Article researched and compiled by Carrie Birdsong
Positions:
Outfield, First Baseman, and Catcher
Bats:
Right
Throws:
Right
Height:
6-4, 210 lb.
Born:
March 12, 1956 (Age 67) in Portland, OR
Draft:
Drafted by the Atlanta Braves in the 1st round
5th pick of the 1974 MLB June Amateur Draft from
Woodrow Wilson HS Portland, OR.
High School: Woodrow
Wilson HS (Portland, OR).
College:
Brigham Young University (Provo, UT).
Debut:
September 13, 1976 vs. the Dodgers.
Last Game:
May 21, 1993 vs. the Dodgers.
Rookie Status:
Exceeded rookie limits during the 1977
season.
Agents:
Bruce Church.
Full Name:
Dale Bryan Murphy.
Nicknames:
The Murph.
Born on March 12, 1956, Dale Bryan Murphy was born to Charles and Betty Murphy in Portland, Oregon. His father Charles was a sales executive for Westinghouse and for a short time, the family relocated to Moraga, California.
Dale was a catcher at Woodrow Wilson High School, capping
his high school career with a .465 batting average in his senior season. His coach in American Legion Ball and high
school was a family friend, Jack Dunn. “I
always knew he was something special,” said Dunn. “I know it’s just a coincidence, but did you
know that the man who discovered Babe Ruth was also named Jack Dunn?
1
Murphy had Arizona State University calling him, luring the
young backstop to Tempe. One thing stood
in their way, the Atlanta Braves selected Murphy with their first pick (5th
pick overall) in the June draft in 1974.
“I’m a little bit excited, it’s quite an honor,” said Murphy. “I’ll just listen to what the Braves offer
and then try to make a decision. I’ve
already signed a letter of intent with Arizona State, and no matter what
happens I’d like to get an education.
Right now, I just don’t know what I’ll do for sure.” 2
In the end, Murphy decided to
take the route to a pro career instead of one of a collegiate athlete. After he signed with the Braves, Murphy
reported to the Kingsport Braves, Atlanta’s Rookie League club in the Appalachian
League.
Just like many players before
him who could hit with little problem at the high school level, Murphy had to
adjust to the higher level of pitching he was facing. But Murphy faced yet another change, this one
occurring off the diamond. In 1975,
Murphy was with Greenwood (South Carolina) when he struck up a friendship with
teammate Barry Bonnell. Murphy was
curious about Bonnell, who was a member of the Mormon religion. Murphy, who was raised a Presbyterian, liked
what he heard from his new friend. Eventually,
Murphy converted to the Church of Latter-Day Saints. Bonnell baptized Murphy the day after the
1975 season. 3
Murphy’s conversion to the
Mormons was indeed a life-changing moment.
The Mormon religion was a solid foundation for Murphy for the rest of
his life. He wanted to serve a two-year
mission with the Mormons, putting his career on hold. Braves owner Ted Turner tried to talk him out
of it, to no avail. An official with the
church convinced Murphy that he could continue his professional baseball
career, while also serving the church.
He began the 1976 season with
Savannah of the AA Southern League. The
tall (6’4”) right-handed batter hit .267 with 12 homers and 55 RBIs. In 1977 he was promoted to Richmond of the
AAA International League. In 18 games he
hit .260 and earned a late-season call-up to Atlanta. Dale Murphy made his major-league debut on
September 13th at Dodger Stadium, going 2-for-4 with two RBIs in a
4-3 loss. In 17 starts as a catcher, he
threw out nine of 21 would-be base stealers.
He returned to Richmond for
the 1977 season because he had developed a throwing problem from his catcher’s
position. Some of his throws would bounce in front of the pitching mound; some
would go in all directions around the infield, or sail into the outfield. Rarely did he hit the spot he was trying to
throw to. “It’ll come around,” said
Murphy. “It’s got to be in my head and
not physical. It’s been discouraging but
something I’ve got to forget.” 4 Offensively it was a breakout
year. Murphy batted .305 to go with 22
home runs and a league-leading 90 RBIs. Once
again, the Braves called Murphy up in September.
On September 15th,
Murphy had a two-home run game, knocking in four runs in the Brave's win over
San Diego. His second-round tripper came
off Rollie Fingers in the top of the 10th inning and proved to be
the game-winner.
When Atlanta departed its
spring training home in West Palm Beach and headed north, Dale Murphy was in
tow. But the team moved him to first
base. Biff Pocoroba was to remain as the
Braves starting catcher. Another rookie
in camp was manager Bobby Cox. “Give
Murphy 500 at-bats this season and he’ll hit 25 homers minimum in the National
League,” said Cox. 5
Cox was close in his
prediction, as Murphy posted 530 at-bats and homered 23 times, sharing the team
lead with Bob Horner and Jeff Burroughs.
But Murphy was the league leader in strikeouts, whiffing 145 times. On the defensive side, the Braves found that
their prized prospect had a hard time throwing from the first base position as
well. He led the league with 20
errors. Horner was named the National
League’s Rookie of the Year.
That fall Murphy enrolled at
Brigham Young University where he met his future wife Nancy, a cheerleader at
BYU. In May of 1979, Murphy was dealing
with a sore left knee. Although he
wasn’t experiencing a lot of pain, it felt more awkward. At first, the knee was drained because there
was excess fluid. But when the knee
didn’t respond, it was discovered there was cartilage damage. He underwent arthroscopic surgery to remove
the cartilage. Murphy did not return to
full-time duty until July 19th.
While he was on the shelf for
a few weeks, Nancy boarded a plane from Provo, Utah, to Atlanta to cheer him
up. Two months later they were
engaged. They married in October of that year
at Temple Square in Salt Lake City.
Their marriage has been blessed with eight children.
The Braves (69-93) finished
in last place in the NL West, 26 games behind first-place Los Angeles. But the Braves had a good nucleus of young
players. Horner, who manned the hot
corner, was to prototypical power hitter, and Glenn Hubbard was a solid
infielder. Gary Matthews provided more
power and hit for average and patrolled right field.
The Braves addressed two
positions in their lineup with one trade.
On December 5th, 1979, they acquired first baseman Chris
Chambliss and shortstop Luis Gomez from Toronto for pitcher Joey McLaughlin,
shortstop Pat Rockett, and Bonnell.
Chambliss, a starter at first
base with two World Series champion Yankee teams, replaced Murphy. The Braves realizing that they needed
Murphy’s bat in the lineup, moved him to center field and Gomez was inserted as
the starting shortstop.
The new lineup provided
results. Atlanta finished 81-80 and in
fourth place in the NL West. It was the
first time the Braves had finished out of the cellar since 1975 and their best
record since 1974. The foursome of
Murphy, Matthews, Horner, and Chambliss combined for 105 home runs and 325
RBIs. Almost as important, Murphy found
the outfield to his liking (324 putouts, 11 assists, and five errors). He was selected to the NL All-Star team for
the first of seven times.
The 1981 season was a washout
for many teams, as the MLB players’ strike on June 12th, 1981,
lasted until July 31st. A
total of 713 games were canceled. The
season was divided into two halves, with the winners of each half squaring off
and creating another level of playoffs.
The Braves slipped back into fifth.
Turner fired Cox after the
1981 season. Joe Torre, who
managed the New York Mets the previous five seasons, had little success (286-420
record). However, when Sports
Illustrated came out with its MLB Preview issue on April 12th,
1982, the Braves were optimistic about their chances. “It’s about time we did something,” said
Murphy. 6 “We can win the division.
We’ve got as much talent as the Dodgers,” said Chambliss.
And they did just that,
edging Los Angeles by one game to capture the NL West for the first time since
1969 when MLB had instituted the two-division format in each league. The Dodgers, who took seven of 11 games from
Atlanta in the regular season, led the Braves by 3 ½ games on September 17th. But the Dodgers hit the skids and lost nine
of their next 10.
The season ended with a thud
when St. Louis swept them in the NLCS.
But the real story was
Murphy, he smacked 36 home runs to go with a league-leading 109 RBIs and batted
.281. He was durable, playing in all 162
games. He was selected as the NL Most
Valuable Player (MVP) in 1982. “Most
Valuable Player … well, I haven’t felt that way,” said Murphy. “I really don’t know how to describe it; the
only word I can think of is overwhelming.”
“There are so many people
responsible for what happened this year with the Braves. I keep thinking about Jerry Royster who
carried us for the last month, and Terry Harper, who carried us for the last
week. It’s hard to pick an MVP on a
winning team.”
As if the MVP award was not
enough, Murphy was selected as the recipient of a Gold Glove Award. It was the first of five straight years he
would be honored for defensive excellence.
Bobby Cox, who was now leading the Blue Jays, had to have a wide grin on
his face as the move of Murphy to the outfield looked like an act of genius.
The Braves, buoyed by their
successful 1982 season were in command of a 5 ½ game lead over Los Angeles in
the NL West as the curtain came down on July 1983. But their season soured when the Braves turned
in a 23-32 record in August and September.
Conversely, the Dodgers went 34-24 and passed Atlanta, winning the
division by three games.
The Braves made a trade late
in the season to shore up their pitching staff, but the move backfired. On August 28th, Atlanta acquired
Lenny Barker from Cleveland. Barker was
an oft-injured right-hander who had bone spurs in his right elbow. And it showed as Barker went 1-3 and needed
surgery. The Braves sent Brett Butler
and third baseman Brook Jacoby to Cleveland.
Both started in Cleveland for a few years, and it stifled the influx of
young talent making their way to Atlanta.
Murphy was again awarded the
MVP award, becoming the youngest player in history to win the award in
consecutive seasons. He belted 36 home
runs, drove in 121 runs, and batted .301.
Murphy led the league in RBIs and slugging percentage (.540). “It doesn’t really sink in … It hasn’t really
hit home,” said Murphy. “I just still
feel like one of the guys on the team. I
don’t feel any different and don’t feel I should. I don’t want to feel this award – two or how
many – puts me at a higher level than anybody else.”
The Braves finished in second
place in 1984 to San Diego, in its first pennant-winning season. Torre was fired after the season and was
replaced by Eddie Haas. But Haas had no managerial
experience and was soon let go and replaced with Bobby Wine, who was also
shown the door at season’s end.
Under new manager Chuck
Tanner, the Braves landed in the cellar in 1986. It was a position that unfortunately they
would know all too well in four of the next five seasons.
In 1986, Murphy’s consecutive
streak of 740 games ended when he sat out a game on July 9th at
Philadelphia.
By the time the 1987 season
rolled around, Horner signed a free-agent deal with St. Louis. Besides Ozzie Virgil, Atlanta’s catcher who
belted 27 homers in 1987, there was not much surrounding Murphy in the Braves
lineup. Despite that, Murphy set a
career-high with 44 home runs and batted in 105. He was still shown respect from opponents as
he led the league in intentional walks with 29.
He also totaled 14 assists from his new position, right field.
The Braves had some
greybeards on their club, including Ken Griffey, Graig Nettles, Ted Simmons,
and Gary Roenicke. But the tide was
starting to turn. Tom Glavine, Ron Gant,
Jeff Blauser, and Pete Smith all made their debuts in 1987. All four would have a role in the Braves’
success in the 1990s.
Murphy slumped the next two
seasons, batting .226 in ’88 and leading the league in double plays with
24. He still led the club in homers (24)
and RBIs (77). By 1989 (20 HR, 80 RBIs, and .228 batting average), Murphy’s best days were in the rearview mirror.
Naturally, Murphy’s name was
coming up in trade talks. He had the
right to give his consent to any proposed deal.
“I would imagine that the Braves have gotten into a situation where we
didn’t win too many games and they were looking for a change,” said
Murphy. “Just like teams look around and
see who possibly might be available or could use some young players, the Braves
come up. We really didn’t play that
well, and probably because of the way I played.
I really didn’t do that well.
Sometimes that enters in as well.” 10
“He had his chance to get out
of there in his last contract,” said former teammate Glenn Hubbard. “Last winter, he felt a commitment to that
team. He took that road. And now they’re talking about trading
him? That shows you how much….They
shouldn’t even mention his name in trade talks.”
The anticipated trade did not
happen. At least, not right away. Murphy played 97 games for the Braves in
1990. He swatted 17 home runs and
knocked in 55 runs. His batting average
continued to be mediocre at .232. On
August 3rd, Murphy was part of a five-player deal that sent him to
the Phillies. The key player going to
Atlanta was pitcher Jeff Parrett. “We
think he (Murphy) has a lot of years left,” said Philadelphia general manager
Lee Thomas. “Dale’s always liked to hit
here. Those long fly balls he hits will
hit the seats here.” 12
The good news for Murphy was
that he missed the third straight season that the Braves finished in the
cellar. The bad news was that Atlanta won
back-to-back pennants in 1991 and 1992.
As if Murphy’s luck could not get any worse, he was waived by the
Phillies two days before the start of the 1993 season. Philadelphia went on to knock off the Braves
in the NLCS in 1993 and claim their first pennant since 1983.
In spite of missing out on
the trapping that comes with playing with a winning club, Dale Murphy is best
known as a complete player who was one of the best in the senior circuit. He stands on his career numbers and his
achievements. And he stands stall over
most of his contemporaries.
“I’ve learned a lot from
him,” said Pete Smith. “It’s a big
change. He’s the best I’ve ever been
associated with. There’s only one Murph. There will never be anyone like him to come
along for this franchise. That’s because
he was the franchise.” 13
Philadelphia was hoping that
Murphy would be a piece of the championship club they were trying to put
together. With a lineup of talented
players that already included Darren Daulton, Von Hayes, John Kruk, and Lenny
Dykstra, they were counting on the acquisition of Murphy to fit right in.
But as often happens, the
opposite was true. The Phillies tied for
fourth place, sharing an identical 77-85 record with Chicago, 18 games behind
first-place Pittsburgh. The 1991 season
was a carbon copy of the prior one. The
Phillies tied again with the Cubs, but this time both clubs ended up in third
place. However, even though they rose in
the standings, the Pirates finished 20 games ahead of both the Cubs and
Phillies.
The 1991 season was the only
one in which Murphy played a full season with the Phillies. His 18 homers and 81 RBIs finished second on
the team to Kruk (21/92). A chronic knee
injury in 1992 kept Murphy on the shelf after May 18th.
Murphy was released and
signed on with the expansion Colorado Rockies in 1993. He had hit 398 career home runs and was
hoping to get to 400. But after 26
games, 42 at-bats, and no home runs, Murphy called it quits. The Rockies had been hinting that he might be
released, and he beat them to the punch.
“I have no problem with that,” Murphy said of his probable release. “They have to do what they have to do. I haven’t really been doing the job, which
was fairly obvious.”
Regarding his goal to hit 400
home runs, Murphy said, “I should have done it.
I had plenty of pitches and plenty of opportunities to do it. I didn’t do it. I’m thankful to be able to be around and
those that I did.” 14
After 18 seasons and 2,180
games, Dale Murphy retired from the game of baseball. His 398 career home runs that drove in 1,266
runs, and batting .265, he totaled 2,111 hits and 350 doubles.
On June 20, 1994, the Atlanta
Braves retired Murphy’s jersey number at Fulton-County Stadium. With his family by his side, he watched as
the sign “Dale Murphy 3” was unveiled for the Murphy family, and 46,681 in
attendance. “This was saying goodbye,”
said Murphy. “When I retired, I never
had the chance to tell people here. This
is kind of final.” 15 “I almost
lost it when they unveiled the number and when I talked about Nancy and the
kids,” he added. 16 Only Warren Spahn, Eddie Mathews, Hank
Aaron, and Phil Niekro had been previously honored with having their
number retired by the team.
Murphy’s baseball career
opened the door for many opportunities after he hung up his cleats. From 1997-2000, the Murphy clan lived in
Boston. He supervised nearly 200 Mormons
who were working two-year stints as missionaries in Massachusetts. “I’m like the supervisor,” said Murphy. “I help, I train, I educate, I see how
they’re doing. We help find them
apartments and provide them cars.” 17
In 2005, Murphy started the
foundation, I Don’t Cheat. The
foundation promotes honesty to young athletes and the dangers of taking
performance-enhancing drugs. Murphy has
been outspoken on the topic of steroids.
He has taken former players to task over taking steroids, Roger
Clemens among them. “If you’re
asking me if I think Clemens took steroids or something – yes I think he took
them.” Said Murphy. “I don’t have any
proof. I’m just giving you my opinion,
and that’s my opinion. I’m like
everybody else. This isn’t a court of
law. I don’t see all the evidence” 18
Murphy was also active in raising money for the charity, Operation Smile, a nonprofit organization that
performed surgery on children born with a cleft palate.
In 2017, Murphy opened a
restaurant in Atlanta, aptly called “Murphs.”
The Murphy family resides in
Alpine Valley, Utah.
Reference notes:
1. Steve Wulf, “Murphy’s Law is Nice Guys Finish
First”, Sports Illustrated,
July 3, 1983: 26.
2. Charlie Roberts, “Dilemma For Catchers”, Atlanta
Constitution, June 6,
1974: 6-D.
3. Vic Fulp, “Throwing Flaws Block Path Back to Majors for
Murphy”, The Sporting News,
May 7, 1977: 29.
4.
Fulp.
5. Furman Bisher, “Dale Murphy and Murphy’s Law”, The
Sporting News,
March 25, 1978: 2.
6.
“Atlanta”, Sports Illustrated, April 12, 1982: 70.
7.
Ibid.
8. Tim Tucker, “MVP: Overwhelming choice Murph
overwhelmed”, Atlanta Constitution, November 18, 1982:
8-D.
9. Tim Tucker, “Murphy named MVP—again”, Atlanta
Constitution,
November 9, 1983: 1-C.
10. Thomas Stinson, “Caught in the Eye Of the Storm”, Atlanta Constitution, November 6, 1989: 25-C.
11. Stinson.
12. Sam Carchidi, “Phils get Murphy in trade for
Parrett”, Philadelphia Inquirer, August 4,
1990: 1-C.
13. Joe Straus, “Ex-teammates agree: ‘He was the
franchise’”, Atlanta Constitution,
August 5,
1990: F10.
14. “Murphy decides it’s time to retire”, New York Post, May 28, 1993.
15. Joe Strauss, “Murphy: ‘This was saying goodbye’”, Atlanta
Constitution, June 24, 1994: E1.
16. Joe Strauss, “An Atlanta hero comes full circle”, Atlanta
Constitution, June 24, 1994: C1.
17. Bob Duffy, “A new calling draws Murphy”, Boston Globe,
Player’s Hall of Fame File.
18. Jeff Schultz, “Murphy Takes His Cuts at Clemens”, Atlanta
Constitution, January 14, 2008: 1D.
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