Latinos didn't sell baseball tickets. Until "Fernandomania."

Following the trail blazed by Caribbean baseball legends like Roberto Clemente, Orlando Cepeda and Juan Marichal, Fernando Valenzuela set off a fan frenzy in 1981 after winning the first eight starts of his rookie season. Nicknamed "El Toro," the pudgy Valenzuela attracted large crowds of Hispanic fans in Los Angeles who wanted to see first-hand his signature screwball and unorthodox delivery: a high leg kick with both arms raised high above his head and a quick glance at the heavens. Manager Tommy Lasorda recalls how Fernandomania soon went mainstream and national: "Every ballpark we went to, they wanted to see this lefty pitcher who looked up in the sky…I still don't know how he did that."

By the end of his first year, the Sonora, Mexico-born Valenzuela helped the Dodgers defeat the feared New York Yankees in the World Series. He was rewarded for his efforts, becoming the only pitcher to win both the Rookie of the Year award and the Cy Young Award in the same season. A six-time all-star, Valenzuela played for the Dodgers until 1990 and spent the rest of the decade fighting for a starting spot on various teams, including the California Angels, Baltimore Orioles and San Diego Padres. In 2005, Valenzuela was named to the MLB Latino Legends team, both for his on-field exploits and for helping to popularize baseball among West Coast Latinos.

Valenzuela is currently a Spanish-language color commentator for Los Angeles Dodgers radio broadcasts. Jaime Jarrín, who has called Dodger games for nearly half a century, experienced "Fernandomania" firsthand: "Fernando turned so many people from Mexico, Central America, South America into fans."

(image by hyperscholar via flickr)

10. Jalapeños cause mass salmonella poisoning

When over 1,250 Americans became sick from salmonella poisoning, authorities suspected tainted tomatoes. But three months after the outbreak began – the largest in over a decade – the true culprit was identified: raw jalapeños. By then, the tomato industry had suffered over $100 million in losses.

9. Natural disasters cause $200 billion in damages

From earthquakes in China to hurricanes in Cuba, from a cyclone in Burma to over 1,700 tornadoes in the United States, natural disasters inflicted over $200 billion in damages this year. One of the world's most important insurance companies suggests the disasters aren't entirely natural, blaming man-made global warming for the increasing ferocity of storms.

8. Daddy Yankee endorses John McCain

In late August, Daddy Yankee endorsed U.S. presidential candidate John McCain, citing the senator's stance on immigration – atypically liberal for a Republican. In the days that followed, Fat Joe called Yankee a sell-out and Pitbull called the endorsement a publicity stunt.

7. Tuition hikes at predominantly Latino colleges

With the U.S. economy in recession, state governments across the country are cutting costs and raising fees to balance their budgets. Among the hardest hit institutions are public colleges. Schools in New York, California, Texas and Colorado, many of which are predominantly Latino, will increase tuition next year, likely forcing some students to postpone their studies just as a college degree becomes even more important.

6. U.S.-México border fence gets started

Years in the planning (and in litigation), construction of the U.S.-México border fence began this year. Whether construction will continue is not entirely clear.

5. Postville, Iowa immigration raids

In May, hundreds of workers at a Postville, Iowa meatpacking plant were detained on immigration charges. It was the largest such raid in years. By late July, many of the detained workers had begun to provide testimony against their former employer, reporting harrowing tales of child labor and unsafe working conditions. In early November, the company filed for bankruptcy.

4. México's drug war escalates

The U.S. remains the largest consumer of illicit drugs and Latin America its principal supplier. Most of those drugs enter the U.S. through México where competition between rival traffickers has claimed the lives of over 4,000 men, women and children. All sectors of Mexican society have come under attack, often through acts of terrorism designed to produce a climate of fear and political paralysis.

3. RBD disbands

Love them or hate them, RBD made bank. In four years, the made-from-Television pop group moved well over 15 million records, sold out dozens of stadiums and made a lasting impression on tens of millions of fans. The group disbanded in August and has just completed its farewell tour.

2. Barack Obama

Less than 50 years after the U.S. abolished laws which prevented African-Americans from voting, the U.S. elected its first Africa-American president. Credited with running the most effective campaign in modern history, Senator Barack Obama will now confront the greatest economic challenge since the Great Depression while managing at least two wars abroad.

1. The Economy

This year, the global economy nearly collapsed after one of its foundations, the finance sector, imploded as a result of the subprime mortgage meltdown in the United States. Every nation has been and continues to be impacted as demand for products and services decreases, companies cut back on production and personnel and governments invest trillions of dollars to keep entire industries, from banks to auto manufacturers, from going bankrupt.