Fernando Valenzuela Anguamea (Latin American Spanish pronunciation: [feɾˈnando βalenˈswela]; November 1, 1960 – October 22, 2024), nicknamed "El Toro", was a Mexican professional baseball pitcher.

He won his first eight starts, five of them shutouts, and finished with a win–loss record of 13–7 and had a 2.48 earned run average (ERA) in a season that was shortened by a player's strike.

He had ten career home runs and was occasionally used by Los Angeles Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda as a pinch-hitter.

He spent the rest of his major league career with the California Angels, Baltimore Orioles, Philadelphia Phillies, San Diego Padres, and St. Louis Cardinals, before pitching a couple of seasons in Mexico in his 40s.

[10] His parents, Avelino and María, were poor farmers who worked the land with the help of their children[11] and were of Mayo indigenous ancestry.

[12][13] In 1977, Valenzuela began his professional baseball career, signing with the Mayos de Navojoa of the Mexican Pacific League.

A year later, he was sent to the Guanajuato Tuzos of the Mexican Central League, posting a 5–6 win–loss record with a 2.23 earned run average (ERA).

[19] In 1980 Valenzuela was promoted to the Double-A San Antonio Dodgers, where he led the Texas League with 162 strikeouts and finished the season with a 13–9 win-loss record and a 3.10 ERA.

[11] Valenzuela's excellent performances as a reliever (172⁄3 scoreless innings of relief in 10 games) helped the Dodgers tie the Houston Astros for the NL West division lead.

He was unexpectedly named the Dodgers' Opening Day starter as a rookie after Jerry Reuss was injured 24 hours before his scheduled start, and Burt Hooton was not ready to fill in.

[24] In addition to his dominance on the mound, Valenzuela's unusual and flamboyant pitching motion—including a glance skyward at the apex of each wind-up—drew attention of its own.

[27] An instant media icon, Valenzuela drew large crowds from Los Angeles' Latino community every time he pitched, and his rookie 1981 Topps and Fleer baseball cards were in high demand.

[41] Following his debut, Valenzuela, nicknamed El Toro (the Bull) by fans, settled down and established himself as a workhorse starter and one of the league's best pitchers.

[45] In the 1986 All-Star Game, Valenzuela made history by striking out five consecutive American League batters, tying a record set by fellow left-handed screwballer Carl Hubbell in the 1934 contest.

[47] In 1988, a year in which the Dodgers won the World Series, he was placed on the disabled list for the first time in his career due to left shoulder problems.

[31] He had one last great moment on June 29, 1990, when he threw a 6–0 no-hitter against the St. Louis Cardinals just hours after the Oakland Athletics' Dave Stewart had thrown one against the Toronto Blue Jays.

Being cut late in 1991 spring training, when most rosters were already fixed, made it hard for Valenzuela to find a new team that year.

[55] In 1992, he was out of the majors entirely and played for Charros de Jalisco of the Mexican League, going 10–9 with a 3.86 overall ERA, including an improved 2.70 in the second half.

[58] When the Phillies announced that Valenzuela would start the July 4, 1994, Dodgers-Phillies game in Los Angeles, the Dodgers sold nearly 20,000 tickets within a week and recorded a sellout.

[59] Valenzuela moved back to Southern California to play for the San Diego Padres, with whom he enjoyed his last successful season in 1996, going 13–8 with a 3.62 ERA.

[42] Valenzuela started MLB's first-ever game in Mexico,[34] helping the Padres beat the New York Mets at the Estadio Monterrey on August 16, 1996.

[60] On June 13, 1997, the Padres traded Valenzuela, Scott Livingstone, and Phil Plantier to the St. Louis Cardinals for Rich Batchelor, Danny Jackson, and Mark Sweeney.

"[63] In Game 3 of the 1981 World Series, with the Dodgers down 2–0 to the New York Yankees, Valenzuela struggled through difficult circumstances: he was pitching on short rest,[37] he could not locate his signature screwball,[64] and he surrendered nine hits and seven walks.

By way of comparison, Mike Hampton (the all-time leader in pitching Silver Sluggers) never tallied more than 1.2 batting WAR in a single season.

He batted .200 for his career (187 hits in 936 at-bats, roughly equivalent to two seasons as a position player) with 10 home runs, 26 doubles, and 84 RBIs.

[72] He was inducted into the Hispanic Heritage Baseball Museum Hall of Fame on August 23, 2003, in a pregame ceremony at Dodger Stadium.

[77][37] Although some commentators suggested that Valenzuela's reliance on the screwball caused permanent damage to his shoulder,[37] Dodgers orthopedist Frank Jobe firmly attributed his decline to overuse, explaining that "Fernando pitched a horrendous number of innings" during his years with the team.

[78] Valenzuela was an iconic figure for the Mexican-American community in Los Angeles and his impact "transform[ed] what had been predominantly a white [Dodger] fan base.

"[99] Valenzuela died in a Los Angeles hospital on October 22, 2024, at the age of 63, three days before the 2024 World Series began between the Dodgers and the New York Yankees.

[103] However, his official death certificate concluded that he died of septic shock due to malfunctioning organs, which it attributed to a combination of nonalcoholic and alcoholic cirrhosis.