The Brief

In the early 1980s, Los Angeles was gripped by “Fernandomania”: fans, many of them Latino, packed Dodger Stadium to see a lefthander from Mexico with a confounding screwball.

On Friday, more than 40 years after his debut in 1980, the Dodgers will celebrate Fernando Valenzuela and his storied career when they retire his number 34 jersey in a pre-game ceremony at Dodger Stadium; earlier Friday, Los Angeles city leaders declared Aug. 11 as “Fernando Valenzuela Day.”

But there’s much more to Valenzuela’s Dodger legacy than his pitching, said Jaime Jarrín. The Dodgers’ longtime Spanish-language sportscaster, now retired, befriended Valenzuela back when he joined the team, acting as his translator — and later, as Valenzuela’s partner in the broadcast booth.

Fernando Valenzuela pitches at Dodger Stadium circa 1986.

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“He became right away a hero for Latinos following baseball,” Jarrín told LAist. “The most important thing is that he created so many new baseball followers.…people from Mexico, from Central America, from South America that didn’t care at all about baseball.”

The young, Mexican-born pitcher rose to superstardom after he led the team to the 1981 World Series. Valenzuela went on to play for the Dodgers until 1991. His pitching appearances drew sell-out crowds and spiked TV viewership.

When Valenzuela came along, Latino sports fans in L.A. at the time were more interested in soccer and boxing, Jarrín said. But when the young man Jarrin describes as “a 19-year-old kid, a little chubby, with Indian features and long hair,” took the pitcher’s mound, Mexican Americans and Latinos in L.A. and elsewhere noticed.

“I think he made them feel proud of being Latinos here in this country,” Jarrín said. “That is what he told me many times, ‘I am very, very proud of being Mexican, and of being Mexican and being here in the United States, here in the major leagues.’ So really, he became an idol here.”

‘El Toro’

Valenzuela was born in Etchohuaquila, a small town within the municipality of Navojoa in Mexico’s Sonora state. He began his professional baseball career in Mexico in 1977, drawing the attention of Major League Baseball scouts two years later, and officially joined the Dodgers at the end of the 1980 season.

He rose quickly to stardom the following year, starting out the 1981 season with a series of shut-out wins, appearing in the All-Star game, and eventually leading the Dodgers to their World Series victory over the New York Yankees that year.

Fernando Valenzuela during his playing days in a 1984 game against the Cardinals at Busch Stadium in St. Louis.

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The Fernandomania buzz grew as Valenzuela won both the Rookie of the Year and Cy Young awards. Fans nicknamed him “El Toro,” Spanish for “the bull.”

Valenzuela continued to pitch for the Dodgers until 1991, then went to play for a number of other teams — including the California Angels, San Diego Padres, and Mexico’s Águilas de Mexicali — before retiring from the game.

He continues to work in baseball as a Spanish-language radio color commentator, and spent several years in the Dodgers radio booth alongside his old friend Jarrín.

The legacy of Fernandomania

Jarrín credits Valenzuela with helping change the makeup of the Dodger fan base. He remembers the old days at the stadium, when just a handful of Latinos attended games, usually seated in the top deck.

“When I started with the Dodgers in 1959…the Latinos coming to the games were about 8 to 10%. Now it’s between 45 and 48% in Dodger Stadium…it’s amazing, it’s fantastic, the way that the Latinos are following the Dodgers.”

Fernando Valenzuela waves to fans in an undated photo.

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And while Jarrin has certainly played a role, “(Valenzuela) was the number one guy. He deserves most of the credit.”

“He was able to create that pride that Mexicans and Latinos in general have had in being in the United States and contributing to it,” Jarrin said. “So I think the legacy is huge.”

Fernandomania redux

Fernandomania will be back throughout this weekend with special ceremonies and giveaways in honor of Valenzuela. Tonight, his number will be raised up in left field alongside Dodger legends, including Jackie Robinson, Duke Snider, Sandy Koufax and Valenzuela’s longtime manager, Tommy Lasorda. Fans attending Saturday night’s game will receive commemorative Valenzuela bobbleheads, and on Sunday the team will hand out replica 1981 World Series rings.

And as the weekend starts, Valenzuela’s fan legacy can be glimpsed around town. Earlier this week, shelves at the Latino-owned sports apparel shop The 4th Quarter in Highland Park were brimming with Fernando-themed Dodger T-shirts, while No. 34 Valenzuela jerseys hung from the wall.

Lifelong Dodger fan Heidi Bringuez has stocked up on Fernando Valenzuela Dodgers merchandise at her Highland Park sports apparel store.

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Heidi Bringuez, a second-generation Dodger fan who has run the store with her brother for 14 years, said they began stocking up on Valenzuela-related merchandise once they learned that his number would be retired.

“We stocked up on a lot of T-shirts and jerseys, and a lot of it is selling online,” said Bringuez, whose family is Mexican and Guatemalan. She expected more local fans to stop by before Friday’s game.

Bringuez said while Fernandomania happened well before she was born, she grew up with Dodger lore in a family of baseball fans. Especially as a Latina, she said, she is well aware of Valenzuela’s legacy.

“If you pay attention to the majority of the people that attend the games, it’s probably more than 50% Latinos at this point, right?” Bringuez said. “And I think that has a lot to do with the fans he created.”

MEXICO CITY — The Mexican army killed the leader of the powerful Jalisco New Generation Cartel, Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, "El Mencho, " in an operation Sunday, a federal official said.

The official, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly, said it happened during a military operation in the western state of Jalisco.

It followed several hours of roadblocks with burning vehicles in Jalisco and other states. Such tactics are commonly used by the cartels to block military operations.

Videos circulating social media showed plumes of smoke billowing over the city of Puerto Vallarta, a major city in Jalisco, and sprinting through the airport of the state's capital in panic. On Sunday afternoon, Air Canada announced it was suspending flights to Puerto Vallarta "due to an ongoing security situation" and advised customers not to go to their airport.

The U.S. State Department had offered a reward of up to $15 million for information leading to the arrest of El Mencho. The Jalisco New Generation Cartel, known as CJNG, is one of the most powerful and fasted growing criminal organizations in Mexico and was born in 2009.

In February, the Trump administration designated the cartel as a foreign terrorist organization.

It has been one of the most aggressive cartels in its attacks on the military—including helicopters—and a pioneer in launching explosives from drones and installing mines. In 2020, it carried out a spectacular assassination attempt with grenades and high-powered rifles in the heart of Mexico City against the then head of the capital's police force and now head of federal security.

The DEA considers this cartel to be as powerful as the Sinaloa cartel, one of Mexico's most infamous criminal groups, with a presence in all 50 U.S. states where it distributes tons of drugs. It is one of the main suppliers of cocaine to the U.S. market and, like the Sinaloa cartel, earns billions from the production of fentanyl and methamphetamines.

Since 2017, Oseguera Cervantes has been indicted several times in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.

The most recent superseding indictment, filed on April 5, 2022, charges Oseguera Cervantes with conspiracy and distribution of controlled substances (methamphetamine, cocaine, and fentanyl) for the purpose of illegal importation into the United States and use of firearms during and in connection with drug trafficking offenses. Oseguera Cervantes is also charged under the Drug Kingpin Enforcement Act for directing a continuing criminal enterprise.
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Hermon — Some shoppers heading into Fresco Market were lost in their phones, but when they momentarily looked up, they were greeted by a flap of brilliant green feathers and a cheery squawk. Phones were put away.

“Pepe! Hey Pepe! So good to see you!”

Perched on the shoulder of T.J. Gonzalez, Pepe the Parrot was in full greeter mode. Wide-eyed and seeming to almost smile as he surveyed the parking lot and his approaching public, Pepe did what he naturally does: make people happy.

A common sight at the Hermon market, near where they live, Gonzalez and Pepe can also be found at community centers, farmers’ markets and local events. They often take the Metro into downtown Los Angeles, Long Beach and other locations.

There’s no money asked, stressed Gonzalez, adding that Pepe simply adores the attention. “People want to see and talk with him more than me,” he joked as he cracked a nut and placed it in his mouth. On cue, the bird reached around Gonzalez’s mouth to retrieve it.

Michael Eagle-Hall of El Sereno is delighted to meet Pepe outside of the Fresco Market in Hermon.

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A mail carrier for 37 years before he retired, Gonzalez found Pepe, a red-crowned Amazon (flocks are often seen in Northeast L.A.) in July 2021. The chick had fallen out of a nest and was flailing on a busy street in San Marino. “He was like roadkill,” said Gonzalez, who watched cars drive over (without striking) the bird.

Gonzalez retrieved the parrot and looked for help, but wildlife rehabbers said they’d euthanize the bird since it had a broken wing. Gonzalez instead brought him to a vet and christened him Pepe.

Since Pepe could not fly, Gonzalez started walking him around the neighborhood. He soon discovered how kids and adults enjoyed interacting with the parrot. Pepe is also a social media darling, with more than 8,600 followers on Instagram.

Pepe is more of a squawker than a talker, but Gonzalez has learned how to art-direct photos of people and the bird, instructing them on how to hold their hands and arms best. “We just want that smile because that’s all that Pepe wants from you,” said Gonzalez.

Crews have now recovered the bodies of all nine backcountry skiers who were killed in an avalanche in Northern California earlier this week. It marks an end to what authorities on Saturday described as an agonizing five-day search and recovery operation complicated by intense winter storms northwest of Lake Tahoe.

"While we wish we could have saved them all, we are grateful that we can bring them home," said Nevada County Sheriff Shannan Moon during a Saturday news conference.

Until Saturday, authorities had not confirmed the death of a ninth victim, a skier who had been missing and presumed dead. Officials say their body was found near the eight other victims that have now been recovered. Authorities said avalanche hazards and weather conditions were too dangerous most of the week to search for the remaining victim or recover the bodies.

Four of the bodies were recovered on Friday, and the rest of the bodies were recovered on Saturday, all in the Castle Peak area where the avalanche – one of the deadliest in California history — struck. Six people from the group of 15 skiers survived Tuesday's disaster, the last day of a three-day backcountry ski trip. One guide and five travelers were among the survivors.

Helicopters with the California National Guard as well as the California Highway Patrol were used to hoist the remaining bodies from the mountain, officials said at the press conference.

On Friday, officials were able to use specialized techniques with the help of Pacific Gas & Electric to reduce the avalanche risk.

The ski trip was organized by Blackbird Mountain Guides, an outdoor tour company based in Truckee, Calif. Moon confirmed the identities of the victims. Three guides were killed: Andrew Alissandratos, 34, from Verdi, Nev.; Michael Henry, 30, from Soda Springs, Calif.; and Nicole Choo, 42, of South Lake Tahoe, Calif. The other victims, who had signed up for the group trip, are: Carrie Atkin, 46, of Soda Springs; Lizabeth Clabaugh, 52, of Boise, Idaho; Danielle Keatley, 44, of Soda Springs and Larkspur, Calif.; Kate Morse, 45, of Soda Springs and Tiburon, Calif.; Caroline Sekar, 45, of Soda Springs and San Francisco; and Katherine Vitt, 43, of Greenbrae, Calif.

The Sierra Avalanche Center classified the avalanche between a D2 and D3 on the avalanche danger scale.

"A D2 would take down a person. A D3 would take down a house, so it was right in between those. It was described by them as a football field length of a path of the avalanche," Sheriff Moon said on Saturday.

Multiple agencies are investigating.

"We are investigating the incident to determine if there were any factors that would be considered criminal negligence," Ashley Quadros with the Nevada County Sheriff's Office said in an email to NPR on Sunday. "It is a standard investigation. It is too early to know if criminal charges will be applicable, as the investigation is preliminary and remains active and ongoing."

The area will be closed to visitors for several weeks.
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