What a card: Fernando Valenzuela was coming off the first losing season of his career when this card came out. He went 12-17 in 1984 but pitched better than he did in the 1983 season when he went 15-10.
My observation on the front: It appears that this photo is a couple of clicks after Valenzuela's famous habit of looking up to the sky during his wind-up.
More opinion from me: Topps did a lousy job of capturing what was the most talked about aspect of Valenzuela's pitching motion. While Fleer featured the "eyes to the sky" in its second year, and Leaf did in its first year as a "premier" card set, Topps waited until late in Valenzuela's career for whatever reason.
Something you might know: The major league sensation of the 1981 season, Fernando Valenzuela began the year with five straight shutouts to touch off "Fernandomania".
Something you might not know: Valenzuela became a U.S. citizen just two weeks ago, and a few months after his wife, Linda, did.
My observation on the back: Fernando Jr. played first base and the outfield in the Padres and White Sox organizations between 2003-06, getting as high as Double A.
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