Dale Murphy (True) Rookie Cards

With the 5th Overall Pick in the 1st Round of the 1974 MLB June Amateur Draft, the Atlanta Braves selected Dale Murphy from Woodrow Wilson High School, Portland, Oregon. He has one official rookie card and zero parallels.

Dale Murphy Hall of Fame Eligibility

At the height of the rookie card boom of the 1980’s many anticipated great things from players such as Don Mattingly, Jose Canseco, and Gregg Jefferies just to name a few.

Many hoped these prospects would make an impact but Dale Murphy was already the impact player of that era.

Dale Murphy was first eligible for the Hall of Fame in 1999 and was eligible for 15 years (since then the rules have changed to 10 years), but in 2013 in his final year to appear on the Hall of Fame ballot he only received 18.9% of the votes in which 75% of the vote is needed to be inducted.

There have been many fans campaigning for Dale’s induction over the years. And with recent Hall of Fame induction tweaks, many are hopeful and confident that he will be voted in via the Veteran’s Committee soon.

With that said now might be a great time to purchase his rookie card. The list of reasons why he wasn’t inducted is just as long as the list on why he should be inducted.

What Murphy Has to Say About His Hall of Fame Induction

However, in an interview on the Jimmy Rex Show, Dale Murphy can agree that perhaps his limited Post Season experience has hurt him, only making it to the NLCS in 1982 and never again seeing playoff baseball.

Dale played well in that series but as a team, they did not. Also, his lifetime batting average of only .265, he feels, has hampered his chances.

He would be a logical pick for the Baseball Hall of Fame because there is always the unspoken rule of integrity.

The Baseball Hall of Fame is a non-profit organization so the members of the Hall of Fame become spokesmen for the organization.

Some of it deals with, who would represent us well? Dale Murphy has always been a devoted Christian and has always had high regard for ethical behavior.

Dale Murphy Today

He has started a non-profit organization himself called “iWontCheat Foundation” to detour kids from using performance-enhancing drugs.

He also has his own blog DaleMurphy.com and is a writer for The Athletic. His most recent business adventure came in 2017 as a restaurant manager. In Atlanta, not far from SunTrust Park is “Murphs” a must-go-to restaurant when visiting the ballpark.

Career Stats & Accomplishments

According to Baseball-Reference.com Dale Murphy career stats are:

Home Runs 398 | Hits 2,111 | RBI’s 1,266 | Runs 1197

Dale’s 18-year career spanned between 1976-1993 but the 1980s were his sweet spot. In fact, he hit more home runs and RBI’s between 1980-1989 than anybody else in baseball.

Murphy played for a total of 18 years. Fifteen years with the Atlanta Braves, 3 years with the Phillies, and a mere 26 games with the Rockies in 1993 before retiring.

He played the position of catcher, 1st baseman, and outfielder with his best position being the center field where he earned 5 Gold Gloves between 1982-1986.

• 5x Gold Gloves
• 4x Silver Slugger Award
• 7x All-Star
• 2x MVP (1982, 1983)

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1977 Topps, #476 (RC)

This 660  card set features the rookie card of the beloved Brave, Dale Murphy. It is a simple clean design with nothing too loud like the ’72 or ’75 Topps sets.

Rookie cards in the set are grouped together by position, as we can see on the red banner Dale Murphy began his career as a catcher. Big, bold, green font indicates that these gentlemen are indeed rookies.

Kevin Pasley only played in 55 games over his four-year career. Gary Alexander played in 432 games over his seven-year career. And Rick Cerone played for 18 years with eight different teams. His only accolade is that he came in 7th place for the 1980 MVP voting.

I’m not a fan of quad photo rookie cards but some collectors are. The reason why I don’t prefer them is because of the card back design.

They are either really plain or like this one jammed pack full of information that makes it hard to read and even harder to look at.

Over the years many collectors have been curious about this card. Looking at the bottom of the card back it appears that this cartoon-like setting is a fence post with overgrown weeds around it or some type of scaffolding. What do you think it is?

Happy Collecting Collectors,

Learn. Collect. Enjoy.