Fernando Valenzuela will be inducted into the Caribbean Baseball Hall of Fame — el Pabellón de la Fama del Caribe — on Sunday in Hermosillo, Mexico, at Universidad Sonora, Centro de Los Artes.
The current Dodgers broadcaster and retired pitcher was born about 200 miles south of Hermosillo, then began his career in Sonora playing for Mayos de Navojoa in the Mexican Pacific League at age 16. He also played for Naranjeros de Hermosillo and Águilas de Mexicali in the LMP and played in the Caribbean Series. Valenzuela’s induction will recognize his career in the LMP and in Major League Baseball.
The 52-year-old is scheduled to travel to Hermosillo Friday to partake in the opening ceremonies of Estadio Sonora, the brand-new stadium that will host the Caribbean Series. Valenzuela will throw the ceremonial first pitch prior to the 7 p.m. game between Yaquis de Obregón and Criollos de Caguas.
Dodgers broadcaster Jaime Jarrín, advisor Tommy Lasorda and Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer Lon Rosen will join Valenzuela in Hermosillo. They will participate in pregame ceremonies, and Valenzuela will throw the ceremonial first pitch, prior to the 5 p.m. game Sunday (Yaquis de Obregón vs. Leones del Escogido).
The Caribbean Baseball Hall of Fame members are voted in by journalists, radio and television broadcasters and baseball historians from Mexico, Puerto Rico, Venezuela and the Dominican Republic. Each nominee has to receive a minimum 75 points on the ballot. Valenzuela received 175 out of a possible 200. The 2013 Caribbean Baseball Hall of Fame class also includes former Major Leaguers and LMP stars Alfonso “Houston” Jiménez and Ever Magallanes. Two former presidents of LMP, Renato Vega and Dr. Arturo León Lerma, will also be inducted.
Valenzuela will return to the 2013 World Baseball Classic as the pitching coach for Team Mexico (2006, 2009) for the third consecutive time. He will enter his 11thseason as the color commentator for the Dodgers’ Spanish-language radio broadcast
