Fernando Valenzuela
Written by Steve on December 25th, 2008
1989 Topps #150 Fernando Valenzuela
1989 Topps, perhaps I’ll get a special Christmas present today?:
- #319 Greg Booker
- #73 Pascual Perez
- #60 Tom Brunansky
- #667 Dwayne Murphy
- #484 Steve Shields
- #74 Nick Leyva (Manager)
- #658 R.J. Reynolds
- #139 Mike Flanagan
- #312 Tom Lawless
- #754 Bob Brower
- #150 Fernando Valenzuela
- #719 Danny Darwin
- #714 Joe Morgan (Manager)
- #614 Whitey Herzog (Manager)
- #598 Ken Gerhart
Looks like my Christmas present today is Fernando Valenzuela. Hmm.
“Fernando devotes much of his off-the-field time to his “Be Smart, Stay in School” program that rewards youngsters who have had a perfect school attendance.”
He set off a craze in the early 80’s dubbed “Fernandomania”. However, his arm lost its heat by the end of the 80’s and his decline was so long and drawn-out that it pretty much killed his Hall of Fame chances.
Later on, Hideo Nomo would play a very similar career. His craze in the mid-90’s was called “Nomomania” and his decline was equally slow and painful to watch.