Batting Clean (eBook)

Why Dale Murphy Belongs in Baseball's Hall of Fame

Kirk McKnight (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2019 | 1. Auflage
200 Seiten
Bookbaby (Verlag)
978-1-5439-8016-5 (ISBN)

Infos

Considered by many to be the most dominant player of the 80's, Dale Murphy still remains outside of the hallowed halls of baseball's Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. Compiling numbers that are still among the best in Milwaukee/Atlanta Braves history, Dale Murphy came up short his 15 years on the Hall of Fame ballot. Today, Murphy's name appears once every two years on the Modern Era Committee ballot. Consisting of former players, managers, general managers, sportswriters, etc., the Modern Era Committee, a panel of 16 members chosen every two years, now holds the fate of Dale Murphy with respect to induction into baseball immortality. With several players currently on baseball's regular Hall of Fame ballot being passed on every year due to implications of steroid abuse, and, as a result, infractions of the Hall of Fame's 'character clause,' baseball writers and voters alike are expressing their protest against the induction of players whose careers have been tainted. Dale Murphy, who never once touched any banned substance during his career, checks off all the boxes with respect to the 'character clause.' With integrity and character being such a large part of baseball in today's society, Dale Murphy presents as good of a case as any when it comes to ambassadorship and everything that comes with representing the game both past and present. Batting Clean: Why Dale Murphy Belongs in Baseball's Hall of Fame urges the importance of inducting a player of Dale Murphy's pedigree into the Hall of Fame because he has not only earned it, but it also sends the message to aspiring and current players they can achieve baseball immortality through clean and honest training. As Bobby Cox and several others interviewed for this book have said, 'The Hall of Fame really needs guys like Dale Murphy.'

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Considered by many to be the most dominant player of the 80's, Dale Murphy still remains outside of the hallowed halls of baseball's Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. Compiling numbers that are still among the best in Milwaukee/Atlanta Braves history, Dale Murphy came up short his 15 years on the Hall of Fame ballot. Today, Murphy's name appears once every two years on the Modern Era Committee ballot. Consisting of former players, managers, general managers, sportswriters, etc., the Modern Era Committee, a panel of 16 members chosen every two years, now holds the fate of Dale Murphy with respect to induction into baseball immortality. With several players currently on baseball's regular Hall of Fame ballot being passed on every year due to implications of steroid abuse, and, as a result, infractions of the Hall of Fame's "e;character clause,"e; baseball writers and voters alike are expressing their protest against the induction of players whose careers have been tainted. Dale Murphy, who never once touched any banned substance during his career, checks off all the boxes with respect to the "e;character clause."e; With integrity and character being such a large part of baseball in today's society, Dale Murphy presents as good of a case as any when it comes to ambassadorship and everything that comes with representing the game both past and present. Comprised of extensive material taken from articles, books, and interviews conducted with Murphy supporters including Hall of Fame manager Bobby Cox, lead Major League Baseball on TBS broadcaster, Ernie Johnson, Jr., and former Atlanta Braves T.V./current New York Yankees radio voice, John Sterling, Batting Clean: Why Dale Murphy Belongs in Baseball's Hall of Fame urges the importance of inducting a player of Dale Murphy's pedigree into the Hall of Fame because he has not only earned it, but it sends the message to aspiring and current players they can achieve baseball immortality through clean and honest training. As Bobby Cox and several others interviewed for this book have said, "e;The Hall of Fame really needs guys like Dale Murphy."e;

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RECORD

 

 

“He’s the best I’ve ever seen, and I’ve seen Willie Mays.”
- Billy Connors, former pitching coach, Chicago Cubs

 

I love the scene in the movie “Moneyball” when Brad Pitt’s character, Oakland A’s general manager Billy Beane, is sitting in a room with all of his scouts and they’re discussing prospects to try to mend the tear left by the departure of star players Johnny Damon, Jason Isringhausen, and Jason Giambi. It’s a beautiful illustration created by my favorite screenwriter, Aaron Sorkin. Every character in the room looks at least one generation older than Billy Beane, and practically the whole room - Beane included - is spitting their chewing tobacco into paper cups. One scout throws out a name, and the rest of the room grumbles their feedback. My personal favorite response was the scout who says, “(He’s) got an ugly girlfriend.” Perplexed, another scout replies, “What’s that mean?” The original scout responds, “Ugly girlfriend means no confidence.” A room full of differing opinions where the objective is to all agree on a player they feel will bring the most to their club. Let’s pretend those scouts were working for the Atlanta Braves in 1974 and a giant crystal ball hung above all of them in that room lousy with the smell of chewing tobacco. Suddenly, an image of Dale Murphy appears in the ball, followed by a long list of statistics he would provide the team over the following 16 years. Playing in 1,926 games and making 8,095 plate appearances, this 18 year old in the crystal ball would generate 1,143 RBI, hit 371 home runs, steal 160 bases, score 1,103 runs, and accumulate 3,394 total bases with a batting average of .268, an on-base percentage of .351, and a slugging percentage of .478 for the Atlanta Braves if they drafted him. How many differing opinions would be shared now? An even better question is which putz in the room is going to spit into his paper cup, lower it to the table, and say, “Yeah, but he’s only gonna bat .268 for us”?

 

“Bill James Schmill James”

 

Those who remember the scene from “Moneyball” I was just referencing will also remember a name that peppered both the movie’s script and the Michael Lewis book from which it was adapted. Bill James. Over the past….let’s be honest….this entire millennium, anything with the name “Bill James” attached to it has become a measuring stick of sort for baseball players and their overall contribution. In order to put Bill James into perspective when it comes to Dale Murphy, we have to go back, pre “Moneyball,” to the first release of The Bill James Baseball Extract, which took place during Murphy’s second year as a professional player for the Atlanta Braves. The first edition of James’ Baseball Extract sold just 75 copies. The second edition the following year sold over three times that (250), but we’re still not talking Agatha Christie numbers here, are we? Needless to say, the Bill James revolution of baseball statistics hadn’t arrived…yet, and wouldn’t for at least two more decades. I’m not saying the statistics James focused on in his extracts didn’t matter back when Dale Murphy played. I’m only opining they weren’t primarily what the Atlanta Braves were looking for when they drafted him. Though many Bill James “homers” may slight him for it, Murphy’s overall career batting average of .265 is still pretty impressive for someone who was primarily a power hitter. Still wanna “get your Bill James on?” Murphy’s career on base percentage was .346. Add that to a career slugging percentage of .469 and you have an OPS (on base plus slugging percentage) of .815. In fact, Murph was in the NL’s top 10 five times for on base percentage and six times for slugging.

 

“But what about his WAR?” all the Jamesian baseball economics majors are touting. Murphy was in the NL’s top 10 four times for Wins Above Replacement during his career; five times if you’re counting among position players. Offensively, he was in the NL’s top 10 for WAR seven times, leading the league on his second of back-to-back NL MVP campaigns with a 7.0 and edging out a few future hall of famers in the process. Pittsburgh Pirates T.V./radio broadcaster Greg Brown, who had not quite gotten behind the microphone during Murphy’s playing days, weighs in, saying, “He was one of the most feared hitters in baseball over his career. He is in the top 4 or 5 in almost every offensive category in Milwaukee/Atlanta Braves franchise history. In fact, he is fourth in offensive WAR behind only (Hank) Aaron, (Eddie) Matthews, and Chipper Jones (all in the Hall).” For those of you not convinced with that statement and the company of players to which Greg Brown is referring, Murphy’s career offensive WAR ranks 185th all time. Adding in JAWS, a sabermetrician’s “concoction” which measures how one compares with those already in the Hall of Fame who played his same defensive position, Murphy slips below the average, only because a large handful of the game’s greatest ever happened to play centerfield as well. There’s a reason John Fogerty’s hit song doesn’t say, “Put me in coach. I’m ready to play. Today. Look at me. I can be. Second base.”

When Murphy was at the mercy of those 472+ voters those 15 years on the Hall of Fame ballot, how many, especially those final few years, had even seen him play an actual game? Perhaps, after realizing they weren’t looking at a 60’s rock group (WAR) or a Steven Spielberg movie ad (JAWS), they simply saw averages for players of that position and immediately passed on Murphy, not even noticing the names on the list above him. Curious as to who’s on that list? How about Willie Mays, Ty Cobb, Mickey Mantle, Ken Griffey, Jr., Mike Trout, and Joe DiMaggio for starters? I consider at least four of those to be among the greatest players the game has ever seen, let alone centerfielders. Before putting JAWS and WAR to bed, I’d like to note there are eight centerfielders below Murphy in terms of JAWS and 49 players below him in offensive WAR already in the Hall of Fame. Is there a sabermetrics method for figuring that one out?

 

Cold…..Hard…..Stats

 

Speaking on Murphy’s contribution to a team he skippered for several years during Dale’s career, Hall of Fame manager Bobby Cox notes, “Murph was a good, good player. He was MVP twice and could have been four times. He had about an eight year span where he was dynamite.” A lot of voters would look at Mr. Cox’s phrasing and probably say, “Eight is not enough in this case.” Former Houston Astros T.V. play by play broadcaster Bill Brown, who spent several years calling games against Murphy’s Braves, states, “I know many Hall of Fame voters do this. They take a 10 year period of his body of work and they measure what he does during that 10 year period. That is an indicator to them of whether he is a hall of famer or not. I took a 10 year period starting at ’82. He had 304 home runs during that period. I certainly don’t use home runs as the only measure of a player. Not at all. The home run totals were 36, 36, 36, 37, 29, 44, 24, 20, 24, 18. That is a very strong point from which to start Hall of Fame consideration.” Using Bill Brown’s 10 year sample from 1982 to 1991, Murphy finished in the NL’s top 10 seven times for home runs, seven times for walks, six times for total bases, six times for runs created, six times for offensive WAR, five times for runs scored, five times for RBI, five times for on-base percentage, five times for slugging percentage, five times for on-base plus slugging percentage (obviously), five times for offensive win percentage, three times for hits, and two times for batting average. If we forewent the 10 straight season approach Bill Brown took in his specimen and were to replace ’91 with ’80, we’d find Murph in the NL’s top 10 once again for slugging percentage, on-base plus slugging percentage, runs scored, total bases, home runs, and RBI. The year that followed (’81) was a virtual “free pass” because Murphy’s season was shortened 56 games by a players strike. Then you have his back-to-back MVP seasons (’82, ’83), which, for all intents and purposes, speak for themselves. Following those, Murphy led the National League in home runs for both the ’84 and ’85 seasons. Bobby Cox mentioned Murphy could have been MVP four times. Aside from leading the league in home runs those two seasons, Murph was first and third respectively in slugging percentage, seventh and first in runs scored, third and second in RBI, and sixth and fifth in total hits. What if Murph’s 36 home runs, 100 RBI, and 94 runs scored in ’84 and his 37 home runs, 111 RBI, and 118 runs scored in ’85 really did win him those two other National League Most Valuable Player awards? Would I even need to be writing this book? If you ask me, 37 home runs, 111 RBI, and 118 runs scored is definitely MVP worthy. Three MVP’s would have been more than enough for the hall.

 

This brings us to the question “What’s your criteria?” This 8 to 10 year sample or overall career...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 22.7.2019
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Sachbuch/Ratgeber ► Sport
• ISBN-10: 1-5439-8016-3 / 1543980163
• ISBN-13: 978-1-5439-8016-5 / 9781543980165