1983 LAPD Fernando Valenzuela

When deciding whether to post this card, I wasn't so sure if I could technically call it an old baseball card. But then I realized, it's over 25 years old. So for argument's sake I think it qualifies.

I'm not sure where I got this card. It was probably at one of the dozens of weekly baseball card shows that could be found at the local Elk's Club lodge in the 1980's. Remember the good ol' days when you could spend hours on a Saturday morning going from baseball card show to baseball card show?

Today, it's hard to find a show at all. And it's not like I live in the middle of nowhere.

This card was given out by officers of the Los Angeles Police Department to children do-gooders.

For example, if you were seen looking both ways before crossing the street, you could be stopped and given a baseball card and a pat on the back by one of L.A's finest.

Or, you could get a card after a "Say no to Drugs" assembly in school.

Looking back on it, getting a Fernando Valenzuela baseball card in 1983 was probably a good reward after being stopped by the LAPD.

You think?