Fernando Valenzuela lands on Hall of Fame’s Era Committee ballot

The late Fernando Valenzuela, one of the most important figures in Major League Baseball history, will have another chance to earn a place in the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y.

For the first time since he fell off the Baseball Writers’ Association of America Hall of Fame ballot in 2004, the legendary Dodgers left-hander from Mexico will have his Hall of Fame case reviewed by a committee.

Valenzuela, who died in October 2024, was one of eight players named to the National Baseball Hall of Fame’s Contemporary Baseball Era player ballot with players whose primary contribution to the game came since 1980. He joins Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Carlos Delgado, Jeff Kent, Don Mattingly, Dale Murphy, and Gary Sheffield. 

Valenzuela and Hall of Famer Roberto Clemente are arguably the two most significant Latin American players in MLB history. Both of their contributions extended far beyond the diamond. The 16-member contemporary baseball era committee will meet on Dec. 7 at baseball’s Winter Meetings in Orlando, Fla., to vote.

Fernandomania

As a rookie in 1981, Valenzuela won the National League Rookie of the Year and Cy Young awards. The portly left-hander from Sonora, Mexico, also helped the Dodgers win the 1981 World Series over the Yankees.

Along the way, the 20-year-old rookie became an international sensation. Fernandomania took over the entire National League, helping teams sell out their stadiums with fans waving Mexican flags each time Valenzuela visited. 

Valenzuela’s impact on baseball is felt more than four decades earlier, especially at Dodger Stadium. Many Mexican American big leaguers, including Russ Ortiz and Nomar Garciaparra, have credited Valenzuela with inspiring them. Current All-Stars Alejandro Kirk, Isaac Paredes and Jonathan Aranda also credit Valenzuela even though they are too young to remember seeing him play.

In an era when managers expected starting pitchers to pitch deep into games, Valenzuela was a workhorse. He led the NL in complete games (11) and shutouts (eight) as a rookie. 

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Valenzuela led the NL in complete games in three of his 17 seasons with a high of 20 in 1986. A six-time All-Star, two-time Silver Slugger and Gold Glove winner, Valenzuela finished with a 173-153 record and 3.54 career ERA.

Valenzuela made his debut on the BBWAA Hall of Fame ballot for the 2003 election. Needing votes from 5 percent of the electorate to remain on the ballot, he received 31 votes that year for 6.2 percent. That same year 2025 electee Dave Parker received only 10.3 percent in his seventh year on the ballot.

Second chance for Bonds, Clemens

Valenzuela dropped off the ballot in the 2004 election. He received only 19 votes, which accounted for 3.8 percent. The contemporary baseball era player ballot was determined by 11 baseball historians on the Hall’s Historical Overview Committee. Our Esquina founder  Jose de Jesus Ortiz, the first Latino to serve as president of the BBWAA, was on the committee. 

Ortiz joined Adrian Burgos (University of Illinois); Bob Elliott (Canadian Baseball Network); Steve Hirdt (Stats Perform); La Velle Neal (Minneapolis Star Tribune); David O’Brien (The Athletic); Jack O’Connell (BBWAA); Jim Reeves (formerly Fort Worth Star-Telegram); Glenn Schwarz (formerly San Francisco Chronicle); Susan Slusser (San Francisco Chronicle); and Mark Whicker (formerly Southern  California News Group). 

Bonds, a seven-time NL MVP, is baseball’s all-time home run king with 762. Clemens is a seven-time Cy Young Award winner and former AL MVP. Sheffield, a nine-time All-Star, hit 509 home runs. Bonds, Clemens and Sheffield failed to receive the 75-percent required for induction on the BBWAA ballot in large part because of links to performance-enhancement drugs.

Delgado, a former Roberto Clemente Award winner, hit 473 home runs over his 17-year career.