This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 4/28/2013
In 1981, the 20-year-old Fernando Valenzuela took Los Angeles (and Major League Baseball) by storm, winning his first eight decisions and leading the Dodgers to the World Championship. That year, Valenzuela became the only player in Major League history to win the Rookie of the Year award and the Cy Young Award in the same season, adding the Silver Slugger Award and World Series championship for good measure. With his youthful charm, devastating screwball, "Ruthian physique" and a connection with Los Angeles' large Latino community, Valenzuela touched off an early '80s craze dubbed "Fernandomania." Valenzuela was a Dodgers mainstay throughout the 1980s, winning 21 games in 1986 and pitching a no-hitter in 1990, though he was injured during the 1988 championship run.
This white knit button-down garment is from Fernando's one-year stop in Baltimore, part of a late-career odyssey that took him to Baltimore, Philadelphia, San Diego, St. Louis and even to the Dodgers' crosstown rival Angels, The snowy white shirt features "Orioles" angled across the chest in orange-on-black double twill, Velenzuela's No. 34 sewn to the back and "Valenzuela" arched on a name plate atop the back number in like fashion. On the left front, "34" is sewn in orange-on-black. Black-and-orange piping lines the edges of the sleeves and the Orioles' 1993 All-Star Game logo patch adorns the left sleeve. On the tapered left front tail, a "RUSSELL ATHLETIC" Size 46 label is accompanied by a fabric content tag and a 1993-2 strip tag. The jersey shows good game wear, with some puckering about the twill components and minimal frying of the black or orange stitching around numbers of name.