Fernando Valenzuela, the beloved Dodger pitcher and broadcaster who rose to fame in the 1980s, has been hospitalized for an undisclosed medical reason, according to multiple news reports.

A native of Mexico’s Sonora state, Valenzuela spent 11 seasons of his 17-year MLB career with the Los Angeles Dodgers, inspiring what became known as “Fernandomania” after joining the team during the 1980 season. In 1981, the Dodgers won the World Series after losing the previous two decades, before capturing another title with Valenzuela in 1988.

“Fernando Valenzuela is in the hospital with health issues after resigning from his position with the Dodgers last week,” David Faitelson of TelevisaUnivision, or TUDN, posted on social media on Monday.

Last week, Bill Plunkett of the Southern California News Group reported that the 63-year-old Valenzuela had left the Spanish-language broadcast team indefinitely for the Dodgers. The franchise declined to release a reason, but Plunkett reported that Valenzuela likely will not return for the playoffs.

From the beloved player jersey number 34 was discontinued last year he solidified his place in Dodgers history as the twelfth player to receive the honor. The retirement was marked with a special weekend-long celebration of ‘Fernandomania’, which began with a ceremony at Elysian Park Stadium, where his number was cut into the grass of the field and written in white on the back of the mound was stenciled.

“It’s very emotional,” he told a room packed with English and Spanish speaking reporters prior to the ceremony. “I never expected it.”

Nicknamed “El Toro”, he was known for his unorthodox pitching style, often throwing screw balls with a signature wind-up and high leg kick before almost every pitch. He was also widely credited with popularizing the team, and even the sport itself, among Mexican American fans.

“He created more baseball fans, and Dodger fans, than any other player,” said Jaime Jarrín, the former broadcaster who called Dodger games from 1959-2022, in a Major League Baseball profile. “Because of this boy, people have fallen in love with baseball. Especially within the Mexican community.”

Cruz Angeles, director of a 2010 ESPN documentary about Valenzuela, said the beloved pitcher was particularly inspiring to a certain group of fans in the 1980s, according to the MLB profile.

“For my generation, I’m talking about Generation X, the children of Mexican immigrants who grew up in Southern California in the 1980s. He is not a myth, he was a hero. He was the Mexican who created it and destroyed all the worlds. competition,” said Angeles. “All the fathers wanted their sons to be the next Fernando Valenzuela, and we children would all imitate his delivery, looking up at the sky, hands up in the air and all that. He was one of us, and we wanted to be like that are him.”