eddie murray is in my hall of famer collection

eddie murray made his mark with the orioles well before he joined the dodgers prior to the 1989 season. he's in my hall of famer collection with this card as his entry:

that is a 2004 upper deck sp legendary cuts legendary sigs card numbered 45/50.  here's the back:

there aren't too many on-card certified autos of steady eddie out there. i first picked up a donruss signatures card from 1997 or 1998, but that had him shown as an indian. i prefer to think of murray as an oriole.  that is largely due to his iconic 1978 topps card, which i remember pulling from a pack and  being instantly interested in learning more about him. that card had an interestingly offset photo, along with the rookie cup befitting the reigning american league rookie of the year.

as much as i liked eddie murray, i was rooting against him in the 1979 alcs. facing the angels and my favorite non-dodger don baylor, eddie tore it up and dashed my hopes of seeing the halos in the fall classic. he hit .417 against the angels and had a couple of key hits as the orioles won the pennant, although they went on to lose to the pirates in the world series.

i paid close attention to murray's exploits through the box scores over the next few seasons as he put up "steady" numbers, and was pretty excited when he joined the dodgers. the first time i saw murray play in person was during his first dodger stadium homestand on april 23, 1989.  murray took craig lefferts deep that day, but it was his giant counterpart, will clark, who had the bigger day as he went 5 for 5 with 3 runs scored and 3 rbi.  the dodgers won, however, on a walk-off walk. i saw murray play in person a couple of other times during the 1991 season, but he didn't do anything of note in either of those games. i did go to an angel game during his short tenure there in 1997, but he didn't play that night. i had tickets to the game two nights later against the yankees, but wound up not being able to make it. murray did play that night, and it turned out to be the closest i got to see him play one last time.

aside from being enthralled by his rookie card, i have a couple of other collecting related memories of murray.  one comes from 1980, when my dad and i went to what became the first annual national convention which was held in los angeles. i brought along all of my doubles from 1978 and 1979, including a number of murray rookie cards, and sold the lot to a dealer there for $10.  it was a year or two later that i began maintaining some player collections in addition to my sets and dodger team sets. it was a while, however, before i had another eddie murray rookie card to put in my collection.

here's my hall of famer collection as its been documented so far:

babe ruth - 2003 topps tribute world series edition world series tribute relic 351/425

honus wagner - 2001 topps tribute relic

tris speaker - 2011 topps tribute dual relic green parallel 53/75

george sisler - 2004 topps tribute hall of fame tribute relic

dizzy dean - 2001 topps tribute relic

bob feller - 2001 topps archives certified autograph

jackie robinson - 2004 topps clubhouse collection clubhouse relic

ted williams - 1992 upper deck baseball heroes autograph 1067/2000

yogi berra - 1998 donruss signatures significant signatures 1640/2000

roberto clemente - 2005 donruss greats hall of fame souvenirs relic

warren spahn - 1999 upper deck century legends epic signatures

mickey mantle - 2000 upper deck legends legendary game jerseys relic

willie mays - 1997 topps willie mays reprints certified autograph

al kaline - 2001 fleer greats of the game autograph

duke snider - 2003 upper deck sp authentic chirography hall of famers 144/250

bob gibson - 2001 fleer greats of the game autograph

hank aaron - 2004 topps originals 1979 topps all-time record holders rbi 03/32

frank robinson - 1995 upper deck autograph

harmon killebrew - 2000 upper deck legends legendary signatures

pee wee reese - 2001 topps tribute relic

jim hunter - 1998 donruss signature series significant signatures 0736/2000

willie stargell - 2000 upper deck legends legendary signatures 

gaylord perry - 2003 topps finest finest moments autograph

rollie fingers - 2018 topps archives signature series 1978 topps buyback 1/3

reggie jackson - 2018 topps tier one tier one talent autograph 19/60

steve carlton - 2018 topps five star career year autograph 43/45

mike schmidt - 2002 topps archives autoproof 1980 topps buyback 048/147

phil niekro - 2017 panini donruss recollection collection 1983 donruss buyback autograph 13/33

don sutton - 2001 fleer greats of the game autograph

carlton fisk - 1999 upper deck century legends epic signatures

tony perez - 2004 fleer national pastime 2002 fleer greats authentic autograph buyback 30/59

dave winfield - 2003 upper deck sp authentic chirography hall of famers 121/350

ozzie smith - 2019 topps finest finest origins autograph

gary carter - 1999 fleer sports illustrated greats of the game autograph collection

eddie murray - 2004 upper deck sp legendary cuts legendary sigs 45/50 

dennis eckersley - 2017 topps archives signature series 1984 topps buyback 47/99

paul molitor - 2016 topps museum collection archival autographs 021/125

bruce sutter - 2003 topps all-time fan favorites certified autograph

jim rice - 2005 upper deck past time pennants past time signatures

andre dawson - 2000 fleer greats of the game autograph

bert blyleven - 2004 upper deck legends timeless teams autograph

pedro martinez - 2018 topps high tek portraitek autograph 09/60

tim raines - 2018 topps tribute tribute autograph green parallel 26/95

alan trammell - 2001 fleer greats of the game autograph

roy halladay - 2017 topps archives signature series 2004 topps buyback 15/23

pete rose* - 2018 panini flawless legendary signatures 15/25

barry bonds* - 2001 bowman heritage autographs

you can find the full list of hall of famers (and some not - yet) that i aim to include in this collection at my want list site.

*not currently a member of the hall of fame