I was assigned that number, but I really dont know whats going to happen. Impianto di terra cantiere alto. Although it was not an elimination game, it was definitely a must-win situation. 2002 Baseball Hall of Fame Voting Results. Now, more than 40% of the teams fans are Latino. Valenzuela was scheduled to pitch Game 7 in New York, but as it turned out, his heroics in Game 3 helped set the Dodgers on a path to making that start unnecessary. Years later, Lopez made his own statement with a No. How Palm Springs ran out Black and Latino families to build a fantasy for rich, white people, 17 SoCal hiking trails that are blooming with wildflowers (but probably not for long! That list starts with Jackie Robinson for African Americans, and it also includes Hideo Nomo and Ichiro for the Japanese, Chan Ho Park for Koreans, Tony Lazzeri for Italian-Americans and Al Simmons (Szymanski) for Polish-Americans. 19), the club's first-base coach who died before the start of the 1978 World Series. We have Jackie Robinson, and we know his status in popular culture. In those first eight games, everything went well, good run support, good defense, says Valenzuela, who became the first -- and to date, the only pitcher to claim both the Rookie of the Year Award and the Cy Young in the same season. The screwball that dropped straight down in the strike zone was best against the most disciplined hitters. . Required fields are marked *. [40] . Voters were instructed to cast votes for up to 10 candidates; any candidate receiving votes on at least 75% of the ballots would be honored with induction to the Hall. ), At Willie Nelson 90, country, rock and rap stars pay tribute, but Willie and Trigger steal the show, Plaschke: Lakers live up to their legacy with a close-out win for the ages, Elliott: Pissed off Kings must improve in key areas to break Oilers playoff stranglehold, Shohei Ohtanis seventh home run of the season helps Angels avoid sweep, Florida Panthers upset record-setting Boston Bruins in Game 7 OT thriller, Lakers vs. Warriors: What scouts expect in playoff series, School is in session as Sparks begin training camp. He attends every game, but he has maintained his laid-back style, staying put in the press box during pregame batting practice to keep from being a distraction. He won the Rookie of the Year award and Cy Young award, given annually to the best pitcher in each league. Doug McKain 06/30/2021. The fact that he was Mexican and that he was so good, and so humble while on such an incredible run was inspiring, Lopez says. Week Team League; 04/11/1981: Los Angeles Dodgers: NL: 09/05/1981: Los Angeles Dodgers He won 141 games (8th in franchise history). Valenzuela deserves a place alongside him. Note: With the Mexico Series taking place this weekend (April 29 and 30) between the Padres and Giants, we wanted to highlight some of the great Mexican players and stories from baseball's past. Sooner or later, it has to be properly recognized. Valenzuela's secret weapon was a screwball, a pitch he learned from Dodgers pitcher Bobby Castillo 18 months earlier. The only left-handed pitcher in the Hall of Fame with a WAR lower than Valenzuelas is Rube Marquard (32.5), who began pitching in 1908. He further internationalized the player pool. Bob Uecker received the Ford C. Frick Award honoring a baseball broadcaster. Nathalie Alonso is part of the editorial team of LasMayores.com, MLBs official Spanish-language website. Hall of Fame Inductee Fernando Valenzuela and his daughter attend the 12th Annual California Hall of Fame Ceremony at The California Museum on December 4, 2018 in Sacramento, California. Through the 1986 season, he was 99-68 with a 2.94 earned-run average, 84 complete games and 24 shutouts. Valenzuela should be enshrined in the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. They went to the stadium to see him.. The children of Valenzuelas fans, and now even their children, have become Dodgers fans. When I came up in 1980, it was at my locker. How many . Opening day of 1981 launched "Fernandomania," a phenomenon in Los Angeles and then the nation named after the Mexican-born pitcher. TV ratings spiked, too. His teammates were so captivated, says Littwin, who wrote many Valenzuela-related stories in 1981. In terms of player comparisons, over the last 25 years guys like Bruce Sutter, Jack Morris, Bill Mazeroski and Jim Rice have all been elected. He made everybody feel bigger and welcome. There can be consequences to throwing that pitch over and over.. Outside of Jackie Robinson and maybe Babe Ruth, Valenzuela reshaped baseballs landscape more than any other player in history. Candidates who were eligible for the first time are indicated here with a dagger (). If things had turned out differently, if I didnt do my job, we dont know if there would have been more opportunities, no? Valenzuela said. Forty years later, he still has the memento. 39), Jackie Robinson (No. It would be really great if they remembered me as someone who always tried his best to always give them a good show, so that they could have fun with this beautiful game.. This story was originally published on April 16, 2021. The Dodgers were one of the first teams to cater to Spanish speakers with Spanish broadcasts. ! "Fernando helped get the Dodgers back on track (with fans)," he says. Everyone was clamoring for Fernando stories and it was just so unbelievable the amount of attention he was getting, says Steve Brener, who was the director of publicity for the Dodgers from 1970-87. We then had Sandy Koufax, who became an icon for Eastern Europeans trying to assimilate into America right at that time. It wasnt a dream come true because nobody could have dreamed it.. Didnt . He finished top-3 in Cy Young voting two more times before fizzling out in 1990. Lasorda, who could communicate effectively in Spanish with Latin American players after several seasons managing in the Dominican Winter League, visited the mound after Cerones homer with his pitcher on the ropes. His screwgi wad unique, his defense won him gold gloves his hitting silver bats. #ProspectHugger. Your email address will not be published. People in U.S. soccer circles have spent decades looking for a Mexican American star and the best they have come up with is, who, Herculez Gomez? I threw well -- nine innings, nine zeros. If you look at that video, everybody in that stadium is of the same mind and thinking, She might have kissed him, but we all kissed him, too. We all wanted to get close to him and hug him. He could hit, he could bunt, field his position. Im not saying that they should not have been elected, but Im saying that if they are in,then Fernando should be in too. I cant remember one player who captured the fantasy of the fans and the media the way Fernando did. How many strikeouts did Fernando Valenzuela have? He could do everything on a baseball field but run. He had it right away, and I think it was exemplified in that game, Game 3, against the Yankees. Valenzuela received 6.2% of the votes from the Baseball Writers' Association of America in his first year on the ballot in 2003 and fell off the writers ballot after receiving less than 5% of the vote in '04. Jarrn has often remarked on their loyalty. In 2019, Valenzuela joined Don Newcombe and Garvey in the inaugural class of the Legends of Dodger Baseball in recognition of their impact on the franchise on and off the field. Position: Starting Pitcher. Valenzuela had a solid career, finishing with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1997. This articleby Jos M. Alamillo tells his amazing story of how Fernando impacted him. Im someone who is very reserved, Valenzuela says. Both cycles first concluded with elections in February 2003, electing no one. Dodgers pitcher Fernando Valenzuela delivers during a win over the Philadelphia Phillies on May 23, 1984. The baseball world -- on and off the field -- would never be the same. Maybe the Dodgers will come to their senses by then. But its entertainment for the fans. Shes like us, out there running around with a T-shirt with blue sleeves that she bought at a hardware store and had 34 ironed on the back. Fernando Valenzuela became a fan favorite in Los Angelesand beyond. Kellogg's Corn Flakes put him on a box of cereal. But he was arguably the best pitcher in baseball for a 6-year span and a true Dodger legend. And in my opinion, Fernando should have pitched another five years easy if it wasnt because Lasorda didnt care for the welfare if this great Mexican pitcher that came to the Dodgers from a little town in Sonora, Mexico. While he played for six MLB teams, his longest tenure was with the Los Angeles Dodgers. They had no telephone, so we surprised them. Theres Pee Wee Reese (No. Future Hall of Famer Randy Johnson had already thrown one no-hitter during the 1990 season when he combined with Chuck Finley to throw another one in Japan. Bobby Cox, Bud Selig,John Schuerholz, Bruce Sutter, Bill Mazeroski, and many others without the qualifications of Valenzuela are in the Hall of Fame. On-field excellence aside, his impact off the field for many people of Mexican and Latino heritage made Fernando so important. Hall of Famer Warren Spahn, 1974 Dodgers Cy Young winner Mike Marshall and Mets and Phillies icon Tug McGraw also threw screwballs. By then, Fernandomania was in full swing. For me, it was about what you did for the game and how you impacted the sport. Gwynn owns all-time Padres records for batting average, runs, hits, total bases, doubles, triples, RBIs, walks, stolen bases and games played. Thats why for me, that game at the start of the season was really important for my career.. That support was always there. Valenzuelas place in history is secure. Valenzuela, the National League's starting pitcher in the All-Star Game as a rookie, finished the strike-shortened 1981 season with a 13-7 won-loss record and a 2.48 ERA, one of the best in the big leagues. I was assigned that number. Only three players led by Gil Hodges (61%) tallied more than fifty percent support. In that stretch, he struck out 68 and allowed four earned runs in 72 innings for a mind-boggling 0.50 ERA. Many of these residents were Mexican Americans, who became embittered and remained cool to the Dodgers for decades afterward. As Fernandomania was taking off, Mike Littwin, then a reporter for the Los Angeles Times, visitedthe pitcher's hometown. Hes a third generation Dodgers fan whose love for the team can be traced back to his Brooklyn-born grandfather. Its almost always easier for a lefty pitcher to throw those kinds of pitches.. Valenzuela was an All-Star in each of his first 6 seasons. Fernando Valenzuela. Walk-up sales increased from 8,000 to 12,000 fans on nights Valenzuela pitched. Fernando was in the inaugural class because of the impact he had here and because of the following he continues to have among our fanbase.. Jarrn said his favorite memory of the 1981 season was of the time he accompanied Valenzuela to a luncheon at the White House that was staged in honor of then-Mexican President Jose Lopez Portillo. Rick Circleliff (1979/1984) - NL 5. Less than a year later, Valenzuela made his big league debut. His family lived on a dirt road that was filled with potholes, he says. The program is trying to recapture its traditions while building new ones in the modern era. It was a cultural phenomenon that galvanized a minority community. And then the next wave was Fernando, who captured the attention of the entire Hispanic world.. Valenzuela also was unflappable, a rarity for a player so young. He changed our lives.. Back then, the pair emerged as dominant Latino figures in the sport with Jarrn narrating Valenzuelas achievements to Spanish-speaking audiences in the U.S., Latin America and beyond. A $300-million (minimum) gondola to Dodger Stadium? Learn how and when to remove this template message, List of members of the Baseball Hall of Fame, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=2003_Baseball_Hall_of_Fame_balloting&oldid=1146471837, Articles needing additional references from January 2021, All articles needing additional references, Pages using multiple image with auto scaled images, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Hall of Fame member elected on this ballot (named in, Hall of Fame member elected subsequently to 2023 (named in. No Dodgers player has worn Valenzuelas jersey No. Fernando Valenzuela went on to pitch 11 years for the Dodgers (1980-1990). For my generation, Im talking Generation X, the children of Mexican immigrants that grew up in Southern California in the 1980s, hes not a myth, he was a hero. 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. When we see managers, commissioners, and front office personnel elected to the Hall of Fame with sketchy contributions to the game, and players like Fernando Valenzuela are not, then something is wrong. Only umpire Doug Harvey tallied more than fifty percent support. And in the ultimate sign of fame and ubiquity, he became recognized by his first name only. Ryne Sandberg was selected a total of ten times, while Eddie Murray (eight times), Lee Smith (seven), Fernando Valenzuela (six) and Tony Pea (five) were all selected at least five times. During that moment, as still photographs showed, Valenzuelas eyes rolled back into his head. Rules enacted in August 2001 provided that the Veterans Committee would be expanded from its previous 15 members, elected to limited terms, and it would vote by mail rather than convene. The reporter spoke Spanish, and while the English lessons lasted only a few weeks, the pair built a bond that still exists. [1], The process would cover players every two years and other contributors (managers, umpires and executives) every four years. Eliminated from annual BBWAA consideration by poor performance or expiration on this ballot. Then again, the Dodgers are the same organization whose miscalculations resulted in a seven-year television blackout. The mission of the Seneca Valley School District Sports Hall of Fame is to recognize the outstanding athletic contributions of Seneca Valley Alumni in their respective athletic endeavors and to promote pride in the athletic heritage of the Seneca Valley community as a whole. He's irreplaceable. You cannot like what happened at Chavez Ravine and still love the Dodgers, says Arellano, who also taught Chicano Studies at Cal State Fullerton. Numbers are there to be worn. Came from Mexico in the late 70's, and Fernando made him a baseball fan. Fernando Valenzuela was one of MLB's most beloved players over his 17-season career. Valenzuela is not the first Mexican or Mexican-American big leaguer in baseball. Valenzuela was an All-Star in each of his first 6 seasons. It is too bad that his arm injury ruined what was a sure-fire Hall of Fame career in 1986. The ballot consisted of 33 players; 496 ballots were cast, with 372 votes required for election. 34 from their jersey rotation. Especially in L.A., this guy still inspires us. He knew how to play the game. Or he could be elected to his rightful place in the Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee, which considers candidates who are no longer eligible to be voted in by the Baseball Writers Association of America. Peak 38% Longevity 62% Rankings by Hall Rating 522nd All Time (Top 2.3%) 178th among Pitchers Franchise Contributions by Hall Rating LAD 64 (19th) Valenzuela should be enshrined in the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. What position did Fernando Valenzuela play? I always say, maybe if things hadnt gone so well, we dont know if I would have had more chances. Army family housing appropriation thresholds. She just threw her arms in the air and embraced him, Lopez says. He knew what I could do, and I think thats one of the reasons why he let me finish that game in the World Series..