SAN DIEGO ( Border Report ) — Even though they grew up cheering for different baseball teams, lifelong friends Rudy Villegas and Carlos Hernandez shared a love and admiration for Fernando Valenzuela, who died Tuesday at the age of 63 in Los Angeles.
Valenzuela, a legendary pitcher with the Dodgers, captivated the baseball world as a rookie in 1981 and quickly became Villegas and Hernandez’s idol.
“It didn’t matter what team you were rooting for, you were a Fernando fan, even in his death, he unites us, he united this community, which was 95 percent immigrant,” Hernandez said. “I think the people who were more impacted by it, even more than us, were our parents who were immigrants from Mexico who didn’t master the English language, Fernando was one of them.”
Mexican-born pitcher whose feats for Dodgers fueled ‘Fernandomania,’ dies at 63
Hernandez said he was shocked and saddened by the news of Valenzuela’s death, a sentiment shared by Villegas.
“This guy was somebody I wanted to imitate, someone I wanted to be like,” Villegas said. “I wore his number, I was a left-handed pitcher and he was my inspiration.”
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Villegas, who is retired but working as a tour guide at Petco Park, home of the San Diego Padres, says his dream of meeting Valenzuela came true about two years ago…