Nov. 12, 2024 23:34 PM EST

Los Angeles Dodgers Great Fernando Valenzuela Died Of Septic Shock, Medical Examiner Says

FILE - Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Fernando Valenzuela pitches against a San Francisco Giants batter during the first inning at Candlestick Park, Oct. 3, 1982, in San Francisco. 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, File) Anonymous, ASSOCIATED PRESS
FILE - Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Fernando Valenzuela pitches against a San Francisco Giants batter during the first inning at Candlestick Park, Oct. 3, 1982, in San Francisco. 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, File)
FILE - Former Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Fernando Valenzuela throws the ceremonial first pitch during the MLB All-Star baseball game, July 19, 2022, 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/Abbie Parr, File)
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)
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)
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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, according to his death certificate.

TMZ Sports obtained the document on Tuesday. Valenzuela died on Oct. 22 at age 63, a few weeks after stepping away from his job on the Dodgers' Spanish-language television broadcast and days before the Dodgers began their run to the team's eighth World Series championship. No cause of death was provided at the time.

The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner's office listed septic shock as the immediate cause of death. It is a life-threatening condition that occurs when organs malfunction, leading to dangerously low blood pressure. Each year, at least 350,000 people in the U.S. die of the condition, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The medical examiner listed decompensated alcoholic cirrhosis and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis cirrhosis as underlying causes. Also listed as a significant condition contributing to Valenzuela's death was “probable” Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, a rapidly progressive brain disorder.

The document also shows Valenzuela was cremated. A public Mass was held last week at Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in downtown Los Angeles.

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