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Four decades have passed since a 20-year-old screwball-throwing left-hander from Etchohuaquila, Mexico, named Fernando Valenzuela captivated the baseball world when he began the 1981 season by winning his first eight starts for the Dodgers. Forty years later, Valenzuela’s otherworldly performance in that stretch seven complete games, five shutouts, a 0.50 ERA in 72 innings still inspires awe.
Valenzuela’s legacy stems not only from what did on the field, but the lasting impact he had off it. His improbable start captured the imaginations of baseball fans across the country. At some point during those first few weeks of the 1981 season, the excitement he generated acquired a name: Fernandomania. And it manifested in the form of packed stadiums, an outsized media presence wherever the Dodgers went, and the chants and cheers of Latino fans in Los Angeles and beyond, many of whom Valenzuela drew to baseball for the first time.