Dodgers Dugout: The 25 greatest Dodgers of all time, No. 10: Fernando Valenzuela

Hi, and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. My name is Houston Mitchell as we continue the top-25 countdown.

Readers voted in droves, submitting 15,212 ballots by email, Twitter and Facebook. Voters were asked for their top 10 Dodgers in order from 1 to 10, with first place receiving 12 points, second place nine points, third place eight, all the way down to one point for 10th place.

The last time we did this was in 2018, and there were some changes in the rankings.

So, without further ado:

The 25 greatest Dodgers, No. 10: FERNANDO VALENZUELA (20 first-place votes, 23,453 points)
2018 rank: 9th

This one will be briefer than the usual bios, since there has been much written about Fernando over the last year, including many things in this newsletter.

Fernandomania. If you lived in Los Angeles in 1981, you know what that means. It was the year that a young left-hander whom few people had heard of got the opening day start for the Dodgers because of injuries to Jerry Reuss and Burt Hooton. That left-hander, Fernando Valenzuela shut out the Houston Astros on five hits. And Fernandomania was born.

Valenzuela went on to pitch shutouts in four of his next six games, and in the other two games he gave up only one run. After eight starts, Valenzuela was 8-0 with seven complete games, five shutouts and an 0.50 ERA. Dodger Stadium became the place to be when he was starting. The Dodgers, already a big draw, were averaging more than 7,000 additional fans when Valenzuela started at home.

He finished the season with a 13-7 record and a 2.48 ERA, winning the rookie of the year and Cy Young awards.

His best season was probably 1986, when he went 21-11 with a 3.14 ERA and an amazing 20 complete games. To put that in context, the Dodgers have a grand total of zero complete games this season.

It’s hard to explain to those who didn’t live through it exactly what Valenzuela meant to Dodgers fans, especially Latino fans, in the 1980s. Perhaps Dodgers Hall of Fame broadcaster Jaime Jarrin said it best when he said in a 2006 interview for Dodgers magazine, “I truly believe that there is no other player in major league history who created more new fans than Fernando Valenzuela. Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale, Joe DiMaggio, even Babe Ruth did not. Valenzuela turned so many people from Mexico, Central America, South America into fans. He created interest in baseball among people who did not care about baseball.”

Valenzuela’s legacy still can be seen at Dodger Stadium in the amazing number of fans you see wearing Valenzuela jerseys.

The Dodgers finally retired his number this season, something that was long overdue.

Previously

No. 11: Maury Wills

No. 12: Zack Wheat

No. 13: Gil Hodges

No. 14: Walter Alston

No. 15: Steve Garvey

No. 16: Branch Rickey

No. 17: Walter O’Malley

No. 18: Don Sutton

No. 19: Orel Hershiser

No. 20: Mike Piazza

No. 21: Don Newcombe

No. 22: Mookie Betts

No. 23: Dazzy Vance

No. 24: Kirk Gibson

No. 25: Eric Gagné

J.D. Martinez vs. Justin Turner

This was in effect a straight up trade between the Dodgers and Red Sox, with the Dodgers signing J.D. Martinez as a free agent and the next day the Red Sox signing Justin Turner. Putting aside clubhouse impact, with Dave Roberts saying it took a while for the team to replace Turner’s voice in the clubhouse, here’s how the two players have done this season offensively.

In September
Martinez: .386/.442/.750, 1 double, 5 homers, 17 RBIs
Turner: .227/.307/.318, 3 doubles, 1 homer, 8 RBIs

This season
Martinez: .271/.325/.570, 24 doubles, 2 triples, 30 homers, 95 RBIs, 131 OPS+
Turner: .280/.351/.467, 30 doubles, 23 homers, 95 RBIs, 118 OPS+

Turner has had 596 plate appearances, Martinez 442

Poll results

We asked if it was OK that the Dodgers had a big champagne celebration for winning the NL West. After 21,463 votes, the results:

Yes, 86.4%
No, 13.6%

And finally

“Fernando Valenzuela Weekend” recap. Watch and listen here.