Fernando's Number 34 Retired

Fernando Valenzuela Number 34 Retired by Dodgers

By David A. Avila

Finally, the number 34 uniform worn by Los Angeles Dodger great Fernando Valenzuela was officially retired.

It was a long wait but happened on Friday August 11, 2023.

“It’s a great pleasure for me to be part of the Dodgers for a little bit over 10 years,” said Valenzuela. “Thank you very much. Gracias.”

The Dodger organization that has led in fan attendance for decades, eventually realized just how important the southpaw hurler from Sonora Mexico meant to them. Almost every year you can count on attendance surpassing the 3 million mark and leading all Major League Baseball teams in attendance.

If you ever visit a Dodger game you will immediately notice almost half of the fans in the stands are Latino.

Fernando Valenzuela can be pointed as the primary reason Latinos love the Dodgers.

Back in 1980, Valenzuela was called up from the minor leagues to help the Dodgers who were in a heated battle with the Houston Astros in the National League race. The Mexican lefty pitched 17 important innings for the Dodgers and did not allow an earned run.

The Dodgers did not make the playoffs that year, but Valenzuela’s contributions perked the interest of manager Tom Lasorda and the Dodger brain trust. The Mexican pitcher who was only 19 was invited back for 1981.

Few knew what to expect from Valenzuela. He was mostly unknown and discovered by Dodger scout Mike Brito who is known for always earing Panama hats. The team purchased the contract from a Mexican team in Tampico and brought to the Dodger organization.

Magic Season 

On Opening Day in 1981, the original starting pitcher for the Dodgers was unable to toe the mound. Valenzuela was asked to start at age 20 years old. That day he fired a shutout game against the Houston Astros who had captured first place over the Dodgers the season before.

Valenzuela dazzled the Astros with his baffling screwball and the rest of the National League that year. In his next start he allowed the San Francisco Giants one run and followed that with three more shutout wins. He pitched eight complete nine inning games.

Dodger fans were in hysterics over Valenzuela and suddenly this young 20-year-old unknown pitcher from Mexico was the talk of not only baseball, but sports fans around the world. Sports pages in England even talked about this portly kid from Mexico.

Newspapers called it Fernando Mania.

Suddenly everyone wanted to see Valenzuela pitch in person. Fans clamored for tickets and to see what magic the kid from Navajoa, Mexico was brewing on the pitching mound. Nobody could seem to hit him. The Dodgers were on fire behind him.

Everyone wanted a piece of Valenzuela’s magic.

During the first month Valenzuela was all over Los Angeles County visiting kids and parks with other Dodger rookies like Mike Scoscia, Steve Howe and Pedro Guerrero.

I personally remember seeing the Dodger rookies visit City Terrace Park in East Los Angeles. Hundreds of kids and their parents waited for Valenzuela who patiently signed autographs and posed for photos for the mostly Mexican-American fans patiently waiting. All the Dodger rookies posed for photos and signed autographs.

That day Valenzuela visited East L.A. I took hundreds of photos of the City Terrace Park visit. Sadly, all of the photos were destroyed by flooding in the basement of my East L.A. home.

Later, it was revealed that Valenzuela lived across the street from Fresno Playground a recreation park near the Santa Ana Freeway in East L.A. Not far from City Terrace Park. Reportedly, it was the home of scout Mike Brito who had other discoveries too.

One of Brito’s other finds was pitcher Ramon “Babo” Castillo a kid from East L.A. It was he who taught Valenzuela how to throw a screwball. It became the weapon of choice for both Dodger pitchers and helped the team win the NL Pennant that year.

It was a wacky year in 1981 because of a strike by MLB players that lasted from June 12 to August 9. The season was cut in half and the winners of the first half the Dodgers, played the winners of the second half the Montreal Expos in NLCS playoff series. Valenzuela was a key component against the powerful Expos team. But the Dodgers prevailed in dramatic fashion in Game 5 when Rick Monday homered to give the L.A. team an historic 2-1 win and a pass to the World Series against the New York Yankees.

World Series Win and Awards

The Dodgers had lost World Series to the Yankees in 1977 and 1978. It looked to be a repeat against the Yankees who jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the series. Valenzuela started Game 3 and things changed.

Dodger manager Tom Lasorda had claimed that Valenzuela would be the difference-maker against the Yankees and he proved correct. The Mexican lefty pitched nine innings against the powerful Bronx Bombers led by Reggie Jackson and Dave Winfield. During the later innings the Yankees filled the bases and manager Tom Lasorda was faced with a decision to remove Valenzuela or let him continue. He kept Fernando in the game and he pitched out of the jam and led the team to inspirational victory. He threw a total of 149 pitches that night. Unheard of by today’s standards.

The Dodgers won that game and three more consecutive games to beat the Yankees and win the 1981 World Series 4 games to 2.

The city of Los Angeles erupted and held a ticker tape parade on Broadway when the team returned home. The entire city from east to west and north to south celebrated the World Series win. It was a joyous moment for not only Dodger fans but for Latinos all over the country. One of theirs had led the Dodgers to victory and a sense of pride filled Latinos everywhere.

That year Valenzuela was voted NL Rookie of the Year and also the NL Cy Young Award for best pitcher. He won 13 games with eight of them shutouts. He also led the NL in innings pitched, complete games and strikeouts. It was a magical season and opened the door for Mexican and Mexican-American players who were constantly ignored by not only the Dodgers, but all MLB teams.

Suddenly, all teams were looking for talent in Mexican-American communities and in Mexico. That’s led to others being signed like Jesse Orozco, Keith Hernandez, Nomar Garciaparra, Adrian Gonzalez and of course Julio Urias.

It all began with Valenzuela.

“I think it’s something really important for me and my family. It’s something I never imagined would happen. But here we are,” Valenzuela said.

Valenzuela’s Number 34 now hangs in Dodger Stadium along with Pee Wee Reese number 1, Tommy Lasorda number 2, Duke Snider number 4, Gil Hodges number 14, Jim Gilliam number 19, Don Sutton number 20, Walter Alston number 24, Sandy Koufax number 32, Roy Campanella number 39, Jackie Robinson number 42, and Don Drysdale number 53.  

 (Photo by Mitu)