

Fernando Valenzuela looks up before throwing a pitch.<\/p>\n

(Jayne Kamin-Oncea \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

\u201cHe captured the imagination of everyone. It was the most exciting time for me on my watch.\u201d<\/p>\n

If they didn\u2019t come to Dodger Stadium, they came to see him somewhere else. President Reagan invited Valenzuela to a White House event with the president of Mexico.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was able to create such interest in baseball \u2014 not only in the Dodgers, but baseball in general,\u201d Jarr\u00edn said. \u201cIn St. Louis. In Atlanta. In New York. In Chicago. They went wild when Fernando was throwing \u2014 10,000 extra people at the ballpark when he was pitching.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Dodgers hurriedly set up a radio network in Mexico, so Jarr\u00edn\u2019s broadcasts of Valenzuela\u2019s games could be heard south of the border.<\/p>\n

And talk about bringing the city together: In Los Angeles, half the television sets in use were tuned to a Valenzuela start on one Friday night, 60% on one Sunday, The Times reported.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was like watching the pope,\u201d actor Danny Trejo said in The Times\u2019 12-part Fernandomania @ 40<\/a> documentary series. It\u2019s worth watching, especially if you are one of the committee members voting Sunday.<\/p>\n

The series did not focus on interviews with players, or with fans. Valenzuela\u2019s impact on the community was told largely through the words of a playwright, a filmmaker, a historian, an actor, a singer, a songwriter, and a mayor.<\/p>\n

Said O\u2019Malley: \u201cHe has never gotten the credit he deserves for the impact he made on baseball \u2014 not just on the Dodger organization, but on Mexican baseball, international baseball, and the community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Valenzuela belongs in the Hall of Fame because his legacy outlasted his career.<\/p>\n

The Dodgers did not draw 3 million fans in any of their first 20 years in Los Angeles. They drew 3.6 million in Valenzuela\u2019s first full season, 3.5 million in his second, and now 3 million is a disappointment rather than an aspiration.<\/p>\n

Jarr\u00edn said the Dodgers\u2019 Latino fan base had grown from \u201c8, 9, 10%\u201d when he started calling their games in 1959 to close to 50% now.<\/p>\n

And, when Valenzuela debuted, O\u2019Malley said international baseball was \u201ca nonexistent subject\u201d in league meetings. In the wake of a World Series that set record ratings<\/a> in Canada and Japan, and in anticipation of the World Baseball Classic three months away, Valenzuela\u2019s election to the Hall of Fame would be not only worthy but entirely fitting.<\/p>\n

\"Fernando <\/p>\n

Fernando Valenzuela in 1982.<\/p>\n

(George Rose \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

The Hall of Fame includes players born in<\/a> Canada, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Japan, Panama, Puerto Rico, the Netherlands and Venezuela.<\/p>\n

Valenzuela would be the first player from Mexico. The Hall of Fame\u2019s motto: \u201cPreserving history, honoring excellence, connecting generations.\u201d Who better fits?<\/p>\n

\u201cA whole nation is very aware of the Hall of Fame,\u201d Jarr\u00edn said. \u201cI\u2019m sure they would declare a holy day on the day Fernando gets in.\u201d<\/p>\n

And we know what we would say: If you have a sombrero, throw it to the sky<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In 2023, the Dodgers finally retired the number 34, worn with distinction by Fernando Valenzuela. It had been…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":85071,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[2135,17289,426,2847,21667,423,24771,48011,48010,48,52,51,47,50,49,63,2457,212,9442,21670,4470],"class_list":["post-85070","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-baseball","tag-committee","tag-dodgers","tag-fame","tag-fernando-valenzuela","tag-game","tag-hall","tag-jack-morris","tag-jarrin","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news","tag-los-angeles-times","tag-mexico","tag-number","tag-player","tag-stadium","tag-world-series"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85070","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=85070"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85070\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/85071"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=85070"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=85070"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=85070"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}