RIP Fernando Valenzuela

He was 4-24 in his last three seasons. That's a big hit on career winning percentage, in an era when that was a pretty important stat.

 

I only know it because I have rosters etched in detail from 1994 to 2005 in my head from playing thousands of hours of baseball video games from junior high through college.

I remember every team Valenzuela pitched for at the end of his career because of World Series Baseball.

(I know every rotation and starting lineup in Major League Baseball from 2005 because of MVP Baseball. Those rosters will never leave my mind until I die. I believe Justin Verlander [named Johnny Snare in the game because minor leaguers’ real names weren’t included] is the only active player from the game. Zack Greinke and Ollie Perez hung on for a long time.)

 

I think you misread his stats.
He was 2-12 in 1997, his final season. That included a 2-8 mark with the Padres and 0-4 with the Cardinals. If you add all three lines, you get 4-24, but they're all part of the same season.
In his final three seasons, he was 23-23.

 

Yep, duh.

A shot to his career WP nonetheless, Like Spahn going 13-29 his last two years and Carleton going 16-32 his last three.

 

Carleton?

Steve Carleton???

 

I'd forgotten/didn't realize how great his peak really was. Per Stathead, from 1981-87, Fernando was:

--1st in Ks (10 ahead of Nolan Ryan)
--2nd in wins (behind Jack Morris b/c winners win)
--2nd in ERA among pitchers w/1,000 innings (0.08 behind Ryan, who threw a whopping 387 fewer innings, typical Nolan, just letting it fly for a short period of time )
--2nd in IP (one out behind Morris)

He fell off and bounced around after that, which sucks b/c starting pitchers weren't even remotely in the conversation until they got into the 250-win range and most guys had to be borderline great for a decade. Now, being a top-two pitcher for seven years is probably going to be enough to get a guy in...especially if he's as transcendent as Fernando. I think the modern electorate has a softer spot for the fame part of the equation. To paraphrase @poindexter, who the fuck is going to Cooperstown to see Harold Baines' plaque? (Except maybe @QYFW ) But a Fernando plaque would make people smile. Jay Jaffe did his usual great work with his Fernando obit and pointed out Fernando might be a candidate for the Buck O'Neil award.

Fernando Valenzuela (1960-2024), Ace Pitcher and Global Ambassador

It'd be bittersweet b/c it's not a plaque and he wouldn't be here to enjoy it. But it seems right to have Fernando forever represented in the Hall of Fame in some way.

 

Yes, Steve Carlton. My spelling was/is atrocious. So was my math, he was actually 16-36.

1985: 1-8
1986: 9-14
1987: 6-14

Mercifully he retired after posting a 16.78 ERA in four appearances with the Twins in 1988.

His last four years dropped his winning percentage from .602 to .574.