THIS DAY IN BÉISBOL November 11: Fernando Valenzuela is first Rookie of the Year to win Cy Young

“Fernandomania” continued into baseball’s awards season in 1981 as mega-popular Dodgers phenom Fernando Valenzuela won the NL Cy Young Award on the heels of taking home Rookie of the Year honors and a Silver Slugger on this day in béisbol, November 11.

The 20-year-old Mexican native quickly became a fan favorite during the strike-shortened season as he went 13-7 with a 2.48 ERA while hurling 8 shutouts with 180 strikeouts, best in the majors. He was the first rookie to win a Cy Young, and the first pitcher to win both a Rookie of the Year and a Cy Young award.

Valenzuela sparked a cult following when he won his first eight games in ‘81 — five of them were shutouts — then helped lead Los Angeles to a World Series victory over the Yankees.

Also on this day: In 1997, Montreal Expos starter Pedro Martinez was named the National League Cy Young Award winner after going 17-8 with 305 strikeouts, a 1.90 ERA, and 13 complete games. It was the first of three Cy Youngs in the next four years, but the next two came as a member of the Red Sox. The 25-year-old Dominican native was traded to Boston days after winning the award.

Pitcher Jose Fernandez of the Miami Marlins won the National League Rookie of the Year award in 2013 after going 12-6 with a 2.19 record. The 20-year-old Cuban native eventually became the team’s ace but was killed in a boating accident near the end of the 2016 season at age 24.

Jim Accordino, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons; LatinoBaseball.com illustration