Dale Murphy

Dale Bryan Murphy (born March 12, 1956) is an American former outfielder in Major League Baseball (MLB) who played for three National League (NL) teams, mainly the Atlanta Braves, from to . A seven-time All-Star, he led the NL in home runs, runs batted in and slugging percentage twice each. Playing on frequently poor teams that posted only three winning seasons in his 15 years with Atlanta, he was named the NL's Most Valuable Player (MVP) in after leading the Braves to their first division title in 13 years, topping the league with 109 RBI. He was again named the MVP in after improving his batting figures in nearly every category, batting .302 with a career-high 121 RBI, and becoming only the sixth player in history with 30 home runs and 30 stolen bases in a season.

A model of reliability in the Braves lineup, he played in 740 consecutive games from 1981 to 1986, then the sixth-longest streak in NL history. His 308 home runs in the 1980s were the second most by any major league player, behind only Mike Schmidt, and his 929 RBI in the decade tied him with Schmidt for the most in the NL, despite the Braves posting the league's worst record in that time. Highly regarded for his throwing arm, Murphy won five consecutive Gold Glove Awards as a center fielder, and his 99 assists and 21 double plays in the 1980s topped all NL outfielders.

Murphy's 398 career home runs ranked sixth in NL history among right-handed hitters when he retired, and his 202 home runs as a center fielder ranked ninth in major league history; his .469 slugging percentage was the fifth highest among NL players with 1,000 games in center field. His 371 home runs with the Braves remain the Atlanta record for a right-handed hitter, and he also set Atlanta records for career games (1,926), at bats (7,098), hits (1,901), RBI (1,143), runs (1,103), doubles (306), walks (912) and total bases (3,394), all of which were later broken by Chipper Jones. In 1994, he became the fifth player to have his uniform number retired by the Braves. Murphy was inducted into the World Sports Humanitarian Hall of Fame in 1995, and the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame and Georgia Sports Hall of Fame in 1997.

Early life

Dale Murphy was born in Portland, Oregon, on March 12, 1956, to parents Charles and Betty. He had a sister, Sue. Murphy attended Woodrow Wilson High School and played American Legion Baseball, On July 2, he drove in a career-high six runs with a grand slam and a 2-run single in a 9-7 win over the San Francisco Giants, and on May 18, 1979, Murphy had the only 3-home run game of his career in a 6-4 win over the Giants. But within days, with his batting average at .348, he was sidelined due to cartilage damage in his left knee that required arthroscopic surgery, and he appeared briefly in only one more game in the next eight weeks. After returning, he had a career-high five hits including a pair of home runs and a triple on September 14 in a 10-7 road win over the Padres.

Murphy switched to the outfield in 1980, a move that would help initiate a decade of highly productive play in the National League. Beginning the season briefly in left field and then in right field, in mid-May he was switched to center field, the position at which he would find his greatest success. He was named to his first All-Star team, hitting .300 at the midseason break. He ended the year leading the team in total bases and tied with Bob Horner for the lead with 89 RBI as the Braves finished 81-80 for their first winning season in six years, and their first season out of last place since 1975. By 1982, the former catcher had transformed himself into an MVP outfielder who appeared in each of Atlanta's 162 games; at the All-Star break, he was batting .285 with 23 home runs and 62 RBI as the Braves found themselves in first place, and he hit .343 in July as the team opened up a 7-game lead, eventually holding off the defending World Series champion Dodgers to win the division by one game as they led the league in scoring for the first time in nine years. His turnaround as a fielder was equally stark. In 1978, Murphy had led all NL first basemen in errors. In 1982, spending time at all three outfield positions, he won the first of five consecutive Gold Gloves, as well as the first MVP award by a Brave since 1957, when Hank Aaron won the award with the then-Milwaukee Braves. Murphy's time with the Phillies was mostly uneventful, though one highlight was his 2,000th career hit, a double in a 2-1 win over the Montreal Expos on May 29, 1991. He enjoyed one of his last highlights on August 6 with a walk-off grand slam in the bottom of the 11th inning for a 6-2 win over the Chicago Cubs. Though his average rose as high as .296 on May 3, he ended the campaign batting .252, but his 81 RBI were the second most on the club, and his 33 doubles were the second highest total of his career. A degenerative, arthritic condition in his left knee limited Murphy to only 18 games in the 1992 season with the Phillies, although he did hit two home runs in that time to bring his career total to 398. He was released by the Phillies at the end of 1993 spring training and, on the same day, signed a minor league contract with the Colorado Rockies for their inaugural season. He was used mostly as a pinch hitter, and had an RBI single in the first win in Rockies history, an 11-4 win over the Expos on April 9.

After going 0-for-3 with a strikeout in the Rockies' 8–0 road loss to the Dodgers on May 21, 1993 (a rare start and, even more rare, only the fourth time all season he was in a game from the first pitch to the final out), Murphy did not play in the next 4 games. On the morning of May 27, while the Rockies were in Houston to begin a series with the Astros, he suddenly announced his retirement from baseball at age 37. He explained the Rockies were needing to make a 25-man roster move and informed him ahead of time he was going to be released. The team gave him the chance to retire instead of being released, which he did.

Career summary and honors

Murphy finished his career with 398 home runs, 1,266 RBI, 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 include seven All-Star appearances, five Gold Gloves, and four Silver Slugger Awards. Murphy was inducted into both the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame and the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame in 1997.

Public persona

Murphy's clean-living habits off the diamond were frequently noted in the media. Raised as a Presbyterian, he converted to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) in 1975 while in the minor leagues after conversations with teammate Barry Bonnell. As a devout church member, Murphy did not drink alcoholic beverages, would not allow women to be photographed embracing him, and paid his teammates' dinner checks as long as alcoholic beverages were not on the tab. He also refused to give television interviews unless he was fully dressed.

For several years The Atlanta Constitution ran a weekly column, wherein Murphy responded to young fans' questions and letters. In 1987 he shared Sports Illustrateds "Sportsmen and Sportswomen of the Year" award with seven others, characterized as "Athletes Who Care", for his work with numerous charities, including the Make-a-Wish Foundation, the Georgia March of Dimes and the American Heart Association.

One of his more memorable incidents was reminiscent of a scene from the classic black-and-white baseball film The Pride of the Yankees:

Before a home game against San Francisco on June 12, 1983, Murphy visited in the stands with Elizabeth Smith, a six-year-old girl who had lost both hands and a leg when she stepped on a live power line. After Murphy gave her a cap and a T shirt, her nurse innocently asked if he could hit a home run for Elizabeth. "I didn't know what to say, so I just sort of mumbled 'Well, O.K.,' " says Murphy. That day he hit two homers and drove in all the Braves' runs in a 3–2 victory.</blockquote>

He was ultimately granted several honors because of his integrity, character, and sportsmanship, including the Lou Gehrig Memorial Award (1985), "Sportsman of the Year" (1987), Roberto Clemente Award (1988), Bart Giamatti Community Service Award (1991), and World Sports Humanitarian Hall of Fame (1991 induction).

Hall of Fame candidacy

With his reputation as an outstanding all-around star player in the 1980s with multiple MVP awards and excellent power, Murphy was initially thought to be a strong candidate for election to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Of the 26 players ahead of him on the career home run list when he retired, 24 have been elected to the Hall; all were elected by the baseball writers, 16 of them in their first year of eligibility. The only two who have not been elected, Dave Kingman and Darrell Evans, ended their careers with batting averages below .250, and neither ever won a Gold Glove or finished higher than 11th in MVP voting. Murphy's 398 home runs placed him fourth among players who were primarily center fielders, behind only Willie Mays, Mickey Mantle and Duke Snider, who was then the most statistically similar player to Murphy. Of the National League's top ten right-handed home run leaders when he retired, Murphy is the only one who has not been elected:

Hank Aaron - 733
Willie Mays - 660
Mike Schmidt - 548
Ernie Banks - 512
Andre Dawson - 399
Dale Murphy - 398
Johnny Bench - 389
Gil Hodges - 370
Orlando Cepeda - 358
Ralph Kiner - 351

But a surge in home runs in the major leagues in the late 1990s and 2000s may have hindered his election; major league teams averaged 127 home runs per season in the 1980s, which increased to 149 in the 1990s and 174 in the 2000s. Murphy led the NL with totals of 36 and 37 home runs, not unusual for the 1980s, but there have been only four seasons since his retirement (excepting the abbreviated 2020 season) in which no NL player hit 40 home runs. He first appeared on the writers' ballot in 1999, but after gaining between 18% and 24% of the vote in his first three years on the ballot (election requires 75%), Murphy dropped below 15%, generally remaining between 8% and 12% before rising above 18% again in his 15th and final year on the ballot in 2013. As writers may only vote for ten players each year, some have argued that the candidacy of stars from the 1980s, such as Murphy, became imperiled as a wave of more recently retired players with more statistically impressive credentials became 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." 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." Only Maris of the aforementioned multi-MVP awardees not elected has such a reputation. Furthermore, no player who played primarily as a center fielder in the National League since Willie Mays was elected to the Hall until 2026 (Andre Dawson ultimately played more in right field than in center, and Ken Griffey Jr. starred primarily in the American League for over a decade before moving to the NL for several years).

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." Sports Illustrateds 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." The Baseball Project, a supergroup composed of Peter Buck, Mike Mills, Scott McCaughey, Steve Wynn and Linda Pitmon, wrote the song “To The Veterans Committee” advocating his election and praising him for meeting the voting criteria: ability, integrity, sportsmanship, character, and contributions to the team(s) on which the player played.

Since the expiration of Murphy's eligibility on the BBWAA ballot, his Hall of Fame candidacy has been considered twice by the Modern Era Baseball Committee, in 2018 and 2020, and twice by the Contemporary Baseball Era Players Committee in 2023 and 2026. He is eligible to be considered again for the 2029 class of inductees.

Post-baseball life

thumb|upright|Murphy signing autographs in 2008.

From 1997 to 2000, Murphy served as president of the Massachusetts Boston Mission of the LDS Church.

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.

In 2008, he was appointed to the National Advisory Board for the national children's charity, Operation Kids. Murphy serves as a national advisor to ASCEND: A Humanitarian Alliance. Murphy is a long time supporter of Operation Smile and also currently serves on the organization's Board of Governors.

During the 2012 MLB season, Murphy was a part of the Atlanta Braves TV broadcasting crew and participated in the telecast of at least 14 games.

He was the first-base coach for the USA team in the 2013 World Baseball Classic.

In 2017 he opened a restaurant, Murph's, in Atlanta near Truist Park, where the Braves have played since the 2017 season. The restaurant closed in August 2025. Murphy lives in Alpine, Utah.

Early life

Career summary and honors

Public persona

Hall of Fame candidacy

Post-baseball life

See also

References

External links