LOS ANGELES – Not many things have fascinated baseball as much as the phenomenon of ‘Fernandomania’.

When 19-year-old Fernando Valenzuela took the mound for the Dodgers in his MLB debut on September 15, 1980, no one knew what lay in store for the young left-hander’s career. But for the next seven years, the pride of Etchohuaquila, Mexico, would become the face of the franchise.

Valenzuela, who died on Tuesday at the age of 63, leaves behind a legacy not only of great achievements, but also of great pride for the team he represented and the country where he was born.

The 1981 season was a whirlwind for the Dodgers legend. It was his first full season in the major leagues, and it was the season that made him an icon. Valenzuela quickly established himself as baseball’s premier player and became a fan favorite in Los Angeles, the United States and Mexico, where his stardom grew even faster. The 20-year-old thrived in Dodger blue.

Valenzuela delivered what might be one of the best rookie seasons of all time, going 13-7 with a 2.48 ERA and 196 strikeouts. He became the first player to win Rookie of the Year and the NL Cy Young Award. He also helped the Dodgers to the 1981 World Series title, the franchise’s fifth.

Over the next nine seasons, Valenzuela was a fixture in the Dodgers rotation, taking his place as the next in a long line of Dodgers greats that included Sandy Koufax, Don Sutton and Don Drysdale. In his final Dodgers season in 1990, the man nicknamed “El Toro” achieved the final major achievement of his storied career when he pitched a no-hitter against the St. Louis Cardinals.

Valenzuela played six more seasons with the Angels, Orioles, Phillies, Padres and Cardinals. He finished his career with a 173-153 record, a 3.54 ERA, 41.5 WAR and 2,074 strikeouts. He also made six All-Star appearances with 113 complete games and 31 shutouts.

Perhaps no player was a better fit for a city than Valenzuela was for Los Angeles. In the largest city in the US state with the largest Mexican-American population, Valenzuela became larger than life. Even today, among the usually sold-out crowd at Dodger Stadium, hundreds, if not thousands, wear Valenzuela’s No. 34 jersey, which was retired by the team last season.

Valenzuela’s cultural importance also cannot be understated, given the once tense relationship between the team and its Latino fans. From the Los Angeles Times obituary of Valenzuela:

In 2003, Valenzuela returned to the team he loved and became a color analyst for the Dodgers’ Spanish-language broadcast, a role he held until taking a leave of absence ahead of this MLB postseason to focus on his health.

The Dodgers, who are set to play Game 1 of the World Series on Friday in Los Angeles, will play with a heavy heart as they mourn one of the franchise’s great players and also one of the nation’s greatest ambassadors sport.

MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred released a statement Tuesday evening, reflecting on Valenzuela’s legacy and confirming that his memory will be honored during the World Series:

As they prepare to take on the Yankees — whom Valenzuela, coincidentally enough, helped beat the Dodgers in the 1981 World Series — Valenzuela’s death gives the team one more motivation to bring a championship back to LA as they mourn and a of the franchise’s legends.