Talk:Dale Murphy

Disabled girl
Hey, so, can anyone verify that "disabled girl" story? It's a famous story about Babe Ruth -- I find it kind of hard to believe that Dale Murphy did the exact same thing. -- ESP 14:58 17 Jul 2003 (UTC)


 * I did a little googling and found this: http://lekotekga.org/lekotalk/may03.htm


 * There are lots of links pointing to sites telling the same story about the same girl. I find it hard to believe that all of these people, some of whom are actual charity organizations, would be making this up, especially long after Dale Murphy has left the city.

Thunderbunny 04:47, 25 Dec 2003 (UTC)


 * http://users.aol.com/brave3/murphy.htm
 * On June 12, 1983 Dale visited a 6-year old girl in the stands who had lost both arms and a leg in a power line accident. The girl's nurse asked Murphy if he would hit a home run for the girl. Flustered as he was, Dale could only mumble "Well, O.K." That night he hit not one but two home runs and drove in all three runs in a 3-2 Braves victory.

Here is the box score from the game: http://www.baseball-almanac.com/box-scores/boxscore.php?boxid=198306120ATL


 * Here is the text from the original story "Murphy's Law Is Nice Guys Finish First" from Sports Illustrated, July 4, 1983:

And the mythologizing of Murphy is under way. Before a home game against San Francisco on June 12, 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.

Hall of Fame (moved from article)
Despite his career accomplishments, Murphy has become a highly-debated candidate for the Baseball Hall of Fame.

In order to be elected to the Hall of Fame, a candidate must receive votes on seventy-five percent (75%) of the ballots cast in any given year. The adjoining table shows the number and percentage of votes that Murphy has received each year since he became eligible in 1999.

He will remain on the ballot as long as he appears on a minimum of five percent (5%) of the ballots cast in the preceding election, but at this point Murphy's chances of election appear slim.

Various reasons given for this failure include the lack of success of the teams Murphy played on, and his "mediocre" performance in the later part of his career. Murphy's performance suddenly tailed off after the age of 31, and he finished his career with four below-average seasons and two seasons as a bench player.

His career numbers have also been overshadowed by the explosion in offense in the 10-year period just after Murphy's retirement (1993-2002). For example, there have been 50 home runs hit in a season 30 times in the history of baseball: 18 times between 1921-1990 and 12 times between 1995 and 2000. Many believe the general inflation in hitting statistics since the time of Murphy's retirement to the abuse of drugs such as androstenedione and steroids. Perhaps the prevalence of such drug use may cause the Hall of Fame voters to re-evaluate statistics of players such as Dale Murphy and contemporary stars such as Tim Raines, Andre Dawson, and Jim Rice. However, few outfielders with career totals comparable to Murphy before 1993 have made the Hall of Fame. According to Baseball Reference, only one of the ten players with career numbers most similar to Murphy's is in the Hall of Fame (Duke Snider). This, of course, does not account for how Murphy compares to his contemporaries, how he compares to these other ten (four of whom played significant amounts of time during the recent statistical binge period), or take into account the accolades above mentioned. The debate may be summarized as a question about whether it is more impressive to accumulate large statistical totals or to exhibit dominance over one's contemporaries. The former standard would be much harsher on Murphy while the latter would strongly suggest he be inducted to the Hall of Fame.

The main article says it is unlikely he'll ever get enshrined, but what it should say is by the Baseball Writers Association. There is still the veteran's committee if and when he loses eligibility in the regular voting. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 96.21.220.156 (talk) 14:34, 29 April 2008 (UTC)

I think this section needs to be added back to the page. Its very relevant. Many, many, many people in Atlanta and Georgia in general still argue vehemently that Dale belongs in the Hall. This story still has legs as he received over 10% of the vote again in the 2008 election. Qwerty1900 (talk) 08:23, 2 May 2009 (UTC)


 * I agree with most of the sentiments displayed; but the content is original research, and that's why I moved it out. Thunderbunny (talk) 00:12, 23 May 2009 (UTC)

Catcher
"He began as a catcher, but had difficulties throwing out runners attempting stolen bases."

Actually, he had developed a mental block and couldn't throw the ball back to the pitcher

http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig5/grigg-w4.html

"Mike Ivie, a 17-year-old recruited by the San Diego Padres in 1970, developed a crippling case after beginning his minor league career, and twice turned down a chance at the Majors because he didn’t want to catch. Before Dale Murphy became one of the most dominant players of the 1980s as a center fielder, he was a frustrated catcher prone to return pitches by casting the ball into center field.


 * Ivie wasn't just "recruited". He was the #1 draft pick in the baseball draft of amateur and college baseball players. He never was successful as a Major Leaguer because of all of his trouble as a catcher, adn maybe hitting problems, too.72.146.52.143 (talk) 08:09, 26 September 2008 (UTC)

Other position players – such as All-Star second basemen Steve Sax of the Dodgers and Chuck Knoblauch – have been touched by the same plague. ''And almost without exception the condition has no identifiable connection to an injury or other physical ailment. Some of those who suffered – Dale Murphy in particular – had strong and accurate throwing arms, but found it almost impossible to make routine short throws''."


 * If someone whould actually check his/her facts, Murphy actually played outfield (mostly left field) and first base in the minor leagues. Next, after he reached the major leagues, someone in the Braves' higher management (not "the manager") got the "bright idea" (a dumb idea) of trying to convert him into a catcher. This stupid move lead to Murphy's being involved in a big collision at home plate, and enduring a season-ending knee injury requiring surgery. After this fiasco, new people in the Braves' management decided that Murphy was too-valuable as a hitter to risk at being a catcher. Besides the dangers of collisions, there is the everyday wear and tear on the catcher's legs. They decided to make him into a permanent outfielder, and after some experimentation, they found that he was much better as a center fielder than as either a left fielder or a right fielder. With his ability to cover lots of ground in center field - this lead to his long string of Golden Gloves out there. As an aside, the former Braves' management had earlier tried to convert the young hitting star Earl Williams into a catcher, too. Williams had already won the Rookie of the Year award as a third baseman and an outfielder, and he wasn't cut out to be a catcher. I'll be frank with my conclusion: for both of these attempts to convert good players (outfielders/infielders) into catchers, they had "bugs in their brains".72.146.52.143 (talk) 08:07, 26 September 2008 (UTC)

Position on Bonds
Why does what Murphy thinks about Bonds need to be included in his page? This seems a little out there for me. I suggest that it be removed. Hell, why not put what Murphy thinks about "The Simpsons?" I know Bonds is the hot tamale right now, but I don't see it relevant to Murphy's biography.Atlantabravz 22:06, 20 August 2007 (UTC)

Maybe we put position on Bonds under the iwontcheat foundation. The purpose of the foundation is to deter steroid youth and cheating. Whenever promoting the foundation, Murph is asked something about Bonds. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Treslarsen (talk • contribs) 07:35, 11 September 2007 (UTC)

I still don't see why we have to put what Murphy thinks about Bonds anywhere in his bio. Why not list what Murphy thinks about every single steroid user ever identified by name? It's better just to make the statement that Murphy started his foundation because he is against any steroid usage, not just what he thinks about Bonds. On the flipside, why not put in EVERY single biography on wikipedia what he or she thinks about Barry Bonds? Unless an opinion on something makes serious news and really contrasts to most of the opinions out there, i.e. an extreme minority position, I don't see how it's bio-worthy. Murphy's opinion is in line with significantly more than half of ANYONE ever surveyed, so why is his majority opinion significant? Why not put what he feels about beer commercials or Britney Spears? Do you see where I'm going?Atlantabravz 17:26, 23 September 2007 (UTC)

I cleaned up the section by removing the overly long block quote and neatly summarizing it. It's not like those remarks were the Gettysburg Address, and they don't need to take up that much room in a BLP.Atlantabravz (talk) 14:06, 5 September 2008 (UTC)

I actually disagree. Over the past few years, Murphy's views on steriods and especially Barry Bonds have continued to garner attention. As funny as it sounds, this has become the dominant storyline (views on steroids/Bonds) of Murphy's life post-baseball and post-political ambitions. I definitely think this section needs to be added back to the page. No reason for Murphy's wiki page to be this small, lets tell the whole story. Qwerty1900 (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 08:19, 2 May 2009 (UTC).

Basketball
Wasn't Murphy something of a basketball player too? To the point that he was scouted by professional teams while in college? Why isn't any mention made of it in the article? I'd add it if I knew anything much about it. &mdash; Frecklefσσt|Talk 13:56, 3 October 2007 (UTC)

BYU?
Someone has claimed that Murphy attended BYU sometime after starting his MLB career...does anyone have a source that validates this claim? Thanks. --Eustress (talk) 01:13, 12 May 2008 (UTC)

It is in his book "Murph". That is where he met his wife. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.120.226.153 (talk) 23:37, 4 June 2010 (UTC)

External links modified
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Career summary and honors question
The first sentence in 'Career summary and honors' states "... 398 home runs (19th in MLB history at the time of his retirement)". That sounded wrong to me so I did a little quick-and-dirty research. Using the Career HR list at baseball-reference.com on 7/25/2018, I counted 26 players with more HR than Dale Murphy as of the end of the 1993 season, which was Murphy's last season. So, I believe the sentence should read "27th in MLB history". If someone disagrees with my analysis, please let me know. If I don't hear anything for a while, I will make the change. Thanks.TheCanadian33 (talk) 01:09, 26 July 2018 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by TheCanadian33 (talk • contribs) 00:32, 26 July 2018 (UTC)

Hall of Fame eligible MVPs
Alex Rodriguez now joins Murphy, Bonds, Maris, and Gonzalez as multi-MVP winners not in the HOF. 2600:1014:B166:72CE:7148:8208:32E1:AD7E (talk) 21:43, 1 September 2023 (UTC)


 * Source? BilCat (talk) 22:14, 1 September 2023 (UTC)