fernando final tributes

no real reason, other than the fact that i've been putting it off for a long time, but here are fernando valenzuela's final tribute cards.  only upper deck bothered to make cards of el toro in 1998 following his  short five game stint in saint louis that ended in july of 1997.  i've shown his 1998 upper deck base card before

because of the 'final tribute' shield, but i haven't shown the back with his complete career stats

upper deck also included the former dodger sensation in their 1998 collector's choice set, with a final tribute shield as well

and his complete career stats, too.

i wish topps had made a card - they would have separated out his final season between the padres and the cardinals, so we would have seen that he was 0-4 in 5 starts for saint louis in 1997 following a june trade with the padres.  it is appropriate that upper deck included fernando in the 'national pride' insert set in 1998

as he continued to pitch in the mexican leagues over the course of the next several seasons.  the back mentions that he came from mexico

but it doesn't explicitly mention that he began his professional career as a 17-year old in the mexican leagues.  after finally retiring as a player, fernando coached the mexican team in the 2006, 2009, and 2013 world baseball classics, and he joined the dodgers' spanish speaking broadcast team.

fernando is one of those former dodgers of whom i kind of/sort of keep a non-dodger card player collection.  even if i dissolve that collection, i'll keep these final tributes.  viva el toro!