I considered the "obvious" choices in my collection. Those included my John Unitas rookie, Brooks Robinson rookie, T206 Christy Mathewson, and my tired old 1959 Bob Gibson, the one card of my 1959 set that actually survived from my youth and kick-started my '59 Topps blog adventure. I debated on a Koufax card and my '58 Maris All Star.
But I kept coming back to this guy:
It occurred to me that if I had dropped that one out of my stack and I was comparing all the others to it then the 1978 Eddie Murray rookie was the vintage card I enjoyed the most. It's nowhere near the most valuable card I own but is, in my eyes anyway, the 'coolest'. It would qualify even if it wasn't his rookie card but that trophy just makes it all the sweeter. Murray's bad-ass expression, the unusual pose, the classic (for me) three color helmet. I love it.
I've picked it even though it just barely qualifies as 'vintage' in my frame of reference.
Whatever. This is it. My favorite vintage card.
Great post!
ReplyDeleteI love this card... I don't own one (YET)... but there's no denying it's beauty. Plus Murray dominated the decade I grew up in... the 80's.
For a long time I was convinced the guy was a mute. Never heard him talk, to the press, to autograph seekers (although he always seemed to sign), even on the field. Then I saw him interviewed on an NBC Game of the Week pregame. It was like one day waking up and your cat talks to you.
DeleteLol... it's funny... I don't remember him being interviewed or showing up on a Saturday morning episode of The Baseball Bunch. But I remember him launching balls over the fence from both sides of the plate.
DeleteWell, between Bench and Lasorda I bet he couldn't have gotten a word in sideways anyway.
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