The Los Angeles Dodgers will honor franchise great Fernando Valenzuela with a jersey patch in the World Series and during the 2025 season.
The team unveiled the patch on Thursday — a circular design with a black background, his name in white and a large No. 34 in Dodger blue.
Valenzuela, who sparked a fan phenomenon known as Fernandomania as a rookie and evolved into a Dodgers legend, died Tuesday evening at age 63.
USA Today reported his cause of death was long cancer.
Valenzuela pitched for the Dodgers from 1980-90, then had stints with the then-California Angels (1991), Baltimore Orioles (1993), Philadelphia Phillies (1994), San Diego Padres (1995-97) and St. Louis Cardinals (1997). He finished with a 173-153 record, a 3.54 ERA and 2,074 strikeouts in 2,930 innings over 453 games (424 starts).
He riveted Southern California in 1981, when as a 20-year-old from Mexico, he went 13-7 with a 2.48 ERA in 25 starts, throwing 11 complete games — eight of them shutouts — to win both Rookie of the Year and the National League Cy Young Award.
The Dodgers won the World Series against the New York Yankees that season — their opponent in this year’s World Series — and Valenzuela was 3-1 with a 2.21 ERA in five starts in that postseason.
–Field Level Media
