ORLANDO, Fla. — A Chavez Ravine dream was but once more dashed on Sunday.
Fernando Valenzuela was as soon as extra denied induction to the Nationwide Baseball Corridor of Fame.
Fourteen months faraway from his loss of life on the age of 63 in October 2024, and 27 years faraway from the tip of a pitching profession measured by extra than simply wins, losses and ERA, Valenzuela did not be elected for the 2026 Corridor of Fame class by the Modern Baseball Period Committee — a 16-person group that after each three years considers gamers from the Eighties or later who had not been elected to the Corridor by means of the normal media vote.
Needing 12 votes from that committee to achieve Corridor of Fame standing, Valenzuela as a substitute got here up brief by receiving fewer than 5.
As a result of Valenzuela didn’t obtain 5 votes, he will probably be ineligible to be again on the Modern Period Committee’s poll in 2028. The subsequent time the committee might overview his case received’t be till 2031.
Till then, his identify will stay among the many most notable snubs from Corridor of Fame induction.
In his first 12 months of conventional Corridor of Fame voting eligibility in 2003, Valenzuela obtained simply 6.2% of the writers’ vote, removed from the 75% threshold required for election. In 2004, his identify fell off the poll after garnering a vote complete of simply 3.8%.
The issue then was that Valenzuela didn’t boast typical Corridor of Fame numbers. Although he was a six-time All-Star, a Cy Younger and rookie of the 12 months award winner in 1981, and World Sequence hero within the Dodgers’ championship run that season, the left-hander posted solely a 3.54 ERA in his 17-year, 173-win, 2,074-strikeout profession, and amassed solely 37.3 wins above substitute in line with Baseball Reference.
Of the opposite 90 pitchers within the Corridor of Fame, just one fellow modern-era inductee (Jesse Haines) had a profession WAR under 40.0 and a profession ERA above 3.50 (excluding gamers from the Negro Leagues).
Valenzuela’s affect, nonetheless, was outlined way over by simply manufacturing and statistics — seemingly epitomizing the Corridor’s motto of “preserving historical past, honoring excellence, connecting generations” with a profession that modified the recognition of each the Dodgers and the game.
Ever since his historic “Fernandomania” rookie season in 1981 — which began with eight consecutive victories for the then-20-year-old southpaw, and ended together with his Cy Younger, rookie of the 12 months and World Sequence honors — the Mexican-born hurler had been a permanent cultural icon.
Valenzuela’s success drastically expanded baseball’s attain in Mexico and Latin America. His celeb fueled a increase in Dodgers fandom, particularly amongst Los Angeles’ Hispanic base.
This winter, hopes of that legacy being acknowledged in Cooperstown had been rekindled when Valenzuela was named as one among eight finalists to be thought of by the Corridor of Fame’s Modern Period Committee.
He joined a gaggle that additionally had Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Carlos Delgado, Jeff Kent, Don Mattingly, Dale Murphy and Gary Sheffield — all of whom had been evaluated by a 16-person panel fabricated from former Corridor of Fame inductees, former basic managers, writers and a statistician, plus two present MLB house owners (one among them, Arte Moreno of Angels).
In the long run, solely Kent (a former MVP and five-time All-Star who spent the ultimate 4 years of his profession with the Dodgers) obtained sufficient votes to earn a Corridor of Fame election.
Bonds, Clemens and Sheffield joined Valenzuela amongst these to obtain fewer than 5 votes.
Although Valenzuela by no means fairly recaptured the heights of that singular 1981 marketing campaign, he remained a celebrated and uniting determine over the remainder of his 11-year Dodgers profession, in addition to in stops with the Angels and San Diego Padres, amongst others, over the again half of his enjoying days.
And since he first dropped off the normal Corridor of Fame poll 21 years in the past, there was a persistent push from many within the baseball neighborhood — and particularly the Dodgers’ fan base — to get Valenzuela into Cooperstown.
In 2023, the Dodgers even broke their unofficial rule of retiring solely the numbers of the membership’s Corridor of Fame gamers, including Valenzuela’s No. 34 to its ring of honor in a long-overdue celebration.
However for now, that may stay essentially the most recognizable honor of Valenzuela’s contribution to the game.
As soon as once more, a doorway to Corridor of Fame induction has been closed.
