Most of us here at NP were mere sparkles in our parents’ eyes when “Fernando-Mania” was sweeping the nation in 1981, and given that since Fernando Valenzuela’s auspicious with the Dodgers, baseball fans have fawned over other pitching phenoms such as Dwight “Dr. K” Gooden, and more recently Felix “King Felix” Hernandez, we are to be forgiven for thinking that Valenzuela might not have had a lasting effect on Crown Heights residents.  But lo and behold, whose face did we find peering back at us this morning during a walk through the neighborhood, but Mr. Valenzuela himself.

In what has to be one of the more unexpected mural pairings of all-time, Valenzuala’s visage is nestled alongside an image of Former Chinese leader Mao Tse Tung.  This mural located on a wall of the Friends of Crown Heights Educational Center (317 Rogers) also features replicas of John F Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy.  Other iconic figures more commonly found on such murals including Martin Luther King Jr, Sojourner Truth and Malcolm X, are also represented on the Friends of Crown Heights mural.

What makes Valenzuela’s presence on this mural even more perplexing is that the building is located in the heart of Brooklyn Dodger country.  Hence, it’s akin to finding a tribute to Peyton Manning in Baltimore.  After all, were it a matter of simply looking for a notable Latino figure to add to this coterie of images, someone like Cesar Chavez would have been an apt candidate—but to a put an image of Valenzuela a stone’s throw from Ebbets Field is virtual heresy.

Popularity: 11% [?]