Atlanta Braves History: Dale Murphy hits 3 home runs in 3 at bats (May 18, 1979)

Dale Murphy, on May 18, 1979,  has 3 home runs in 3 at bats‚ knocking in 5 runs‚ to pace the Braves to a 6-4 victory over the Giants.

Dale shows that he can be an impact player. Great things would come for him over and over again. Pretty amazing.

Atlanta Brave History: National League and Dale Murphy beat the Junior Circuit (July 10, 1984)

Now this will expose my bias but I am clear on that. You will see a lot of references to the All-Star game and the Junior Circuit. Who is the Junior Circuit? The American League of course. Who else would it be?

On July 10, 1984, National League beats the Junior Circuit at Candlestick Park, 3-1. Home runs hit by Expos‘ catcher Gary Carter, the game’s MVP, and Braves‘ outfielder Dale Murphy prove to be the difference in the 55th Midsummer Classic. Another reason I love Dale Murphy.

Candlestick Park was great. The new field for the Giants is very nice but Candlestick had a “nice feel” to it.

Related articles

• Atlanta Braves History: Dale Murphy is picked by the Braves in the 1st round (June 5, 1974) (mww1954.wordpress.com)
• Atlanta Braves History: July 4, 1919 (mww1954.wordpress.com)
• Atlanta Braves History: Chipper Jones breaks Dale Murphy’s home run record (July 5, 2007) (mww1954.wordpress.com)
• Atlanta Braves History: Joe Morgan goes 6-6 against the Braves (July 9, 1965) (mww1954.wordpress.com)
• Atlanta Braves History: Tricky Nichols plays one game for the Braves (1876) (mww1954.wordpress.com)

Atlanta Braves History: Dale Murphy is picked by the Braves in the 1st round (June 5, 1974)

Dale Murphy – Atlanta – 1983 Road (Photo credit: BaseballBacks)

The June 5. 1974 draft produces just 725 picks‚ the fewest in history‚ and only 300 of these are from the college ranks‚ with the low number blamed on the introduction of aluminum bats this past season.

In the 1st round, with the 5th pick‚ the Braves select Dale Murphy. It is hard to know if they had a clue about the talent they just brought on board. Probably not. What a great pick it ended up being though.

The Padres‚ with their 3rd number-one free-agent pick in 5 years‚ select Brown University SS Bill Almon‚ the TSN College Player of the Year. They had selected him 3 years earlier out of high school‚ but he attended college instead. The Rangers take P Tommy Boggs with the 2nd pick and the Phils follow with prep OF Lonnie Smith. The Angels‚ picking 10th take the ill-fated Mike Miley‚ who quarterbacked LSU to a win in the Orange Bowl. the Tigers take Lance Parrish with the 16th pick‚ the Royals pick prep football star Willie Wilson with the 18th‚ and the Red Sox‚ picking 20th‚ take SS Eddie Ford‚ son of Whitey Ford. Picking next‚ the Dodgers get Rick Sutcliffe.

The Orioles‚ with the 24th pick in round 1 pick Rich Dauer‚ the top player for USC’s championship team; 4 of their other picks will end up in the NFL (QB’s Andy Johnson‚ Steve Bartkowski‚ and John Sciarra‚ and Anthony Davis). The Cards use a pick on the NFL Giants Brad Van Pelt‚ the 5th time he’s been selected. The Twins pick up prep C Butch Wynegar‚ who will make the AL All-star team at age 20.

And so, the Braves added to their roster a future star in 1974. Doesn’t always work out that way.

Related articles

• Why the 70s Braves sucked (rowlandsoffice.wordpress.com)
• Atlanta Braves History: Chipper Jones breaks Dale Murphy’s home run record (July 5, 2007) (mww1954.wordpress.com)
• Cooperstown Confidential: The wonder of Old-Timers’ Day (hardballtimes.com)

Atlanta Braves History: Chipper Jones breaks Dale Murphy’s home run record (July 5, 2007)

English: Chipper Jones (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

At Dodger Stadium on July 5, 2007, Chipper Jones‘s two solo home runs is the difference in the Braves‘ 8-6 victory over Los Angeles. With his pair of round-trippers, the team’s third baseman surpasses Dale Murphy for the Atlanta team record of 372 homers.

Chipper will retire this year. I will miss him.

Related articles

• Chipper Jones replaces Matt Kemp on NL All-Star team (hardballtalk.nbcsports.com)
• Chipper Jones named to all-star team (upi.com)
• Chipper Jones texts Bryce Harper, calls him “very classy” (hardballtalk.nbcsports.com)

Atlanta Braves History: Dale Murphy’s record for most runs in month broken (1994)

Dale Murphy and Ron Cey owned the record for most runs in a month at 29. Records get broken. On April 29, 1994, Colorado 1B Andres Galarraga sets a new NL record by driving in his 30th run of the month in the Rockies’ 6-5 victory over Chicago.

Not a case of easy come, easy go. But it went none the less.

Atlanta Braves History: Sad trade for Dale Murphy (1993)

April 3, 1993 was a sad day. The Rockies signed free agent veteran Atlanta Braves outfielder Dale Murphy. The two-time MVP will hit just .143 in 26 games for the Rocks. Unfortunately, I remember it. I wish he had simply retired in Atlanta.

Atlanta Braves History: Dale Murphy – Some after retirement activities

Some players struggle with what to do after retirement. It can be a challenge when most of your life has been playing a sport. After retiring from baseball,  Dale Murphy served from 1997 to 2000 as president of the Massachusetts Boston Mission of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  He was said to be considering a run for Utah governor in 2004, but failed to generate enough interest within the Republican Party. In 2008, he was appointed to the National Advisory Board for the national children’s charity Operation Kids. He currently lives in Alpine, Utah. Murphy serves as a National Advisor to ASCEND: A Humanitarian Alliance.

In 2005 Murphy started a non-profit organization called the iWontCheat Foundation to promote ethical behavior, and deter steroid use and cheating in youth athletics. Since 2008 all players from the participating teams at the Little League World Series wear the “i WON’T CHEAT!” embroidered patch above the Little League Baseball logo on the left sleeve of their jerseys.

Atlanta Braves History: Dale Murphy – He is also an author

Dale Murphy is talented in many ways. He has written three books. The first, The Scouting Report on Professional Athletics, elaborates details of the professional athlete’s lifestyle. Murphy discusses balancing career and family, working with agents, managing business affairs, serving one’s community, and preparing for retirement.

In his second book, an autobiography entitled Murph, he talked about his religious faith. He discussed the struggles of his early baseball career and how he overcame problems.

In 2007 Murphy wrote his third book, The Scouting Report for Youth Athletics, in response to what he saw as the increase in negative behavior in youth sports resulting from poor examples set by professional athletes. Included with each book is a 50-page insert which includes contributions from, among others, Peyton Manning, Dwyane Wade, Tom Glavine, and Danica Patrick. In a question-and-answer format, they discuss the lessons they learned from youth sports and how they apply the lessons today. There is also a physician-penned section about illegal performance-enhancing drug use in sports.

Murphy and his wife, Nancy, have eight children. They are sons Chad, Travis, Shawn, Tyson, Taylor, Jake, McKay and daughter, Madison. His son Shawn has played football for the National Football League.

Atlanta Braves History: Dale Murphy – What a career!

Dale Murphy’s number 3 was retired by the Atlanta Braves in 1994. What a glorious day that was.

Murphy finished his career with 398 home runs (19th in MLB history at the time of his retirement) and a .265 lifetime batting average. His MVP awards in 1982 and 1983 make him one of only four outfielders in major league history with consecutive MVP years; at the time, he was the youngest to have accomplished the feat. His many honors also include seven All-Star appearances, five Gold Gloves, and four Silver Sluggers. Murphy led the National League in home runs and RBI twice; he also led the major leagues in home runs and runs batted in over the 10-year span from 1981 to 1990.

One of the most productive and decorated players of the 1980s, Murphy led the National League in games, at bats, runs, hits, extra base hits, RBIs, runs created, total bases, and plate appearances during the decade. He also accomplished a 30-30 (30 home runs with 30 stolen bases) season in 1983. Murphy played in 740 consecutive games, at the time the 11th longest such streak in baseball history. His jersey number (“3”) was retired by the Atlanta Braves on June 13, 1994. In 1997, Murphy was inducted into the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame & Museum.

I think you have to love Dale Murphy as an Atlanta Brave. What a career!!

Dale Murphy – Hall of Fame candidate

With the Hall of Fame announcements looming again, my annual question is will he make it this year? I’m thinking not. His thoughts on his chances this year?

I’m always kind of optimistic. Not really frustrated, I think because my percentage hasn’t really been knocking on the door, you know? I think if it’d been at 60 percent for five years, it might be different. I know my percentage is pretty low and you need 75. And I’m not really close. To be honest, I thought my percentage would be higher over the years. It hasn’t been high. I tend to feel like I’ll get a bump this year. There’s been some talk about guys that played in the ’70s and ’80s, that there might be some revisiting of their careers [by voters], and I have some people that have been supportive. So we’ll see. I appreciate the support and I try to stay optimistic.

Dale Murphy first appeared on the writers’ ballot for the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1999, the earliest possible year of consideration. He has failed to gain election, joining late New York Yankees outfielder Roger Maris as the only Hall of Fame-eligible recipients of multiple MVP awards not in the Hall. His failed candidacy has drawn particular notice due to his reputation as a clean-living player whose career was immediately followed by baseball’s scandal-plagued “steroids era”.

Baseball writer Rob Neyer feels that the former MVP’s candidacy has been hurt by a career that “got a late start and suffered an early end.” Stuart Miller, baseball writer for the New York Times, also notes the “sharp decline” in production that plagued Murphy after the age of 31 in arguing, “Players who were great for a short time do not receive much [Hall of Fame] recognition.” Finding “one of baseball’s best players in the 1980s” to be “undervalued,” Miller nonetheless writes that the Brave great “is typically considered a ‘close but no’ guy.” Bill James, father of sabermetrics, says of Murphy, “It certainly wouldn’t offend me to have him in the Hall of Fame. I just wouldn’t advocate it.” James’ “current metric for Hall induction was 300 Win Shares (a complex mathematical equation weighing what players contribute to their team’s victories)….” Murphy stands at 253 Win Shares. James ranks eight Hall of Famers below Murphy.

However, others contend, “Murphy’s incredible nine-year run in Atlanta was every bit as good as anyone else during his era.” Neyer notes that the explosion of power during the steroids-fueled era that began after Murphy’s retirement may have caused Murphy’s numbers to pale in comparison for many voters. Some have argued that Murphy’s reputation for clean-living may encourage voters to “look more favorably on what Murphy did without using performance-enhancing drugs.” (Murphy weighed in on the steroids issue in asserting that career home run leader Barry Bonds “without a doubt” used performance-enhancing drugs.) Sports Illustrated’s Joe Posnanski has endorsed Murphy as an “emotional pick . . . a larger-than-life character who signed every autograph, spoke up for every charity and played brilliant baseball every day for mostly doomed teams.”

Nonetheless, though he continues to earn the requisite 5% to remain on the ballot, Murphy averaged only 13.6% average over the first twelve years of voting. (Election to the hall requires 75%.) In the first decade of his eligibility, he “peaked at 23% in 2000 and fell to 11.5% in 2009.” Moreover, as writers may only vote for ten players each year some have argued that the candidacy of stars from the 1980s—such as Murphy, pitcher Jack Morris, and outfielder Tim Raines–will become imperiled as a wave of more recently retired players with more statistically impressive credentials become eligible in the 2010s. Noting his low vote totals, Murphy has said, “Since I’m not that close [to election] … I don’t think about it that much.”

Atlanta Braves History: Dale Murphy – Some background

So a little background on Dale (Bryan) Murphy. He was born March 12, 1956 in Portland, Oregon and  is a former Major League Baseball outfielder and first baseman. During an 18-year baseball career, 1976–1993, he played for three different teams, but is noted for his time with the Atlanta Braves.

Murphy won consecutive National League Most Valuable Player Awards in 1982–1983, the National League’s Silver Slugger Award four straight years 1982–1985, and the National League’s Gold Glove award five straight years 1982–1986.

Most important, I think, is that he was nicknamed the “Beeg Donkey” by Rico Carty.

Dale Murphy – Atlanta Brave 1976 – 90 (the “beeg donkey”)

Dale Murphy was born in Portland, Oregon on March 12, 1956. He played for the Atlanta Braves from 1976 to 1990. He was an outfielder, first baseman and catcher. He batted and threw as a right hander. While Rico Carty was known as the “Beeg Boy” (yes, he named himself that), he named Dale the “beeg donkey”. He was the pride of the Atlanta Braves farm system in the 70’s and Rico saw the great talent he would become.

Some bold moves pay off long term (1990)

1990 was a pivotal year for the Braves. Bobby Cox moved back into the dug out as manager replacing Russ Nixon. He had been fired in 1981 at the close of his 4th season. But his return heralded better days. Of course, the record that year didn’t reflect it. The Braves end sixth in the NL West, 26 games behind the leader.

Dale Murphy, in a bold move, was traded to Philadelphia. That made room for David Justice to move to right. Greg Olson, who to some extent was a minor league castoff, began to shine as an All Star catcher. Ron Gant joined the 30-30 club. Mark Lemke became a full-time major leaguer. Steve Avery and Charlie Leibrandt arrived on the scene.

It was indeed a landmark year for the future even if the record didn’t show it.