Fans, Dodgers honor legend before Game 1

WORLD SERIES

First pitch among many Fernando Valenzuela tributes before 6-3 win

Octavio Islas of the California central coast signs a memorial in honor of Fernando Valenzuela before Game 1 of the World Series at Dodger Stadium on Friday. Keith Birmingham — Staff photographer

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Valente Quinter of East Los Angeles, who goes by “Mr. L.A. Baseball Head,” enters Dodger Stadium while honoring Fernando Valenzuela with body paint before Game 1 of the World Series on Friday. Valenzuela, the Mexican American pitcher who ignited Fernandomania, died Tuesday at age 63. Sarah Reingewirtz — staff photographer

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By Todd Harmonson

tharmonson@scng.com

LOS ANGELES — On an October Friday in Dodger Stadium, just shy of his 21st birthday, Fernando Valenzuela delighted a full house when he gutted his way through a rough outing to beat the New York Yankees and reverse the course of the 1981 World Series.

Whether the fans were the 12-year-old Mexican American kid next to his dad in the top row of the reserved level in seats they were selected to buy in a postcard drawing or the longtime season ticket holders far closer to the action, they were enthralled throughout what turned out to be the final start of Valenzuela’s spectacular rookie season.

On an October Friday 43 years (and two days) later, fans gathered again to pay tribute and say goodbye to one of the most beloved Dodgers before, appropriately, Game 1 of the 2024 World Series against the New York Yankees. Valenzuela died Tuesday at age 63 after an illness that his family has kept private.

The Dodgers honored Valenzuela with video and musical tributes — the latter a rousing Spanish-language performance by Deyra Barrera and Julian Torres — before the players were introduced, and then they took the tribute up a notch.

Valenzuela’s former Dodgers teammates Orel Hershiser and Steve Yeager, both wearing Valenzuela jerseys, brought out the ball for the ceremonial first pitch. Instead of throwing it, though, they placed it near the blue No. 34 painted on the mound.

Then Valenzuela’s wife, Linda, and children joined the Dodgers on the baseline for a moment of silence that eventually gave way to a chant of “Toro, Toro” from the early arriving fans.

Juan Carlos Gonzalez from Eastvale was one of the many who made the trek well ahead of the first pitch. He didn’t want to miss the tribute and made sure to get a picture of Valenzuela’s No. 34 at the top deck entrance to Dodger Stadium among the team’s other retired numbers.

“Fernando was a great representative of our Mexican heritage and was a huge part of why people loved the Dodgers for a long time,” said Gonzalez, who at 43 said he was too young to see Valenzuela play but still understands why he was revered in Los Angeles.

Gonzalez said it was important enough to be at Game 1 with his son, Andre, for the tribute to Valenzuela that he bought tickets on the secondary market late Friday morning.

“It wasn’t cheap, but it’s worth it,” he said.

Linda Avila from Gardena showed up Friday in the No. 34 jersey she’s owned for 10 years and wore to each Dodgers playoff game since the team announced that Valenzuela had been hospitalized.

Her husband Nacho remembered attending the Dodgers’ home opener in Valenzuela’s first full season — a last-minute start in place of injured teammate Jerry Reuss — when Avila bought 80 tickets for friends and family to join in the fun.

“So many great memories,” said Nacho Avila, a longtime season ticket holder. “It’s great to be here on a day they’re honoring him.”

The path to Dodger Stadium was easy to follow Friday. One No. 34 jersey after another showed the way, starting in the line for taquitos at Olvera Street’s Cielito Lindo and stopping briefly at the Dodger Stadium sign on Vin Scully Avenue, where the first flowers were placed within an hour of the Dodgers’ announcement of Valenzuela’s death. The memorial on Friday included funeral sprays, balloons, Mexican flags, photos and messages to a local hero.

The path of No. 34 jerseys picked up again from the parking lots to the admission gates. One of the security guards at the top deck level said he was going to fist-bump everyone who was wearing a Valenzuela jersey, and he stayed busy in the first 30 minutes that fans streamed into the stadium.

Eddie Alaniz of Corona sported a twist on the traditional white jersey with blue letters; his was the red, white and green of the Mexican flag.

“I first saw Fernando when he was a reliever at the end of the 1980 season,” Alaniz said. “We didn’t know anything about him at that point, but he was amazing. I was always a fan.”

Sergio Castro from Lake Elsinore walked up to Valenzuela’s retired number and placed flowers on the growing tribute.

“He played baseball the way it’s supposed to be played,” said Castro, who took a picture of his son, Anthony, by the No. 34. “It never seemed to be about the money. It was because he loved it.”

Castro said he knew the ideal way for the Dodgers to honor Valenzuela.

“Beating the Yankees in the World Series would be perfect,” he said.