Fernando Valenzuela no logra entrar en el Salón de la Fama del Béisbol Nacional

ORLANDO, Fla. — Domingo volvió frustrated the sueño of Chavez Ravine.

Fernando Valenzuela volvió to be rechazado to enter into the Salon de la Fama of Béisbol Nacional.

Catorce after his death at age 63 in October 2024, and 27 years after the finale of a race as a pitcher that stands halfway for something more than the victorias, the derrotas and the promedio de carreras limpias, Valenzuela was not elected for the 2026 promotion of the Salon de la Fame of the Committee of the Contemporary Era of Béisbol, a group of 16 people who evaluated for three years the judges from the 1980s or later who had not been elected to the Salon de la Fame through the traditional vote of the communication media.

Valenzuela needs 12 votes from this committee to enter the Salon de la Fama, but without consulting it, because he received less than five.

As Valenzuela did not receive five votes, it will not be possible to present Contemporary Era Committee votes in 2028. The next time the committee can review your case will not be until 2031.

Therefore, your number will be among the most notable seeking to incorporate at the Salon de la Fama.

In his first year of eligibility for the traditional Hall of Fame vote in 2003, Valenzuela received only 6.2 percent of the journalist vote, but the 75 percent needed to be elected. In 2004, the number of missing from the paper received a vote total of only 3.8%.

So the problem was that Valenzuela couldn’t be contacted with the typical fame show numbers. Once he was his third All-Star, winner of the Cy Young Award and the New Year Award in 1981, and hero of the Serie Mundial in the career of the campeonato of the Dodgers during this period, the price recorded only an efficiency of 3.54 in his 17 years of career, with 173 Victories and 2074 strikeouts, and accumulated only 37.3 victories for the replacement, according to Baseball Reference.

Of the other 90 Hall of Fame pitchers, only one other member of the Modern Era (Jesse Haines) has a WAR below 40.0 and an efficiency above 3.50 (excluding Ligas Negras players).

Unembargoed, Valenzuela’s impact is defined by much more than his production and statistics, as he personifies the Hall of Fame’s role of “preserving history, honoring excellence, connecting generations” with a career changing Dodgers popularity as a player.

Since his temporary New Year’s story in 1981, known as “Fernandomania,” which began with a consecutive victory for the 20-year-old zurdo and ended with his Cy Young honors, the New Year and the World Series, the nascent pitcher from Mexico has become an enduring cultural icon.

Valenzuela’s feat greatly amplified the reach of baseball in Mexico and Latin America. His fame prompted an increase in affection for the Dodgers, particularly from Los Angeles’ Hispanic community.

This winter, hopes that that legacy was recognized in Cooperstown will be revived when Valenzuela is named one of the other finalists to be considered by the Hall of Fame’s Contemporary Era Committee.

They are united in a group where Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Carlos Delgado, Jeff Kent, Don Mattingly, Dale Murphy and Gary Sheffield are also established, all evaluated by a panel of 16 people formed by former members of the Hall of Fame, former general managers, editors and an estadístico, as well as current owners. of the MLB (one of them, Arte Moreno, of the Angels).

In the final, only Kent (a former MVP and five-time All-Star who spent the final four years of his career with the Dodgers) received enough votes to be elected to the Hall of Fame.

Bonds, Clemens and Sheffield will be united in Valenzuela among those who receive less than five votes.

Although Valenzuela never stole the clothes of a singular 1981 campaign, he became a celebrated and unifying figure during the remainder of his 11-year run with the Dodgers, as well as in his stops with the Angels and San Diego Padres, among others, during the second stint of their careers. Carrera as a player.

And since he appeared in the traditional Hall of Fame voting 21 years ago, there has been a constant push for many in the baseball community, and especially for Dodgers aficionados, for Valenzuela to enter Cooperstown.

In 2023, the Dodgers also broke their official rule by retiring players’ numbers from the club’s Hall of Fame alone, adding Valenzuela’s number 34 to its Ring of Honor in a widely anticipated celebration.

But, today, it will result in the most recognizable honor of Valenzuela’s contribution to the sport.

One more time, the door has been encircled in the Salon de la Fama.