Random Topps Card of the Day: 1991 Topps #80 Fernando Valenzuela

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Saturday, October 5, 2013:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1991 Topps #80.
• Player Name, position, team: Fernando Valenzuela, pitcher, Los Angeles Dodgers.
• Major League Debut: September 15, 1980.
• Last Line of Statistics: 1990 stats (Dodgers): 33 G, 204 IP, 13-13, 112 R, 104 ER, 115 SO, 77 BB, 33 GS, 5 CG, 2 SHO, 0 SV, 4.59 ERA.
• Any special information about player: Signed with the Dodgers as a Free Agent 07/06/1979. Bats: right. Throws: right.
• Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 14. This is his thirteenth Topps card.
• Blurb on the back: "Fernando's most outstanding outing of 1990 was his 6-0 No-Hitter with 7 Strikeouts vs. Cardinals, June 29."
• Commentary: With a look to the heavens when making his delivery Fernando Valenzuela was THE talk of Dodgertown when he arrived onto the scene in 1980 for a brief cup of coffee. In his rookie season (1981), Fernando led the league in games started (25...strike shortened season), innings pitched, (180), complete games (11), shutouts (8), and achieved a 13-7 record with a 2.48 ERA in a league leading 192 innings pitched. With the Dodgers, he was a six-time All-Star, a Rookie of the Year winner (1981) Cy Young Award winner (1981), two-time Silver Slugger, the winner of a Gold Glove (1986), and a consistent MVP candidate. In many respects, he showed that he could be a durable pitcher. But something happened during the 1991 spring training that the team decided that they no longer needed him, so he was released. Fernando soon found work with the team just south of them in Anaheim. But injuries limited him to two games in June with the Halos, and his comeback was short-lived. He went 0-2 in 6.2 innings of work with an ERA of 12.15. He would then take his talents back to Mexico for the 1992 season before resurfacing with the Orioles in 1993. His final Topps card appearance as an active player came in 1994, but his career would continue, first with the Phillies, then the Padres for three seasons (1995-1997), before one last stand with the Cardinals in 1997. He has been the Spanish voice of the Dodgers since 2003. Valenzuela has been inducted into the Hispanic Heritage Baseball Museum Hall of Fame (2003) and in 2013, was also inducted into the Caribbean Baseball Hall of Fame.  
• Beckett value: $0.02-$0.10 corrected, $0.15-$0.40 error card (see below).
• How many cards of this player do I own?: 36 cards.

Have to comment. This card is from the set I received from a Topps employee before they actually came out in 1991. This is one of the number of error cards that were included as Valenzuela led the league with 104 earned runs, not tied for the NL lead. This card was subsequently corrected.

Tomorrow is Retro Sunday, the one day of the week that we feature a card from 1951-1975. The card we will feature tomorrow is: 1968 Topps #421. Come back at 1:00 PM CST to see who (or what) it is.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama