I love this thing.
What we have here is a wooden pencil holder that is shaped like a baseball resting on a bat and pedestal. Across the 'sweet spot' is the name
Valenzuela -- no doubt in reference to Dodgers pitching sensation Fernando Valenzuela. There are no other markings, other than 'Mexico' being scribbled on the underside of the base. Additionally, I'd find it surprising if this was licensed in any way. Instead, I think this was something an enterprising Mexican entrepreneur created to take advantage of the Fernandomania that had gripped much of the America's in the early-80's. Check out the item on eBay - (
eBay Auction Link).
Seeing this makes me wonder how many other Dodgers-related trinkets like this -- likely unlicensed and sold at small curio/knickknack shops in both Mexico and Southern California -- exist out there?
There's got to be a bunch of weird stuff like this, and I'd love to see more.