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Fernando Valenzuela, the legendary pitcher whose incredible rise to fame with the Los Angeles Dodgers captivated baseball fans and created the cultural phenomenon known as “Fernandomania,” died Tuesday, according to the Dodgers. Valenzuela turned 63.

Ahead of the Dodgers’ 2024 postseason run, the team announced that Valenzuela would forego his usual radio broadcasts for the remainder of the season “to focus on his health.”

“He is one of the most influential Dodgers ever and belongs on the Mount Rushmore among franchise heroes,” club president and CEO Stan Kasten said in a statement.

MLB Commissioner Robert Manfred, Jr. called Valenzuela “one of the most impactful players of his generation.” He said the famed pitcher would be honored at the upcoming World Series.

During his 17-year career in the MLB, Valenzuela was a six-time All-Star. He finished his career with 173 regular season wins and more than 2,000 strikeouts.

Valenzuela played 11 seasons with the Dodgers and had stints with the California Angels, St. Louis Cardinals, Philadelphia Phillies, Baltimore Orioles and San Diego Padres.

The youngest of twelve children, Valenzuela came from the small Mexican town of Etchohuaquila in the state of Sonora and would go on to become one of the most iconic figures in Major League Baseball history.

Part of the reason he was loved by fans was his atypical physique. He wore his thick hair long, was slightly chubby, but his iconic excitement, poised demeanor and dominant pitching performance captivated both the Latino community and the world.

With 24 hours’ notice, Valenzuela was thrust into the global spotlight in 1981, when Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda named him the team’s starting pitcher on Opening Day due to last-minute injuries to the club’s first two starters.

It was a situation Dodgers executives could never have imagined after having the luxury of turning to Cy Young Award winners like Don Newcombe, Don Drysdale and Sandy Koufax in recent years to open the season.

By comparison, Valenzuela had only thrown a total of 17 relief innings in the Majors, albeit scoreless innings; his resume hardly resembled that of a traditionalist Opening day starter.

As if that wasn’t busy enough, Valenzuela made the start against the defending NL West champion Houston Astros, who eliminated the Dodgers in a one-game playoff tiebreaker last season.

None of that seemed to matter for the 5’11, 180-pound lefty as he masterfully retired 11 of the last 12 batters he faced for a five-hit complete game shutout, according to Baseball Almanac stats . The Dodgers would win the game 2-0 in front of a sold out crowd of 50,511 at Dodger Stadium.

The previously unknown rookie pitcher became a phenomenon as he followed up his opening day performance with seven wins over his next seven starts in dominant fashion.

‘El Toro’ finished his rookie year with a 13-7 record and a 2.48 ERA in the strike-shortened season, which he capped by pitching a complete game in a Dodgers’ World Series victory against the New York Yankees in 1981.

Valenzuela went on to become the only player in MLB history to win the Cy Young Award and the Rookie of the Year Award in the same season.

The Mexican-born pitcher’s rise extended beyond the pitcher’s mound. He was a cultural phenomenon who gave the Latino community in the United States a role model to advocate for.

Famous Dodgers broadcaster Vin Scully described “Fernandomania” as a “religious experience,” and for many, that is exactly what it was.

In ritual fashion, fans lined up in droves to watch the tough kid from Sonora climb the hill. appear at Dodger Stadium in their Valenzuela gear. Mexican folk music would be played in the stadium, and the Dodgers even hired more Spanish-speaking ushers to accommodate the influx of new Spanish-speaking fans.

According to the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR), the number of Mexican radio stations broadcasting Dodgers games has increased from three to 17. At the height of ‘Fernandomania’ according to SABR, the Spanish broadcasts had more than twice the listening audience of Scully.

Valenzuela continued his rookie year and made six straight All-Star games while earning two Silver Slugger Awards and a Gold Glove.

His best season on the mound came in 1986, when the screwball-throwing pitcher finished with a career-high 21 wins, including 20 complete games.

In 1991, the Dodgers released Valenzuela during spring training. After leaving the Dodgers, Valenzuela would have stops with other teams in the majors, where he struggled to recapture his form, before retiring in 2017.

Following his playing career, Valenzuela began calling games on the Dodgers’ Spanish-language radio broadcast in 2003 with his former interpreter, Jaime Jarrin.

Valenzuela’s iconic jersey No. 34 was retired by the Dodgers in 2023, becoming the first player in franchise history to receive the honor without being inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

He is survived by his wife Linda and their four children.