Classic card of the week

Eddie Murray, 1987 Ralston Purina Company Collectors’ Edition

Does your dog like to eat? Well then there is a strong possibility that your dog will also enjoy baseball cards. If by some strange chance your dog does not enjoy baseball cards –- or, more specifically, Eddie Murray -- and the acquired discipline of keeping them in mint condition rather than eating them or burying them in the backyard, then possibly you, as a dog owner, will take pleasure in our line of baseball card products.

This was the rationale of the Ralston Purina Company circa 1987. I have gone through the trouble of doing some research on this upstanding company and have, luckily for all involved, uncovered their principle activities: The principle activities of the Group are the production of dry dog food and soft-moist cat foods and other pet products. Also, baseball cards.

Take me, for example. I’m the type of guy that, when I have a cat -– which I don’t, because I don’t really like cats that much -– I like my cat food to be soft and moist. But the other thing about me is this: I like baseball. When I am opening up a can or a box or a cylinder (?) of soft-moist cat food, and I am not presented with the opportunity to obtain a baseball card from this endeavor, I have to admit -– I am disappointed. That is why I always choose Ralston Purina Company pet products.

What you just read would have been my radio promotion for Purina if I had ever been approached to do such a thing. Because I have never been asked to do such a thing, and because I am bitter about this, I will instead choose to observe the ridiculousness of this card on my blog.

I like to believe that the cris-crossed bats and red border is an attempt to make it seem that Eddie Murray’s head resides in a doghouse of sorts. I like this, as it I think it goes along with the theme of this card being the product of a dog food company. As you can also see, this is part of the 1987 Collectors’ Edition. This card is strictly for collectors. If you are not a collector, back off! Don’t think for a second that I will not call the authorities. Also, that picture of Eddie Murray is from like, 1975.

But there remains a mystery here, and the mystery is this: How did I get this card? Fact #1: I never had a dog or cat as a kid. Fact #2: I was completely indifferent to Eddie Murray. He was old when I was collecting baseball cards, and he just retired like, Tuesday.

The only thing I can point to is my strange obsession as a kid with having weird cards. I always thought that cards like this were “rare” and would be worth considerably more money than say, a 1987 Eddie Murray Topps card. According to various ebay sellers -- who should be commended for taking their baseball card collecting as seriously now as they did when they were nine – this particular card is probably not worth more than $1.90. In an effort to expand my profits, I will hold.

Did you know?
In 1988, the Baltimore tabloids had a field day when Eddie Murray was spotted walking out of a convenience store carrying two cans of Fancy Feast.