The Midland Angels drew record crowds who roared their approval during Fernando Valenzuela's brief visit in 1991 at the tail end of his baseball career.
On March 28, 1991, the Dodgers released Fernando Valenzuela. It was a Thursday and about a decade since the Mexican caused a. In that decade that followed Valenzuela’s arrival, he’d helped the team win four National League West titles and two World Series. Valenzuela won the Cy Young award and voted Rookie of the Year in 1981, then became a six-time all-star.
“It’s different, especially if you spent a decade in the major leagues,” Alex Treviño said of playing in Midland. Treviño is a former catcher who played 13 years in the majors. He’s now a Spanish radio broadcaster for the Houston Astros. At three stops along their respective careers, Treviño and Valenzuela were teammates.
Talk with Kayser about Texas League baseball and he’ll tell how the first game, between the Houston Babies and Galveston Giants, took place on April 1, 1888. How in 1902, in a game where Jay Clarke hit eight home runs, the Corsicana Oil City Oilers beat the Texarkana Casketmakers 51-3. He can tell you of the many teams that came and went with Texas oil’s boom and bust. About the type of things minor league teams must do to draw fans.
On a hot West Texas summer night, the 30-year-old Valenzuela, trying to start a new life while trying to keep his career alive, pitched five innings. He allowed three hits and one run. The Midland Angels won, and fans cheered for him like they had done across the major leagues a decade before. Valenzuela made four starts for Midland, finishing with a 3-1 record with a 1.96 ERA.