Team
The ASA, a non-profit organization that recognizes achievements in sports broadcasting, also elected Scully as the top sportscaster of the 20th century in a vote by more than 500 national members of the organization in 2000, topping such broadcasting icons as Howard Cosell, Mel Allen and others. And while the latest poll by that organization put the "Voice of the Dodgers" atop the list of all-time greats, that group is not alone. In the 2005 book "Voices of Summer", Scully was named as baseball's all-time best broadcaster based on "longevity, continuity, network coverage, kudos, language, popularity, persona, voice knowledge and miscellany." Each criterion was rated from 1-10, with the perfect score being 100. Scully was the only broadcaster to reach that number.
Scully, whose vivid yet simplistic description of a baseball game has thrilled fans for years, joined Hall of Fame announcer Red Barber and Connie Desmond as part of the Brooklyn Dodgers' broadcast team in 1950, just a year after graduating from Fordham University. Scully, who played outfield for two seasons on Fordham's baseball team, called baseball, basketball and football games for the University's radio station. In 1982, 32 years after he first became a Dodger broadcaster, Scully reached the pinnacle of his sparkling career in baseball when he was inducted into the Broadcaster's wing of the National Baseball Hall of Fame as the Ford C. Frick Award recipient.
During the 2008 calendar year, Scully was inducted into the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame in New York City as well as the California Sports Hall of Fame. He was honored on the field at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum before the team's record-setting game in March and a plaque was unveiled in his honor at the historic venue. He received the Art Gilmore Career achievement award from Pacific Pioneers Broadcasting and was honored by WFUV, the radio station he helped form at his alma mater, Fordham during its 60th anniversary celebration. Scully received an honorary Doctor's of Law degree from Pepperdine, the university's highest honor and in 2009, the honors will continue, as he is scheduled to be inducted into the National Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame this April in Las Vegas.
When Scully first began broadcasting in 1950, the Dodgers had yet to win a single World Series and were known affectionately as "Dem Bums." Gasoline cost 27 cents a gallon, a postage stamp was just three cents and the minimum wage was only 75 cents per hour. Three years later, at the age of 25, he became the youngest person to ever broadcast a World Series game and in 1955, he had his most memorable moment behind the microphone, as he called the Dodgers' first and only championship in Brooklyn. The following season, Scully once again found himself in the enviable position of calling what he would later say was the greatest individual performance he had seen -- Don Larsen's perfect game in the World Series, a broadcast which made national news again this year when the MLB Network launched on January 1 with the rare footage of that game.
Though he cut his proverbial teeth on radio, Scully is often known for letting the pictures tell the story on television. His most memorable call for Dodger fans likely came in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series, when a hobbled Kirk Gibson's two-out, two-strike, two-run homer gave the Dodgers a victory over the highly favored Oakland A's.
"High fly ball into right field, she is gone," Scully said before remaining silent for more than a minute. The next words he spoke continue to be replayed almost nightly at Dodger Stadium. "In a year that has been so improbable, the impossible has happened."
Scully's voice is often dubbed the "soundtrack to summer" in Los Angeles, where generations of fans have grown up listening to him call Dodger games. In 2009, he will continue to call all Dodger home games and the club's road games against NL West and AL West opponents. While Scully handles all nine innings of the team's television broadcasts, the first three innings of each of his games is simulcast on radio.
As such, in 2005, USA Today ranked the Dodgers' radio broadcast team as Major League Baseball's best, based on a technical rating, a fan rating and an entertainment rating. Scully and his colleagues, Rick Monday and Charley Steiner, earned 28.5 points out of a possible 30.
On April 21, 2001, the press box at Dodger Stadium was named in Scully's honor.
In addition to his Dodger broadcasts, the multi-talented broadcaster called play-by-play for National Football League games and PGA Tour events on CBS-TV from 1975-82 and play-by-play for Major League Baseball's Game of the Week, three World Series and four All-Star Games on NBC-TV from 1983-89. Scully also called play-by-play for the World Series on CBS Radio from 1990-97. In all, he has called 25 World Series and 12 All-Star Games.
Scully portrayed himself in "For Love of the Game," the 1999 Universal Pictures release starring Kevin Costner. During the 1999 World Series, Scully served as master of ceremonies at Major League Baseball's All-Century Team unveiling at Atlanta's Turner Field. He was also named best of the century in Los Angeles Sports broadcasting by the Long Beach Press-Telegram and the poet laureate of baseball by USA Today. He has also lent his voice to Sony Playstation's MLB video game.
He and his wife, Sandra, reside in Los Angeles.
Broadcasting highlights include:
• Three perfect games (Don Larsen in 1956, Sandy Koufax in 1965 and Dennis Martinez in 1991) and18 no-hitters.
• Johnny Podres' shutout of the Yankees in Game 7 of the 1955 World Series, which gave the Dodgers their first World
Championship.
• The Dodgers' first game in Los Angeles at the Coliseum on April 18, 1958.
• The Dodgers-Yankees exhibition game on May 7, 1959 that honored Roy Campanella before a Major League record 93,103
fans at the Los Angeles Coliseum.
• The Dodgers' playoff win over the Milwaukee Braves and World Series victory over the Chicago White Sox in 1959, which
gave them their second World Championship; and other World Championship seasons in Los Angeles in 1963, 1965, 1981
and 1988.
• Don Drysdale's 58.2 scoreless innings streak in 1968 and Orel Hershiser's 59.0 scoreless innings streak in 1988.
Hank Aaron's 715th career home run that broke Babe Ruth's Major League record at Atlanta's Fulton County Stadium on
April 8, 1974.
• Barry Bonds' record-breaking 71st, 72nd and 73rd home runs.
• The rookie seasons of international superstars Fernando Valenzuela in 1981 and Hideo Nomo in 1995.
Other awards include:
• Named the country's Outstanding Sportscaster four times and California Sportscaster of the Year 27
times by the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association, including being honored as the 2005
California Sportscaster of the Year.
• Recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Sports Emmy Award from the National Academy of Television
Arts and Sciences in 1996 for his "distinguished and outstanding" work.
• Inducted into the American Sportscasters Association's Hall of Fame in 1992.
• Inducted into the Southern California Sports Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 1997.
• Won the Los Angeles area Governors Emmy Award from the Academy of the Television Arts and
Sciences' Board of Governors in 1992 for his special contribution to television in Los Angeles.
• Named the Southern California Sports Broadcaster Association's Sportscaster of the Year in 1991, 1992
and 1994; Broadcaster of the Year in 1984; Radio Play-by-Play award in 1991; and Baseball Play-by-Play
award in 1993.
• Named American Sportscasters Association's Sportscaster of the Year in 1985.
• Won the Voice of Vision award in 1992 for his "incredible gift of painting vivid word pictures so those
without sight can also see Dodger baseball."
• Recipient of the United States Sports Academy's Ronald Reagan Media Award in 1987.
• Had his star placed on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1982.
• In 1995, had a baseball field named after him in Bogota, N.J., where he resided while working with the
Brooklyn Dodgers.
• Received the inaugural Arthur Daley Memorial Award in 1995, which is presented to a Fordham alumnus
who has distinguished himself in the field of athletic journalism.
• Had a tribute in his honor from the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences in November 1997.
Former Dodger outfielder and two-time Major League All-Star, Rick Monday begins his 16th full season as a Dodger broadcaster and 23rd season overall with the organization. The Emmy-Award winning broadcaster can be heard on the Dodgers' flagship station KABC 790 and across the Dodger Radio Network.
In 2005, USA Today ranked the Dodgers' radio broadcast team, featuring Vin Scully, Monday and Charley Steiner, as Major League Baseball's best, based on a technical rating, a fan rating and an entertainment rating. The trio earned 28.5 points out of a possible 30.
In his current role, Monday serves as an analyst for all 162 games alongside play-by-play announcer Charley Steiner. For every game throughout the season, Monday is also a co-host on the radio pre-game show and in 2008, he was one of the hosts of the Dodgers' new online webisodes titled "Inside Dodgertown."
Monday, who joined the Dodgers' broadcast team in 1993, began his broadcasting career as a sports anchor on KTTV in Los Angeles in 1985 while also calling play-by-play and hosting the pregame show for Dodger games on DodgerVision and Z Channel. He was nominated for an Emmy as host of the Dodgers' pregame show on KTTV's "Dodger Central" in 1988 and he earned an Emmy for Live Sports Coverage in 2001. Monday was also a color commentator for CBS-TV at the College World Series championship game in 1988. He moved to San Diego in 1989 and called play-by-play for the Padres on radio and television for four seasons.
The 2006 season marked the 30th anniversary of one of the most dramatic moments of Monday's playing career. While playing for the Chicago Cubs in 1976, he saved the American flag from being burned by two protesters in left field at Dodger Stadium on April 25. Al Campanis, former Dodger Vice President, Player Personnel, presented the flag to Monday after it was used as evidence in the case against the two protesters and former U.S. President Gerald Ford presented Monday with a Bicentennial Commendation for his service to others. On June 27, 2006, in honor of the 30th anniversary of his heroic efforts, the 109th Congress passed a senate resolution, honoring Monday for his courage and patriotism and he has been a guest of former President George W. Bush at the White House on several occasions.
During the 2006 season, Monday released his first book, titled "Tales from the Dodger Dugout," a retrospective on the 1981 World Championship club on which he played a key role.
A star at Arizona State University (ASU), Monday led the Sun Devils to the 1965 College World Series Championship and earned All-American and College Player of the Year honors before the Kansas City Athletics made him the first player ever selected in the Major League First-Year Player Draft. He was inducted into the ASU Hall of Fame in 1975. He also serves on the Advisory Board for ASU Baseball.
Monday made his Major League debut in 1966 and was named to the American League Rookie All-Star Team that year. After spending six seasons with the Athletics, including an appearance on the 1968 American League All-Star team, and five seasons with the Cubs, Monday joined the Dodgers as part of a five-player trade in 1977. He played eight seasons for the Dodgers, helping them to a World Championship in 1981 and three NL pennants (1977, 1978, 1981) and was named to the NL All-Star squad in 1978. Overall, Monday compiled a .264 career batting average with 241 home runs and 775 RBI while appearing in five League Championship Series and three World Series.
The former left-handed hitter is also known for his dramatic, game winning home run in the ninth inning of Game 5 of the 1981 N.L. Championship Series at Montreal, which gave the Dodgers a 2-1 victory and a berth in the World Series.
In 1977, Monday received the inaugural Humanitarian Award presented by Major League Baseball and in 1995, he was honored with the William A. Shea Distinguished Little League Graduate Award, which is given to a Major League Baseball player or individual who best exemplifies the spirit of the Little League Baseball program. A list of additional awards can be found below.
Monday and his wife, Barbaralee, who make regular visits to various veteran's hospitals throughout the year, reside in Vero Beach during the offseason.
Among the awards Monday has won during his four decades in baseball are:
• Presidential Commendation: "SERVICE TO OTHERS" by President Gerald R. Ford
• Joan C Payson National Baseball Award
• Boy Scouts of America "Patriotism Award"
• Fraternal Order of Police "Patriotism Award"
• United States Marine Corps "Lifetime Achievement Award"
• American Legion "Patriotism Award"
• Baseball Against Drugs (BADD) "Lifetime Achievement Award"
• Military Order of Purple Hearts "Patriotism Award"
• United States Navy League "Service to Others"
• Louisville Slugger "Humanitarian Award"
• Appointed as a "Kentucky Colonel" by Commonwealth of Kentucky
• Selected as the West Coast "Father of the Year"
• Pearl Harbor Survivors Association "Patriotism Award"
• Carolinas Freedom Foundation "Freedom Award"
• 2006 Chuck Benedict Founders Award by the Southern California Sports Broadcasters
• 2007 James V. Day "Good Guy" Award by the American Legion
Emmy Emmy Award-winner Charley Steiner enters his fifth season as a play-by-play announcer for the Dodgers.
Beginning in the 2009 season, the veteran broadcaster will call the action for all games on the Dodgers' flagship station, KABC 790 alongside Rick Monday. He has also done extensive work in play-by-play and as a host for the Dodgers' television rightsholders, KCAL 9, and Prime Ticket.
In 2008, Steiner had the distinction of calling the Dodgers' historic two-game series in Beijing, China, the first ever Major League games played on Chinese soil. Steiner has called games in six different countries as he was also behind the microphone for ESPN in 1999 when MLB opened the season for the first time in Monterrey, Mexico and the first-ever Major League game in Puerto Rico in 2001. Steiner also called the 2004 Opening Day festivities for the Yankees in Tokyo, Japan.
In 2005, his first season with the Dodgers, USA Today ranked the club's radio broadcast team, featuring Hall of Famer Vin Scully, Rick Monday and Steiner as Major League Baseball's best, based on a technical rating, a fan rating and an entertainment rating. The trio earned 28.5 points out of a possible 30.
Steiner, 58, is best known nationally for his 14 years at ESPN, where he served as a SportsCenter anchor, baseball and football commentator, and baseball and boxing reporter. He came to the Dodgers after three seasons on New York Yankee broadcasts for WCBS Radio and the YES network. While with the Yankees, Steiner and John Sterling received the best play-by-play award from the New York A.I.R. (Achievement in Radio) Awards.
A native of New York, Steiner grew up listening to Brooklyn games on the radio, kindling a lifelong affection for the Dodgers and, in particular, the men that called the Dodger games, including Scully. Steiner's responsibilities at ESPN ranged from anchoring SportsCenter to working play-by-play for Major League Baseball on ESPN Radio. He was also a frequent play-by-play commentator for ESPN Major League Baseball broadcasts and ESPN 2's Saturday Primetime football contests. He served as SportsCenter's primary boxing reporter/analyst, as well as contributing to the Emmy and CableACE Award-winning Outside the Line series. His nationally-acclaimed coverage of the Mike Tyson trial in Indianapolis earned him a Clarion award.
Prior to joining the Dodgers, Steiner provided the reading voice for the books-on-tape version of Jane Leavy's "Sandy Koufax: A Lefty's Legacy" and in 2005, he served as the narrator for the DVD "Dodger Blue: The Championship Years," which was produced by Major League Baseball Productions. He also served as the lead play-by-play announcer for XM Radio at the inaugural World Baseball Classic in March 2006 and hosted a radio show on XM from 2006-08.
He began his professional broadcasting career in 1969 at WIRL Radio in Peoria, Illinois as a newscaster. After a nine-month stint at KSTT Radio in Davenport, Iowa, Steiner moved to Connecticut, where he served as News Director at WAVZ radio in New Haven and, later, at WPOP radio in Hartford.
After a year and half in Cleveland working at WERE radio and WKYC television as a sportscaster, Steiner moved home to New York, where for the next seven years, he was the morning sportscaster on WOR radio, while serving as sports director for the RKO Radio Network.
In addition, Steiner called the play-by-play for the USFL New Jersey Generals and, later, for the New York Jets on WABC radio. He won the UPI Best Radio Sportscaster award for New York, New Jersey and Connecticut in 1981, 1983 and 1985,and the New York State Broadcasters Award for best radio play-by-play in 1983, 1984, and 1987 before joining ESPN. He continues to call the action for the Harvard-Yale football game each fall.
Steiner is a 1971 graduate of Bradley University, where he was inducted into the school's Hall of Fame in 1995.
Steve Lyons enters his fifth season as a part of the Dodger broadcast team, as he provides analysis on television broadcasts outside of the NL West. He has earned national notoriety as a staple of Fox Sports' coverage of Major League Baseball from 1996-2006, where he earned an Emmy Award and two additional Emmy nominations during his tenure with the network.
He began his Fox career as an analyst for the network's Saturday Baseball Game of the Week studio show, and made the natural transition to baseball analysis for Fox's game coverage. Lyons also served as one of the primary anchors on the Fox Sports Net News Desk, broadcasting nightly across all 21 FSN regions. Lyons also served as a color analyst on the Arizona Diamondbacks broadcasts for 50 games in 2003.
Lyon's nine-year Major League career included playing for the 1986 American League Champion Boston Red Sox team and the 1992 National League Champion Atlanta Braves. Lyons posted a career .262 batting average while playing for the Red Sox (1985-86 and 1991-93), Chicago White Sox (1986-1990), Braves (1992) and Montreal Expos (1992).
Known throughout baseball for his personality and wit, Lyons penned the 1995 autobiography "Psychoanalysis," which details his time in the minor leagues up through his retirement from the Major Leagues in 1993.
Lyons, who attended Oregon State University, resides in Hermosa Beach.
Eric Collins enters his first season with the Dodgers broadcast team alongside 5-year veteran, Steve Lyons. Collins will call the action in 38 games east of Colorado from the Dodger broadcast booth on PRIME TICKET and KCAL.
Collins is a regular play-by-play voice on ESPN/ABC for a variety of sports including College Football and College Basketball. He was the voice of USA Baseball for NBC Sports at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. Collins' extensive play-by-play experience also includes Major League Baseball, Minor League Baseball, College Baseball and Women's Softball. Baseball is Collins' true passion.
Collins began his career before ESPN/ABC by calling minor league baseball and hosting the pregame and postgame for the White Sox and Cubs. He was also a sideline reporter for the Chicago Bulls from 1997-2002.
Collins earned a bachelor's degree from St. Lawrence University and a Master's from Syracuse University.
Collins resides in Chicago with his wife, Keri, and two daughters, Beatrice and Harriet.
Jaime Jarrín, among the most recognizable voices in Hispanic broadcasting and one of two current Dodger Hall of Fame announcers, begins his 51st season in the radio booth. Jarrín, "the Spanish Voice of the Dodgers" is also heard on FSN Prime Ticket's SAP channel. The Dodgers, with Jarrín and longtime English-language broadcaster Vin Scully, are the only Major League club to feature a pair of Hall of Fame announcers.
In the 2005 book "Voices of Summer," Jarrín was named as baseball's all-time best Spanish-language broadcaster based on "longevity, continuity, network coverage, kudos, language, popularity, persona, voice knowledge and miscellany." He was rated 28th overall among all broadcasters.
Jarrín became the club's No. 1 Spanish-language broadcaster in 1973, 14 years after he first joined the Dodgers. He was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame on July 26, 1998 in Cooperstown, NY as the recipient of the Ford C. Frick Award. Named in honor of the former broadcaster and Commissioner of Baseball, the Frick Award has been given annually since 1978 to a broadcaster "for major contributions for the game of baseball."
The Quito, Ecuador native began working for HCJB in his home country when he was just 16 years old and went on to become the announcer for the National Congress of Ecuador. He came to the United States on June 24, 1955 and four months later, watched the Dodgers win their first World Series, which was when he fell in love with baseball.
Shortly thereafter, began working for KWKW in Los Angeles, where he was the news and sports director when the Dodgers moved to Los Angeles in 1958. For the first six-plus years as the Dodgers' broadcaster, Jarrin did not travel and would recreate the games on radio while listening to the English-language broadcast from a studio.
From 1962 to 1984, Jarrín consecutively called close to 4,000 games spanning 22 seasons and never missed a game. The streak was broken only when he took charge of all the Spanish-language radio coverage and production for the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
In addition to his work calling Dodger games, Jarrín found himself at the center of many international news broadcasts, including the funeral of President John F. Kennedy, Pope John Paul II's visit to America, and several important meetings between foreign leaders and Presidents Richard Nixon and Lyndon B. Johnson.
Jarrín became a household name across the country in 1980-81 when he served as the interpreter for Mexican pitching phenom, Fernando Valenzuela during a period known as Fernandomania. The left-hander would eventually become an analyst alongside Jarrin beginning in 2003.
When he was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame, Jarrín became only the second Spanish-language announcer to achieved that honor, joining Buck Canel. Jarrín was also the first recipient of the Southern California Broadcaster Association's President's Award in February 1998.
He was given the highest award by the National Association of Hispanic Journalists in June 1998 and received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in September 1998. On June 21, 2002 Jarrín was inducted into the California Broadcasters Association Hall of Fame and on August 23, 2003, he was inducted into the Hispanic Heritage Baseball Museum during pre-game ceremonies at Dodger Stadium. In early 2004, he was honored by the Southern California Sports Broadcasters with the 2003 Foreign Language Sports Broadcaster Award and inducted into the Southern California Sports Broadcaster's Hall of Fame. Jarrín was honored again by the SCSB with the foreign-language broadcaster of the year award in 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007 and 2008. Earlier this year, he was honored by the Society of St. Vincent DePaul for his commitment to changing the lives of at-risk youth in the community.
His other honors included being awarded La Gran Cruz al Merito en El Grado de Comendador (the highest medal awarded to non-military personal) in his native Ecuador in January 1992, named as one of the top 100 Influential Hispanics in the United States in Hispanic Business Magazine in 1990 and the Golden Mike Award in 1970 and 1971. Jarrín was the first Latin American to win that award. In 2000, he spoke at the MLB Rookie Development seminar, which is designed to prepare top minor league prospects for the Major Leagues.
He has called more than 30 world championship boxing title bouts throughout the world for radio and television stations in Latin America, including the Thrilla in Manila between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier. He has called 19 All-Star Games and 25 World Series, including the 2005 Fall Classic in which he served as the emcee for MLB's Latin Legends ceremony. His broadcasts of the All-Star Game, League Championship Series and World Series on CBS, the Latina Broadcasting Network, Cadena Latina and Caracol and 1989 to 1999 were carried on more than 300 stations. In March 2006, Jarrín served as a play-by-play announcer for the inaugural World Baseball Classic.
Jarrín studied philosophy, letters, journalism and broadcasting at Central University of Ecuador in Quito. His son, Jorge - "The Captain" - covers traffic for English and Spanish radio stations in Los Angeles and works for the Dodgers in the Partnerships department. Jarrín and his wife, Blanca, reside in Los Angeles.
Spanish-language broadcaster Pepe Yñiguez begins his 11th full season and 12th overall with the Dodgers. After covering special broadcasting assignments for the Dodgers in 1998, Yñiguez made his debut in 1999 as a full-time broadcaster while also assisting the club in its community and publicity efforts in Spanish-speaking areas. During several offseasons, Yñiguez has hosted "Central Deportiva," a weekly sports talk show airing Sunday afternoons on KWKW.
Since 1992, Yñiguez has broadcast numerous events for FOX Sports International, including every World Series from 1997-2005. In 1997, he called the All-Star Game at Jacobs Field in Cleveland alongside Tito Fuentes and Dennis Martinez. He has also broadcast the annual Caribbean Series, which pits the winners of the Mexican, Venezuelan, Puerto Rican and Dominican Republic Winter Leagues.
Yñiguez has worked for KWKW since 1992 and hosted the Dodgers' pre and post-game shows, "Hablando con los Dodgers," in 1993. From 1993-95 he also served as the color commentator for Los Angeles Raiders broadcasts.
Yñiguez has two daughters - Karissa and Jaquely - and resides in La Habra, CA.
2009 marks Fernando Valenzuela's seventh season as the color commentator for the Dodgers' Spanish-radio broadcasts, keeping Fernandomania alive and well in Los Angeles. Valenzuela, 47, offers his insight from a 17-year big league career alongside Hall of Fame broadcaster Jaime Jarrín and Pepe Yñiguez during all Dodger home games and select road games.
In February 2007, at its annual awards luncheon, the Southern California Sports Broadcasters Association named Valenzuela as the co-winner of the Foreign Language Broadcaster of the Year Award, marking his first such honor.
The 2006 season marked the 25th anniversary that Valenzuela, a native of Navajoa, Sonora, Mexico, was the emergency starter on Opening Day, 1981. He hurled a 2-0 shutout over the Houston Astros, one of five shutouts in his first eight starts that season. The improbable success near the beginning of his tremendous Major League career sparked "Fernandomania," a phenomenon which remains not only one of the most memorable periods in Dodger history but also in Southern California sports history.
While leading the Dodgers to the World Championship that season, he became the first player in Major League history to be named Rookie of the Year and win a Cy Young Award in the same season. He baffled hitters with his signature screwball and packed opposing stadiums throughout the National League, while also earning the All-Star Game start in Cleveland. He still holds the rookie record for consecutive scoreless innings (35.0), as he began his major league career with a 10-0 record and a 0.40 ERA (4ER/90.0 IP) including his late season call-up in 1980.
In 17 big league seasons, Valenzuela compiled a 173-153 record and a 3.54 ERA with Los Angeles, California, Baltimore, Philadelphia, San Diego and St. Louis. He was named to the National League All-Star team for six consecutive seasons from 1981-1986 and in 1986 he won 20 games while also earning the Rawlings Gold Glove Award.
On June 29, 1990 Valenzuela reached the pinnacle of any pitcher's career, as he tossed a no-hitter while blanking the St. Louis Cardinals, 6-0.
The southpaw's success and longevity allowed him to etch his name in the Dodger record books, as he ranks among the top 10 all-time in nearly every pitching category in Los Angeles Dodger history including wins (141, 5th), complete games (107, 4th), strikeouts (1759, 4th), shutouts (29, 5th), starts (320, 4th) and innings pitched (2,348.2, 4th). Among the all-time franchise leaders, Valenzuela is eighth in victories, fifth in strikeouts, seventh in shutouts and seventh in starts. His six Opening Day starts rank third in Los Angeles history to Don Drysdale and Don Sutton.
In 1986, Valenzuela completed 20 of his starts, the last big league pitcher to accomplish that feat. In fact, since 1980, only two pitchers have even reached 15 complete games in a year.
But far more important than the statistics he posted was the effect he had on baseball. When he made his Major League debut, he was just the seventh Mexican to play for the Dodgers and his impact on the game internationally is incalculable. He was inducted into the Hispanic Heritage Baseball Museum during pre-game ceremonies at Dodger Stadium on August 23, 2003 and in 2002, his first season eligible for Hall of Fame consideration, the left-hander garnered 31 votes.
In July 2006, he was inducted into Baseball Reliquary's Shrine of the Eternals in Pasadena.
Throughout his five seasons as a broadcaster, Valenzuela has teamed up with the Dodgers to bring children's groups from the community to select home games as part of the Amigos de Fernando Program. As a result of this program and his continued community involvement, the Reviving Baseball in Innercities Program (RBI) honored Valenzuela with a Lifetime Achievement award at its annual banquet in February 2007.
Valenzuela and his wife Linda have four children, Ricky, Fernando Jr., Linda and Maria Fernanda. He resides in Los Angeles.
