Baseball legend and former Cardinals pitcher Fernando Valenzuela has passed away

Los Angeles Dodgers
Los Angeles Dodgers / Ronald C. Modra/GettyImages

The baseball community is mourning the death of Dodgers' legend and former Cardinal Fernando Valenzuela, the Los Angeles Dodgers announced on Wednesday. No cause of death has been given at the time of writing this. Valenzuela was 63 years old.

While Cardinals fans may remember Valenzuela's final Major League season pitching with St. Louis in 1997, Valenzuela's rise to stardom came with the Los Angeles Dodgers in the early 1980s. Valenzuela was born in Navojoa, Mexico, and after making his debut with Los Angeles as a reliever in 1980, he took over the baseball world with an iconic eight-start stretch in 1981.

Valenzuela went on the win Rookie of the Year and the Cy Young that season and was named to the first of six straight All-Star teams. From 1981-1986, Valenzuela made 200 starts, posting a 2.97 ERA and 86 complete games in that stretch. Valenzuela's nasty screwball and iconic windup make his pitching style unforgettable to anyone who has seen it.

Despite not being a Baseball Hall of Famer, it is safe to say that Valenzuela is one of the most popular Dodgers of all time, pitching 11 seasons for the club before bouncing around a few different Major League teams, including the Cardinals, for the final six seasons of his career. He is the only Dodger not in the Baseball Hall of Fame to have his jersey retired.

In his post-playing career, Valenzuela has been the Spanish-language broadcaster for the Dodgers, deepening his connection with those who watched him pitch and a new generation of baseball fans.

Major League Baseball plans to honor Valenzuela during the World Series this week.

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