by The Los Angeles Dodgers will honor franchise star Fernando Valenzuela with a jersey patch in the World Series and 2025 season.
The team unveiled the patch Thursday — a circular design with a black background, its name in white and a large No. 34 in Dodger blue.
Valenzuela, who sparked a fan phenomenon known as “Fernandomania” as a rookie and became a Dodgers legend, died Tuesday night at age 63.
In memory of our hero Fernando Valenzuela, the Dodgers will wear this uniform patch during the World Series and throughout the 2025 season. pic.twitter.com/7HozGMf2Tr
– Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) October 24, 2024
A cause of death was not given.
Valenzuela played for the Dodgers from 1980 to 1990 and then had stints with the Angels (1991), Orioles (1993), Phillies (1994), Padres (1995-97) and Cardinals (1997). He finished with a record of 173-153, a 3.54 ERA and 2,074 strikeouts in 2,930 innings over 453 games (424 starts).
He captivated Southern California in 1981 when, as a 20-year-old out of Mexico, he went 13-7 with a 2.48 ERA in 25 starts and pitched 11 complete games – eight of them shutouts – to win both Rookie of the Year and “Rookie of the Year” to win the National League Cy Young Award.
The Dodgers won the World Series that season against the New York Yankees – their opponent in this year’s World Series – and Valenzuela was 3-1 with a 2.21 ERA in five starts that postseason.
After playing in the majors for 17 seasons, Valenzuela served as the Spanish-language broadcaster for the Dodgers beginning in 2003. He had stepped away from his broadcasting duties before the start of these playoffs to “focus on his health,” the team said.
Field Level Media contributed to this report.
