Do the Dodgers need to remember Fernando Valenzuela’s iconic number 34?
That was a topic brought to the team’s Mexican legend on Saturday, when the former pitcher and his partner from the club’s broadcasts in Spanish, Ecuadorian Jaime Jarrín, held a press conference about Zoom at Dodger Stadium on the occasion of the 40 anniversary of birth of Fernandomania in 1981
The Dodgers have had a history of retiring numbers only from Hall of Famers who have spent most of their careers with the blue team, both in Brooklyn and Los Angeles.
The exception was Jim Gilliam, a former player and then the club’s first base coach, who died during the 1978 postseason – just before the Dodgers’ World Series against the Yankees – after suffering a brain haemorrhage in September of that time. Anus. His number 19 was retired immediately after his death.
In Valenzuela’s case, his 34 has been “saved”, although not formally.
“Many years have passed without anyone using number 34,” said Valenzuela. “Something sounds there, right?”
Indeed, since 1990, Valenzuela’s last season with the Dodgers, no member of the team has worn that number. Essentially it was an unofficial recall.
Before and after Valenzuela’s time in Los Angeles, the Dodgers have a rich history of starting pitchers. The number of retired pitchers for the Blues is 32 for Sandy Koufax, 53 for Don Drysdale and 20 for Don Sutton, all inducted into the Cooperstown Hall of Fame.
In his 11 seasons with the Dodgers, Valenzuela produced 33.0 pitching WAR, the eighth in team history. In total, the Sonoran had a record of 141-116 in the Los Angeles uniform, with a 3.31 ERA, 1,759 strikeouts and an EFE + of 107 in 331 appearances (320 starts).
On the all-time list of the Dodgers, Valenzuela is sixth in strikeouts, seventh in starts, ninth in wins and ninth in innings pitched (2,348.2).
In the midst of Fernandomanía’s 40th anniversary celebrations – in addition to celebrating the first World Series title the Dodgers have won in 32 years, the 2020 crown – Valenzuela wasn’t very “possessive” about his numbers and whether he should do that. deteriorate. Of course I would see it with good eyes, but he doesn’t seem to care too much.
“I wore it like any other number,” he said. “When I went upstairs in 1980, it was in my locker. I had to be at that number so I don’t know what’s going to happen. We are going to wait.
“If there is someone who can use it, there is no problem. The numbers are there to use ”.
For his part, Jarrín – who accompanied Valenzuela as his unofficial interpreter during that 1981 season and narrated practically all of his actions with the Dodgers on the radio – respects the matter.
“Fernando wore that number with a lot, a lot of pride,” said Jarrín. “I think one day we will see Fernando Valenzuela’s number 34 retired.”