El Toro.
That was the nickname fans bestowed upon Dodgers pitcher Fernando Valenzuela early in his career. Bulls are a symbol of virility and manhood in Hispanic culture, and the Bull — thick-built, hard-charging, yet graceful in his attack — manifested that fearsome animal through most of his career with the Blue Crew.
Many writers — including myself — have chronicled the southpaw’s importance to Latinos in Southern California and beyond. How, for one magnificent season in 1981, a Mexican immigrant electrified a city that had long treated its Mexican residents as little better than the help, winning the Cy Young and Rookie of the Year while propelling the team to its first World Series win in 16 years.
How he showed Major League Baseball that Latinos could be superstars instead of just fiery-tempered underachievers. How he inspired Latinos to root for a franchise whose original sin was building a ballpark on the site of barrios that the city had demolished in the name of progress.
That’s what the obits will rightfully lead with. But none of that was on my mind Tuesday night, when news of his death at age 63 flashed on my phone.
Instead, I thought about El Toro.
Read more: Latinx Files: Fernandomania forever
Our love for bulls is conditional. They are revered because they fight to an inevitable defeat. Bulls get flipped or lassoed or gored — sacrificed for public spectacle, then discarded when they can’t compete anymore. If they’re lucky, their heads get stuffed and mounted.
Sadly, that was the arc of Valenzuela’s career.
Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda played him until his once-powerful left arm hung like a torn rubber band — yet another overworked, underappreciated Mexican in Los Angeles. The team thanked El Toro for his sacrifice by releasing him before the start of the 1991 season. For the last seven years of his big league run, the hero was reduced to a journeyman who bounced around five teams, a sideshow signed mostly to pack the stands with still-adoring fans who happily shouted out his nickname — ¡Toro!
The Dodgers brought Valenzuela back in 2003 as a color commentator for its Spanish language broadcasts but never leaned on his baseball knowledge to coach the next generation of players. They brandished him…