Rookie of the Year: Eddie Murray, 1977

First Baseman/Designated Hitter, Baltimore Orioles

Age:  21

Bats – Both, Throws – Right

Height: 6’2”    Weight: 190

Prior to 1977:

A native of Los Angeles, Murray played Little League baseball prior to starring at LA’s Locke High School, where he was a teammate of future Hall of Fame shortstop Ozzie Smith and batted .500 as a senior. Selected by the Orioles in the third round of the 1973 amateur draft, Murray was first assigned to Bluefield of the Rookie level Appalachian League where he batted .287 in 50 games with 11 home runs and 32 RBIs. Playing with teams at the Class A and AA levels in 1974, he hit a combined .289 with 12 home runs and 65 RBIs. With Asheville of the Class AA Southern League in 1975, Murray, a natural right-handed hitter, tried switch-hitting after getting off to a slow start at the plate, and batted .264 with 17 home runs and 68 RBIs. Moving to Charlotte of the Southern League in 1976, he hit .298 in 88 games with 12 home runs and 46 RBIs before advancing to Rochester of the Class AAA International League where, over 54 games, he batted .274 with 11 home runs and 40 RBIs. Murray played his way to a roster spot with the Orioles in 1977 spring training. Although blocked at first base by veteran slugger Lee May he was utilized primarily as a Designated Hitter.

1977 Season Summary

Appeared in 160 games

DH – 111, 1B – 42, PH – 5

[Bracketed numbers indicate AL rank in Top 20]

Batting

Plate Appearances – 666 [14, tied with Sal Bando]

At Bats – 611 [9]

Runs – 81

Hits – 173 [15, tied with Rusty Staub]

Doubles – 29 [18, tied with four others]

Triples – 2

Home Runs – 27 [13, tied with Toby Harrah, Lee May & Leroy Stanton]

RBI – 88

Bases on Balls – 48

Int. BB – 6 [17, tied with nine others]

Strikeouts – 104 [14]

Stolen Bases – 0

Caught Stealing – 1

Average - .283

OBP - .333

Slugging Pct. - .470

Total Bases – 287 [15]

GDP – 22 [3, tied with Chris Chambliss]

Hit by Pitches

 – 1

Sac Hits – 0

Sac Flies – 6

Midseason snapshot: HR - 13, RBI - 46, AVG. - .280, OBP - .330

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Most hits, game – 4 (in 5 AB) at Cleveland 6/29 – 10 innings

Longest hitting streak – 15 games

Most HR, game – 2 (in 5 AB) at Oakland 8/3 – 10 innings, (in 5 AB) at Boston 10/1

HR at home – 14

HR on road – 13

Multi-HR games – 2

Most RBIs, game – 4 vs. Detroit 9/29

Pinch-hitting – 0 of 4 (.000)

Fielding

Chances – 388

Put Outs – 368

Assists – 17

Errors – 3

DP - 34

Pct. - .992

Awards & Honors:

AL Rookie of the Year: BBWAA

AL ROY Voting:

Eddie Murray, Balt.: 12 votes, 43% share

Mitchell Page, Oak.: 9 votes, 32% share

Bump Wills, Tex.: 4 votes, 14% share

Dave Rozema, Det.: 2 votes, 7% share

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Orioles went 97-64 to finish second in the AL Eastern Division, tied with the Boston Red Sox, 2.5 games behind the division-winning New York Yankees.

Aftermath of ‘77:

Murray and Lee May switched roles in 1978, with May becoming the regular DH and the second-year Murray taking over at first base, where he excelled defensively while also batting .285 with 27 home runs and 95 RBIs. Along the way he garnered All-Star honors for the first time and ended up placing eighth in AL MVP voting. The Orioles won the AL East in 1979 and Murray contributed a .295 average along with 30 doubles, 25 home runs, and 99 RBIs. He hit .417 in the four-game ALCS win over the California Angels and only .154 in the seven-game World Series loss to Pittsburgh. The low-key “Steady Eddie” batted .300 in 1980, with 32 home runs and 116 RBIs. He ranked sixth in MVP balloting. In the strike-interrupted 1981 season he co-led the AL with 22 home runs and topped the league outright with 78 RBIs while hitting .294. He placed fifth in AL MVP voting. The Orioles were edged for the division title in 1982 by the Brewers, and Murray delivered another fine season, batting .316 with 32 home runs and 110 RBIs. In addition to placing second in league MVP voting, he received his first Gold Glove for his fielding performance at first base. He again was second in MVP balloting in 1983 as Baltimore won the AL East and went on to capture the World Series. Murray hit .306 with 33 home runs and 111 RBIs while once again excelling in the field. He hit two home runs in the five-game World Series victory over Philadelphia. 1984 was another outstanding season for Murray, who led the AL in on-base percentage (.410) and walks drawn (107) while batting .306 with 29 home runs and 110 RBIs. He received a third straight Gold Glove and was fourth in league MVP voting. Quiet and consistent, he was a .297 hitter in 1985 with 31 home runs and 124 RBIs. Dealing with an ankle injury in 1986, Murray was forced to go on the disabled list for the first time in his career and over 137 games he still hit .305 with just 17 home runs and 84 RBIs. He played two more seasons with the Orioles in 1987 and ’88 with solid results prior to being traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers for three players. In his first National League season in 1989 at age 33, Murray batted only .247 with 20 home runs and 88 RBIs. He rebounded in 1990 to hit .330 with 26 home runs and 95 RBIs. He placed fifth in NL MVP voting. In 1991 he dropped to .260 with 19 home runs and 96 RBIs. In the offseason he signed as a free agent with the New York Mets for two years. In 1992 he hit .261 with 16 home runs and 93 RBIs and batted .285 in ’93 with 27 home runs and 100 RBIs. A free agent again, Murray moved on to the Cleveland Indians in 1994 where he was utilized primarily as a DH and provided veteran leadership to an up-and-coming team in the strike abbreviated 1994 season. He hit .254 with 17 home runs and 76 RBIs over 108 games. In 1995 the Indians cruised to the AL Central title and won the AL pennant. Murray, despite missing a month with broken ribs, still batted .323 with 21 home runs and 82 RBIs. In the six-game World Series loss to Atlanta, he had a RBI single that won Game 3 in the eleventh inning. In 1996, the Indians dealt him back to the Orioles in July for LHP Kent Mercker. For the year he had a combined total of 22 home runs with 79 RBIs and a .260 batting average.  He split his final season in 1997 at age 41 between the Angels and Dodgers. Overall for his major league career, Murray batted .287 with 3255 hits that included 560 doubles, 35 triples, and 504 home runs, making him one of the most successful switch-hitters in baseball history. He also accumulated 1917 RBIs. Of those totals, a .294 average with 2080 hits, 363 doubles, 25 triples, 343 home runs, and 1224 RBIs came with the Orioles. He was an eight-time All-Star who received three Gold Gloves and three Silver Slugger Awards apiece. While never a league MVP, he finished in the Top 10 on eight occasions, twice placing second. In 44 postseason games, Murray hit .258 with 9 home runs and 25 RBIs. The Orioles retired his #33 and he was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2003. The Orioles have also placed a statue of Murray outside Oriole Park at Camden Yards. His brother Rich, also a first baseman, played briefly with the San Francisco Giants.

  

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Rookie of the Year Profiles feature players who were recipients of the Rookie of the Year Award by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (1947 to present). The award was presented to a single major league winner from its inception through 1948 and from 1949 on to one recipient from each major league.