#299 Ray Murray

#299 Ray Murray
Progress: 1st of this card
303 of 407  74.4% complete
How acquired: $9.48 on eBay
Condition: Very Good

The 5th series of this set consists of cards #251-310.  In my expierence these are this is the most expensive cards to acquire of the first five series.  Cards #251-280 and #301-310 are triple prints, and #281-300 are quadruple prints.  That's relative to each other based on how they laid out the printing sheets for the series.  So objectively the triple prints should costs a little more than the quad prints.  That hasn't been what I've found.  What I've seen is that the higher the card number, the more it costs.  #310 is no more scarce than #251, but #310 often gets priced like it's a high number.  All of the 300's seem to cost more.  I expierence a similar phenom with the 1970's sets, cards in the 700's seem to cost more than cards in the 600's despite all being from the same high number series.  I'm guilty of it too, because I'd be lying if I said it didn't feel cooler to pick up a card numbered 300-something verse say #289.  This Murray was a tough get, I guess the #299 is close enough to #300 for a lot of collector's.   

Murray was known as a strong armed catcher and earned the nickname "The Deacon" for his frequent banter with umpires.  Allegedly, per wikipedia, he once removed all his catching gear during a game, knelt on the plate and prayed for the lord to grant the umpire better vision.  He was "promptly ejected."

Stats: 6 seasons, 250 games, 184 hits, 8 HR, .252 avg., World Series Ring with Cleveland in 1948

Best Hall of Fame Showing: N/A