Los Angeles Dodgers great Fernando Valenzuela died of septic shock, death certificate says
FILE - Former Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Fernando Valenzuela speaks during a news conference ahead of his jersey retirement ceremony at a baseball game between the Dodgers and the Colorado Rockies, Aug. 11, 2023, in Los Angeles. Fernando Valenzuela, the Mexican-born phenom for the Los Angeles Dodgers who inspired “Fernandomania” while winning the NL Cy Young Award and Rookie of the Year in 1981, has died Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun, File)[ASSOCIATED PRESS/Ryan Sun]
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Fernando Valenzuela, the Los Angeles Dodgers pitching ace who helped the team win the 1981 World Series, died of septic shock last month. That’s according to his death certificate, which was acquired by TMZ on Tuesday. The certificate listed septic shock as the immediate cause of death. It’s a condition that occurs when organs malfunction. The certificate also listed cirrhosis of the liver as an underlying cause. It also listed a rapidly progressive brain disorder as a “probable” contributing cause. Valenzuela died on Oct. 22 at age 63.
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Fernando Valenzuela's sons, Fernando Valenzuela Jr., left, and Ricardo Valenzuela, far right, help guide Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Fernando Valenzuela's casket into the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels for a public funeral mass in Los Angeles Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024.(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times via AP, Pool)
Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS/Robert Gauthier