#495 - Mario Soto

What a card: Mario Soto was coming off a season in which he won a career-high 18 games when this card was issued.

My observation on the front: Soto is smiling broadly because he just completed one of the best five-year spans for a pitcher from that period.

More opinion from me: Soto was one of the more despised pitchers during my initial Dodgers rooting phase. He seemed to own the Dodgers, although I couldn't prove it in this post.

Something you might know: Soto was the ace of the Reds squad during the early 1980s, particularly in 1983 and 1984. He finished in the top 10 in Cy Young Award voting three times between 1980-84 and was annually among the leaders in strikeouts.

Something you might not know: Soto is one of 29 major league pitchers to have allowed four home runs in one inning. He did it in 1986 against the Expos (Andre Dawson, Hubie Brooks, Tim Wallach, Mike Fitzgerald).

My observation on the back: Hey, it's a trivia question about Tony Gywnn. I think there's a blogger or two who collects his cards. Just a couple.

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