Renée Saldaña says she was a Los Angeles Dodgers fan before she was even born.
“I come from a Mexican-American family that has been in L.A. and Southern California for four generations. And we are all huge Dodger fans,” Saldaña, who lives in Eagle Rock, said. “There are pics of me as a baby in ’81 wearing a Fernando Valenzuela jersey.”
But when Saldaña heard Monday, Sept. 4, that one of her favorite Dodgers, pitcher Julio Urías, was arrested in Los Angeles on suspicion of felony domestic violence, she was “disturbed and disappointed.”
She thought the 27-year-old athlete from Culiacán, Mexico, was “going to be our generation’s Fernando Valenzuela,” the star Dodger pitcher from Mexico who in the 1980s galvanized the team’s Latino fan base.
Legions of dedicated Latino Dodgers fans, many of whom affectionately call the team “Los Doyers,” see the squad — and baseball in general — as synonymous with Latino culture in Los Angeles. And, like Saldaña, many were dismayed to hear the news of Urías’ arrest.
Details surrounding the alleged altercation — which reportedly took place Sunday, Sept. 3, outside the BMO Stadium after a soccer game between LAFC and Inter Miami — were not released by Los Angeles police as of Friday, Sept. 8. But, under Major League Baseball’s domestic-abuse policy, Urías was placed on administrative leave Wednesday, Sept. 6. An arraignment is set for Wednesday, Sept. 27.
Urías also faces potential disciplinary action from the MLB, as the first player to twice violate its domestic abuse policy. In 2019, he was suspended for 20 games after an alleged fight with his then-girlfriend in a parking lot, but was not prosecuted. He completed a year-long domestic violence counseling program.
Several events honoring Urías have been canceled — including a bobblehead promotion at the Thursday, Sept. 21, Dodger game. A baseball memorabilia shop in Monterey Park canceled a public signing event with Urías that…
Read the full article here