Random Topps Card of the Day: 1980 Topps #160 Eddie Murray

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Saturday, June 5, 2010:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1980 Topps #160.
• Player Name, position, team: Eddie Murray, first baseman, Baltimore Orioles.
• Major League Debut: April 7, 1977.
• Last Line of Statistics: 1979 stats (Orioles): 159 G, 606 AB, 90 R, 179 H, 30 2B, 2 3B, 25 HR, 99 RBI, .295 AVG.
• Any special information about player: Drafted by the Orioles #3rd, June 1973. Bats: both, Throws: right.
• Any special information about this specific card: Murray's third regular Topps card (total includes base and traded cards only). One thing I've learned through doing these Random Card of the Day segments is really looking at cards other than the ones normally associated with a certain set. For example, when one thinks of the 1980 Topps set, Rickey Henderson's rookie card instantly comes to mind. With the 2010 Topps Cards Your Mother Threw Out insert set (all 158 cards), not only did Topps include cards instantly recognizable by casual collectors, but they included cards that made me think, "Was this card part of the actual set, or did they give it the 'All-Time Fan Favorites' treatment?" Sure enough, they featured the actual card. Doing these segments, and actually writing about them, has given me a bit more of an appreciation for the Hobby. Case in point. Here is a great looking card of Eddie Murray. Pictured during his second year in the bigs, he has already been named the Rookie of the Year (the prior year), and was added to Topps' All-Star Rookie Team as a "designated hitter" because while he gathered enough votes to get onto the team, he didn't win in either position voted for (first base or the outfield). You look at this card, and you can see that he's ready to step up to the plate, waiting for the first pitch to come from whoever was pitching. Was this his first at bat of the day? Were there runners on base? Was the score tied before he got up there? Let your imagination run wild when looking at this card because unless you were at the game, or took the picture, you wouldn't know, would you? There's no scoreboard in the background, so there is no indication as to what day this was, or who the O's were playing. But imagining the situation before he got up there is part of the fun in this Hobby. Really look at the cards when you flip them, and just imagine (or remember) what was going on that day once in a while. That's what these cards are for.
• Lo-Hi Beckett value: $2.00-$5.00.
• How many cards of this player do I own?: 53 cards.

Tomorrow is Retro Sunday, the one day of the week that we feature a card from 1951-1975. The card we will feature tomorrow is: 1967 Topps #607. Come back at 1:00 PM CST to see who (or what) it is.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama