MOVERS & SHAKERS

No. 5 Top Latino Hurler: Fernando Valenzuela

In a salute to Hispanic Heritage Month, MLB.com posed the following question to some of the most respected authorities on baseball -- men and women who have deep knowledge of Latinos in baseball:

Who were the top Latino pitchers in the history of the game? Only retired players could be considered. Based on a compilation of experts' rankings, here is a look at who finished No. 5.

The extraordinary legacy of Fernando Valenzuela isn't only etched in the rustic northwestern hills of Etchohuaquila, Mexico, but also in the hearts and minds of every baseball fan who followed his career. Valenzuela was an untested talent when he traveled north to the "City of Angels," but he was truly destined for stardom.  And the rotund left-hander was a star -- almost from the start.

On Sept. 15, 1980, Valenzuela made his Major League debut at the improbable age of 19. Although his star didn't shine on the baseball world until the following season, "Fernandomania" would soon become the talk of baseball. He started his rookie season 8-0, a record that included five shutouts and seven complete games. One of those victories was on Opening Day, when he shut out the Houston Astros. Valenzuela's memorable first win, less than two years after he made his professional debut in the California League, would be reminiscent of another baseball star. His name was Babe Ruth, and in 1914, a then-19-year-old left-handed pitcher also traveled north to play in his first professional game -- as a visiting player in Toronto.

As folklore would have it, Ruth delivered an impressive win -- a shutout that also included a monstrous home run, the first of many that would define his Hall of Fame career.

Valenzuela, however, was no Babe Ruth, although Valenzuela's physical attributes were eerily "Ruthian" and his influence and accomplishments were, in some ways, just as large.

Luis Rodriguez-Mayoral, a respected baseball historian, attests to Valenzuela's impact on baseball and the Dodgers faithful.

"To me, showing up on the MLB level, he gave millions of Mexicans and Spanish-speaking fans throughout the country someone to truly identify with," said Mayoral, who from 1992-2001 worked closely with ballplayers as a Latino liaison for the Texas Rangers and Detroit Tigers.

"His body was similar to Babe Ruth, and the fact that he looked up to the skies before every pitch, the media took advantage of that. The media truly put out for the fans' consumption a lovable baseball product."

ESPN 30 for 30 - Fernando Nation - Opening Day 1981 - Fernandomania is born in Los Angeles

Mayoral recalled an interview he had with Valenzuela in Los Angeles during the 1983 season.

"He told me one of the things he wanted to do when he earned enough money was to buy a home for his family," Mayoral said. "He grew up in a choza, a Mexican hut. There was a dirt floor, and purchasing a home was his dream."

By 1983, Valenzuela was well on his way to that dream. He had had a magical year during his first full season in the bigs. In 1981, he won a multitude of awards -- the National League Cy Young Award, the NL Rookie of the Year Award, the NL Silver Slugger Award and, yes, even a World Series ring after he helped the Dodgers beat their hated rivals, the New York Yankees.

That was the beginning of his celebrated career, which included 173 wins, 113 complete games and six All-Star selections. From 1981-86, he went 97-68 with a 2.97 ERA, winning a career-high 21 games in '86. He was third in NL Cy Young Award voting in 1982, fifth in '85 and second in '86.

The honors he received demonstrated there was more substance to Valenzuela than just his celebrity.

Perhaps surprisingly to some, he spoke little to no English, so manager Tommy Lasorda and Jaime Jarrin, who broadcast Dodgers games in Spanish, helped Valenzuela adjust to the language and customs.

But nothing was lost in translation when he took the mound, said Manny Mota, a longtime Dodger who was indispensable to Valenzuela during his formative years.

"We simply tried to make it a little easier and give him support so that he was comfortable," said Mota, now in his 32nd consecutive year as a Dodgers coach.

To Mota, Valenzuela's humbleness, fortitude and heart defined the pitcher. But there was also something else Mota and millions of others haven't forgotten about Valenzuela: his signature pitch.

"In reality, it was the screwball," Mota said. "He wasn't a power pitcher, but it was the combination of his other pitches that made him so dominant."

That dominance fueled Fernandomania. It captured the fancy of the fans, people who not only watched intently from the bleachers or the box seats but who stood up enthusiastically to cheer for a Mexican star, a star whose unconventional style delivered magic -- night after night.

He took every one of his idiosyncrasies to the pitcher's mound and brought an unconventional windup and pitch to the grand stage. He also brought his perseverance, his athleticism and his self-confidence along for the ride. In seeing film of his corkscrew-like windup, as Valenzuela jerks and looks toward the heavens, you wonder now, some 30 unforgettable years later, if he was actually searching for some divine intervention.

For Fernando Valenzuela, those cherished victories, divine or not, happened with a flair and with a regularity no one could have imagined

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