On April 9th, 1981, as a last minute fill-in on Opening Day when scheduled starter Jerry Reuss pulled a calf muscle, Dodgers pitcher Fernando Valenzuela shut out the Astros 2-0 on five hits in his first major league start. He would go on to win eight consecutive games.

In 1981, Fernando Valenzuela led the league in

• Games Started (25)
• Complete Games (11)
• Shut Outs (8)
• Innings Pitched (192.1)
• Strike Outs (180)

For context from our era, the 2024 pitching leaders:

• 2024 Shut Outs: 16-way tie with just 1 shutout
• 2024 Complete Games: 3-way tie with just 2 shutouts

An instant media icon, Mexican-born Fernando Valenzuela drew large home crowds from the Los Angeles Latino community every time he pitched. The craze surrounding Valenzuela came to be known as “Fernandomania.”

In 1981, he won the National League Cy Young Award, The National League Rookie of the Year Award, and was voted by The Sporting News as the 1981 Major League Player of the Year.

I saw Valenzuela pitch a few times in Wrigley and once or twice (I think) in the Astrodome. Wrigley was not kind to Valenzuela, because it is a hitters park. In fact, the last homer hit off of Valenzuela was at Wrigley by Mark Grace.

Never a power pitcher, Valenzuela relied on great command and deception. He had a very unorthodox windup and was one of few pitchers who still threw a screwball.

Fernando, like Rickey Henderson, left us too soon in 2024. He was just 63.