Former Los Angeles Dodgers pitching phenom Fernando Valenzuela turns 52 today. Fernando is one of my favourite players of all time. He was a lot of fun to watch especially early in his career before Tommy LaSorda pitched him to death. In 1981 as a 20 year old rookie Fernando had a magical season in which he took the baseball world by storm. Large crowds turned out whenever and wherever he was pitching. They called it Fernandomania. He became the only rookie pitcher to win the Rookie of the Year and the Cy Young Award in the same season. Fernando was an all-star the first 6ix seasons of his career. He was also one of the best hitting pitchers of his era. He pitched a no-hitter late in his career in 1990.  Fernando was also the first player who was born around the time I was- to play in the majors. We were born the same month {assuming Fernando was born in 1960}