Eddie Murray, 1987 Fleer #636

This is another card from the parcel of 1980s Orioles that Randy sent last week. I had never seen this one before, and I was astounded by the horrifying juxtaposition of the worst first baseman in O's history standing alongside the best. As Randy noted in a Post-It affixed to the front, this card was surely a bad omen. I'm always glad to point the finger and assign blame for the disastrous trade that brought Glenn Davis' brittle body to Baltimore, and now I have a brand new scapegoat. Surely the powers that be at Fleer planted the first foul seeds of that ill-fated deal when they photographed Davis alongside the great Eddie Murray and produced this card, treating the two as players on equal footing.

In the winter of 1990-1991, with Murray in Dodger blue and the Birds looking to bolster the middle of their lineup, General Manager Roland Hemond sifted absent-mindedly through a stack of scouting reports on his desk and a small rectangle of cardboard fell out. It was one of his grandson's baseball cards. Hey, Glenn Davis! He's productive and talented! It says so right on the back there. Oh, and how about this? He was raised by the family of Storm Davis! It's like a homecoming or something. He was the power source for the National League Western Division champion, you say? 31 home runs and 102 RBI? Why, no one's put up those kind of numbers in Charm City since Eddie Murray in the mid-1980s. It was meant to be! Gloria, get the Houston Astros on the phone!


Thanks a LOT, Fleer.