Outfielder, Atlanta Braves
Age: 26
6th season
with Braves
Bats – Right,
Throws – Right
Height: 6’4” Weight: 210
Prior to 1982:
A native of
Portland, Oregon, Murphy was a catcher in high school who batted .465 as a
senior. Tall, fast, and with impressive power potential, he was chosen by the
Braves fifth overall in the 1974 amateur draft, passing up on Arizona State to
turn pro. Initially assigned to Kingsport of the Rookie-level Appalachian
League, he hit .254 in 54 games with 5 home runs and 31 RBIs. Moving on to
Greenwood of the Class A Western Carolinas League in 1975, Murphy batted .228
with 5 home runs and 48 RBIs. He converted to Mormonism after the season which
fit his puritanical values. With Savannah of the Class AA Southern League in
1976 he hit .267 with 12 home runs and 55 RBIs before moving on to Richmond of
the Class AAA International League, where he batted .260 in 18 games, prior to
receiving a late-season call-up to the Braves. He started 17 games at catcher
and hit .262. Back with Richmond in 1977, Murphy’s batting improved to .305
with 22 home runs and 90 RBIs. His defense went bad as his strong throwing arm
proved to be erratic from behind the plate. He received a trial at first base
before receiving another September call-up to the Braves where he was utilized
as a catcher. He stuck with the Braves in 1978 as a first baseman, where his
throwing problems persisted. Murphy hit .226 with 23 home runs and 79 RBIs
while leading the NL in batter strikeouts with 145. He was hindered by a knee
injury that required surgery in 1979 but, appearing in 104 games and helped by
a hot start at the plate, his batting average improved to .276 along with 21
home runs and 57 RBIs. He started the season at catcher and was back at first base
following his return to the lineup. Murphy had a new position in 1980, thanks
to the acquisition of veteran first baseman Chris Chambliss. Shifted to center
field, he adapted well and was an All-Star for the first time on his way to
batting .281 with 33 home runs and 89 RBIs. Murphy’s production dropped off
during the strike-interrupted 1981 season to .247 with 13 home runs and 50
RBIs. The soft-spoken, clean-living, and even-tempered center fielder was very
much a player on the rise by 1982, although his disappointing 1981 performance
led to a pay cut with many incentives added to his contract.
1982 Season Summary
Appeared in 162
games
CF – 115, LF – 66,
RF – 10, PH – 1
[Bracketed
numbers indicate NL rank in Top 20]
Batting
Plate
Appearances – 698 [8]
At Bats – 598
[16]
Runs – 113 [2]
Hits – 168 [19,
tied with Leon Durham]
Doubles – 23
Triples – 2
Home Runs – 36 [2]
RBI – 109 [1,
tied with Al Oliver]
Bases on Balls
– 93 [4]
Int. BB – 9
Strikeouts – 134
[2]
Stolen Bases – 23
Caught Stealing
– 11 [19, tied with four others]
Average - .281
OBP - .378 [10,
tied with Pedro Guerrero]
Slugging Pct. -
.507 [7]
Total Bases – 303
[3, tied with Andre Dawson]
GDP – 10
Hit by Pitches
– 3
Sac Hits – 0
Sac Flies – 4
Midseason
snapshot: HR – 23, RBI – 62, AVG – .285, SLG – .551
Most hits, game
– 4 (in 5 AB) at Chi. Cubs 7/16 – 10 innings
Longest hitting
streak – 11 games
HR at home – 24
HR on road – 12
Most home runs,
game – 2 (in 5 AB) vs. St. Louis 5/13, (in 4 AB) vs. San Diego 7/29
Multi-HR games
– 2
Most RBIs, game
– 4 vs. St. Louis 5/13, vs. NY Mets 8/22
Pinch-hitting –
1 for 1 (1.000) with 1 2B
Fielding
Chances – 422
Put Outs – 407
Assists – 6
Errors – 9
DP – 2
Pct. - .979
Postseason
Batting: 3 G (NLCS vs. St. Louis)
PA – 11, AB – 11,
R – 1, H – 3, 2B – 0, 3B – 0, HR – 0, RBI – 0, BB – 0, IBB – 0, SO – 2, SB – 1,
CS – 1, AVG - .273, OBP - .273, SLG - .273, TB – 3, GDP – 0, HBP – 0, SH – 0,
SF – 0
Awards & Honors:
NL MVP: BBWAA
Gold Glove
Silver Slugger
All-Star (started
for NL in RF)
Top 5 in NL MVP
Voting:
Dale Murphy,
Atl.: 283 pts. - 14 of 24 first place votes, 84% share
Lonnie Smith,
StL.: 218 pts. – 8 first place votes, 65% share
Pedro Guerrero,
LAD: 175 pts. – 52% share
Al Oliver, Mon.:
175 pts. – 52% share
Bruce Sutter,
StL.: 134 pts. – 2 first place votes, 40% share
---
Braves went 89-73
to finish first in the NL Western Division by 1 game over the Los Angeles
Dodgers, while leading the league in runs scored (739) and home runs (146). The
Braves got off to a 13-0 start and despite a midseason slump, went on to
hold off the Dodgers in the final week to win their first division title since
1969. Lost NLCS to the St. Louis Cardinals, 3 games to 0.
Aftermath of ‘82:
Murphy had
another MVP season in 1983, batting .302 with 36 home runs while leading the NL
in RBIs (121) and slugging percentage (.540). “The Murph” was solid again in
1984, hitting .290 with 100 RBIs and tying for the league lead in home runs
with 36 while again pacing the circuit in slugging percentage (.547). He placed
ninth in league MVP voting. While the Braves were sinking in the standings,
Murphy continued his strong production in 1985, leading the NL in runs scored
(118), home runs (37), and walks drawn (90), as well as batter strikeouts (141),
while batting .300 with 111 RBIs and a .388 on-base percentage. He remained a
Gold Glove performer in center field and finished seventh in MVP voting. In
1986, he hit .265 with 29 home runs and 83 RBIs. He slumped badly in July as
Atlanta toppled out of contention and sat out a game, closing out a
740-consecutive games streak. Murphy had one last big year in 1987, batting
.295 with 44 home runs and 105 RBIs. He was shifted to right field and remained
an All-Star who finished eleventh in league MVP balloting. With a 106-loss,
last-place club in 1988, his production dropped off to .226 with 24 home runs
and 77 RBIs. Murphy’s situation was no better in 1989 as he batted .228 with 20
home runs and 84 RBIs. He lasted 97 more games with the Braves in 1990 and was
hitting .232 with 17 home runs and 55 RBIs when he was dealt to the Philadelphia
Phillies in August as part of a five-player trade. The Phillies signed him to a
two-year contract following his arrival and he improved to .266 with 7 home
runs and 28 RBIs in the last 57 games of the season. His 1991 production was
.252 with 18 home runs and 81 RBIs. Limited to 18 games by injury in 1992,
Murphy failed to make the team in 1993. He finished his career with the
expansion Colorado Rockies, where he played in 26 games and hit .143 before
calling it quits. For his major league career, Murphy batted .265 with 2111
hits that included 350 doubles, 39 triples, and 398 home runs. He scored 1197
runs and compiled 1266 RBIs and a .346 OBP. With the Braves he posted a .268
average with 1901 hits, 1103 runs scored, 306 doubles, 37 triples, 371 home
runs, 1143 RBI, and a .351 OBP. The 1982 NLCS marked his only postseason
appearance. A seven-time All-Star and five-time Gold Glove winner as well as a
two-time MVP, the Braves retired his #3. An outspoken critic of steroid users after
his playing days, Murphy created an organization called I Don’t Cheat that
warns young athletes against using performance-enhancing drugs. He has also
been involved in charity work.
--
MVP Profiles feature players in the National or
American leagues who were winners of the Chalmers Award (1911-14), League Award
(1922-29), or Baseball Writers’ Association of America Award (1931 to present)
as Most Valuable Player.
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