Forty years ago, Fernando Valenzuela broke down unimaginable barriers for Mexicans in MLB. Not only because of his athletic feats intact, like being the only man to win both a Cy Young and Rookie of the Year, but also because he broke into a field that seemed insurmountable to anyone born on this side of the planet. universe. River, it’s great.
understand the magnitude of the meaning it represents valenzuela bull Last night he retired his No. 34 jersey with the Los Angeles Dodgers, and you have to go back forty years. Put the senses in the social context and consumption forms of the early 80s. To focus only on the precious statistics of a sport that records everything by numbers is to forget the unprecedented impact of the player who was born in Ejo Vaquela, Nabohuaa Ranch, Sonora.
Valenzuela is unique for a number of reasons. He doesn’t even look like the athlete who dominates the major leagues today.he bull He was a dark, stocky, long-haired young man, probably the cousin of an ordinary Mexican.
Status symbol
Mexican-American author Michael Jaime-Becerra los angeles times Its impact on immigrant communities or their descendants in the country is decisive for the construction of positive identities. He, also a college professor, said that as a child he felt a warm familiarity when he saw a baseball player who looked more like his uncle than the player he was following around the field .
As a pitcher, he had his best statistics between 1981 and 1986, during which time he made the inevitable National League All-Star Game and won the World Series twice (1981 and 1988). But the Dodgers’ hiring of Valenzuela is not only strategic in strict baseball terms (where he stands out, as you can see), but also because he’s a mainstay of growing Mexican immigration in the city of Los Angeles .
and Fernando Mania In the United States and Mexico in 1981, less than a year after his major league debut. The phenomenon of baseball players becoming shining stars is hitherto unrepeatable.image marketing bull no limit. This is an ad for the era of nachos. Was there a more symbolic American ritual in that era than eating nachos for breakfast? Valenzuela said good morning to a Mexican family in the United States. Jaime Becerra herself conjures up Fernando leading the Christmas parade in a suede jacket with fringed sleeves, and where else? Well, on the east side of Los Angeles, this historic regional city of Mexican immigrants at the time.
In Mexico, comedian Charly Valentino appeared on a comedy show parodying Bull’s Echo Vaquila. He tries to replicate his unique way of speaking, somewhat tersely. In this country, nothing seems to gain a truly epic dimension without a musical story, so on the mound of Major League Baseball, beautiful melodies and voices celebrate the exploits of the Sonorans.
Tiberio y sus Gatos Negros has recorded a delicious cumbia that has certainly enlivened countless street dancers, or performed on the hallowed dance floor of one of the popular dance halls of the eighties.
“Fernando, Fernando / People shout / Fernando, Fernando / Thrilled,” sings the handsome refrain.
The band concludes: “Proud of us because we are Mexican / Follow the example of these men / I sing my cumbia song to Fernando Valenzuela / May God take care of him and make him the best of”.
And, of course, the most effective of the popular chronicles, the corridos. The son of Rafael BuendÃa, from the province of Zacatecan, also paid homage to the history of the Sonoran snake. The fast violin is accompanied by the fast-paced double bass, which makes people can’t help but tap.
“My song is for Sonora State, the privileged Yaqui is Fernando Valenzuela, the most famous pitcher in baseball / In baseball the Dodgers go ahead / When Valenzuela When Ella pitches, he won’t leave any games hanging,” the stanza says, and ends with: “The game and the emotions he yells at him, life’s a redneck/He’s already won the Chicano heart of”.
Before the cancellation of Game 34 in this weekend’s series for the Sonoran, the Los Angeles City Council yesterday declared August 11 Fernando Valenzuela Day, as it remains a symbol of the city’s Mexican community.
grim stats
In November 2020, Valenzuela and That day When asked if it was unfair that his number wasn’t retired from the Dodgers, he simply referred to a franchise tradition. Of the agency, only the number of Hall of Famers has been removed.The Sonorans don’t enjoy that privilege due to grim stats, which is to say — bull— apparently the numbers he has don’t seem to be strong enough to include him.
He replied: “No one on the team has used it since me.” That day At the time; “For the Dodgers, there was a policy: Get in the Hall of Fame, so the tribute is done. It’s been years and they haven’t voted for me. It doesn’t matter, it matters to be remembered because There I did win an award that few of us liked.
At the time, the possibility of retiring the number he wore during his ten-year tenure with the Dodgers appeared to have been ruled out.
“It has been more than 40 years since I debuted, and it has been almost 30 years since I left. There is nothing better than the real feeling of being remembered and appreciated”, he commented in that speech.
In February, Los Angeles recognized Valenzuela’s contribution as a capital worthy of the honor. Yesterday, he was finally recognized as the most important Mexican baseball player in Major League Baseball, and his No. 34 jersey was officially withdrawn.
Before yesterday’s game against Colorado State, he walked into Dodger Stadium to mariachi music and received a standing ovation from the crowd. “You are our champion and the pride of our community,” Sen. Alex Padilla, the son of Mexican immigrants, said into the microphone.
he bull He was touched, he was wearing a very sober gray suit, and he hardly had his turn to speak, just a brief thank you, but felt it from the bottom of his heart. He threw the first pitch of the game and was accompanied by his family on a tour of the diamond field while watching those stands where he was the star.Reappears today, every year on August 11th, when Fernando Mania.