Angelenos mourn Mexican-born pitcher Fernando Valenzuela, who starred for the Dodgers in the 1980s

Updated Oct. 23, 2024 5:57 p.m. ET

Associated Press

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Julia Mendez carefully positioned three candles in a row under a sign welcoming fans to Dodger Stadium. Then she pulled out a foil-wrapped burrito and rested it against the post.

“I know he ate a burrito all his life,” said the 70-year-old fan from North Hollywood who had stuffed the flour tortilla with nopales and scrambled eggs in her kitchen.

The city of Los Angeles was mourning Wednesday for Mexican-born Fernando Valenzuela, the Dodgers pitcher who inspired “Fernandomania” with his unique delivery and dominant pitching performances in the early 1980s.

He died Tuesday night at age 63.

“I came here to the United States in 1976. He came in 1979. That’s when all my pride and joy began,” said Mendez, from the same Mexican state of Sonora as Valenzuela. “He put our names so high around the world, all the community became fans. My love for so many years.”

Valenzuela’s rise from humble beginnings as the youngest of 12 children in Mexico and his feats on the mound made him hugely popular and influential in Los Angeles’ Latino community while helping attract new fans to Major League Baseball. Their fondness for him continued after his retirement.

Across the intersection, the ensemble Mariachi Garibaldi de Jaime Cuéllar played their guitars and trumpets.

The group frequently performs at Dodger games and was gathered for a scheduled television interview ahead of the World Series against the New York Yankees. They stuck around to pay their musical respects to the man nicknamed “El Toro.”

Major League Baseball and the Dodgers were working on a plan to honor Valenzuela before Friday's Game 1 of the World Series.

On the left corner of the blue-and-white sign hung a large sombrero and a colorful serape. Mendez had added white butterfly wings above the second ‘D’ in Dodger. The sign was a similarly emotional gathering place in 2022 when Dodgers Hall of Fame broadcaster Vin Scully died at 94.

Henry Gomez of Gardena brought his 6-year-old daughter, Tianna, to the growing memorial outside the closed stadium. She carried a souvenir street sign that she and her father had written on and planned to leave.

“He's one of the Hispanic idols for us,” the elder Gomez said. “He opened a lot of doors for a lot of people behind him. We're proud from that.”

In the Boyle Heights neighborhood not far from the stadium, Robert Vargas was busy painting a mural of Valenzuela on the side of a building. The artist of Mexican descent is known for his large-scale works at outdoor locations around the world. His mural of Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani on the side of a Little Tokyo hotel has become a tourist attraction.

Back at the stadium, three men stood in the shade swapping stories about Valenzuela's exploits on the mound.

Gomez had a chance to shake hands with Valenzuela a couple times over the years.

“He was really cool, a good guy,” he said. “When you're famous, that’s the way to be, like Fernando’s way.”

Fans had been gathering outside the stadium since the sad news broke late Tuesday.

Marcello Ambriz showed off a photo of him as a 2-year-old with the pitcher.

“Mexicans wouldn’t be Dodger fans without Fernando,” he said.

The land on which Dodger Stadium sits was purchased from Spanish-speaking homeowners in the early 1950s by the city of Los Angeles. Initially, they refused to sell and the city used eminent domain to acquire the property from the tight-knit Mexican-American families, many of whom lived there after being discriminated against in other parts of the city.

“There’s a lot of very sad sentiments about that,” Ambriz said. "Fernando was able to somehow mend that. Obviously today there’s a lot of people who are hurt and can't let that go, and that’s understandable, but Fernando’s presence and him being from Mexico was able to unite that.”

Valenzuela would have turned 64 on Nov. 1, when the Dodgers could potentially host Game 6 of the World Series. Next Friday is also Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, in Mexican culture when deceased loved ones are honored.

“There’s no reason to be sad because he live always forever in our hearts,” Mendez said. “He accomplished the American dream, more than the American dream really.”

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AP photographer Julio Cortez contributed to this report.

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