Carlos Santana and his wife, Susannah, stood outside the Cathedral of Our Lady of Angels in downtown Los Angeles, gazing at the casket of Fernando Valenzuela, the beloved Mexican pitcher for the Dodgers. The couple watched as Valenzuela’s family made ...

Fernando Valenzuela was remembered for “having the heart of a lion” throughout his stellar pitching career with the Los Angeles Dodgers during a funeral highlighting his Catholic faith.

Though he didn’t know him personally, like many of the fans who attended Wednesday morning’s funeral Mass for Fernando Valenzuela, Luis Dircio of Los Angeles felt impacted by the Dodger great. “He’s part of L.A. I’m Mexican and he’s Mexican.

Valenzuela's son and his former catcher Mike Scioscia were scheduled eulogists for the public funeral, which was being held at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Angels.

Just as Fernando Valenzuela tipped his eyes to heaven during his famous windup when he pitched, so did the hundreds of faithful who flocked to his funeral at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels on Nov. 6. But as Father Jim Anguiano said during his Mass homily, that glance to heaven is no longer needed.

A public funeral Mass is scheduled to honor late-Dodgers pitcher Fernando Valenzuela on Wednesday at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in downtown Los Angeles.