Viva, Fernando! Boo, Topps?

Fernandomania is alive and well! The card I asked Fernando Valenzuela to sign arrived in my mailbox today after a mere 51-day wait. That's not bad for someone who is still deluged with autograph requests and remains in a high profile job as a color commentator for the Dodgers' Spanish-language radio broadcasts.

This was my third TTM try and my third successful one. I thank Jim of gcrl for helping me out with this. And thanks to those who suggested I send this card. I have a couple of other requests out there, thanks to the helpful blogging community.

But you probably just skipped over that last paragraph didn't you? Ever since you saw the card, you've been fixated on the crossed-out Topps logo, haven't you? Me, too! That's the way it came out of the envelope! I have no idea what it means. The '91 Topps Fernando card that Jim received did not have the Topps logo crossed out. I don't remember seeing that on other Fernando-autographed cards.

Has Valenzuela recently signed with Upper Deck? Is there a recent rift with Topps? Does he hate short-prints as much as the rest of us? Did Topps tell him there was no Santa Claus? I am confused but intrigued. Anybody know? This makes for a decent conversation piece, if I knew what the heck it meant.

On another note, I would again like to point you to the sidebar and my continued wait for Topps to send the Johnny Cueto autograph it promised me. I have now received three signatures in the mail -- from Ron Cey, Duke Snider, and Fernando Valenzuela -- since I sent in my redemption code for the Cueto card. And I wouldn't say I'm moving at a breakneck pace in my TTM requests.

Hmm, maybe I do know why Fernando crossed out the Topps logo.

Muchas gracias, Fernando!