Fernando Valenzuela posted a very good season for a No. 3 starter in 1996, and the Padres won the NL West and made the playoffs as a result
Julian residents who wanted free firewood for the winter of 1996 could’ve obtained plenty of it from the muttering hitters who’d faced Fernando Valenzuela that summer.
By the mid-1990s, the Mexican-born six-time All-Star was far removed from the “Fernandomania.” He was looking for a pitching job. He understood which hitters could hurt him, and viewed them as Kryptonite. Not bothered by pitching with men on base, he sometimes would pitch around two or three hitters in an inning to create a winning matchup.His unorthodox delivery, in which he whirled and looked to the sky, required body control that was beyond most pitchers.
Padres teammates enjoyed golfing with Valenzuela. One day, after the lefty drove a tee shot down the fairway, he asked a right-handed teammate for his driver.San Diego third baseman Christian Villanueva, left, talks with Retired Major League Baseball pitcher Fernando Valenzuela, during the regular-season major league baseball game between the San Diego Padres and the Los Angeles Dodgers in Monterrey, Mexico Friday, May 4, 2018.
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