By Stephen Smoot
Dale Murphy was not selected to the Baseball Hall of Fame this year.
And, seemingly, almost no one cares. That alone is a minor injustice.
An opinion writer for ESPN groused about Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens remaining in Hall of Fame limbo due to their allegedly using banned substances during their dominant careers. They, as well as Fernando Valenzuela and Gary Sheffield, fell below the five of 12 votes needed to remain in consideration three years from now.
Murphy, whom the writer did not mention, barely hung in there with six votes. He will see reconsideration in 2028.
In its coverage of the snub, Atlanta television news station WPIX reported that the Braves’ star “is thought by many fans across baseball to be a no-brainer Hall of Fame member” did not get in due to statistics.
Before this goes further, this article will not refer to the statistic called “WAR.” Got no idea what it is and don’t care.
The article stated that “he falls short on the benchmark stats you would expect from a Hall of Fame power hitter.” That, however, serves as a quite problematic claim.
During the days when Dale Murphy roamed the natural grass of Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, the consensus benchmark for power hitters to reach the Hall of Fame lay at 400. Cross the line, or even come near, and the voters would see it like Braves fans, a “no brainer.” Neither the ball nor the players were “juiced” in the 1980s to boost scores and statistics.
The 1990s, however, ruined perceptions of 1980s earned accomplishments. Mike Schmidt hit 313 home runs in the 1980s during a career that saw him top 500 in his career. The decade’s second place slugger in that statistic was Murphy, who drove out 308 of his 398 career shots. That number was sixth among right-handed hitters at the time of his retirement.
In the 1990s, Mark McGwire hit 405, followed by Ken Griffey Jr at 382, Barry Bonds with 361, Joey Albert Belle with 351, Juan Gonzales with 339, Sammy Sosa with 332, Raphael Palmeiro 328, Jose Canseco 303, and Frank Thomas with 301.
Of all these names, only Ken “Mr. Clean” Griffey Jr. and Frank Thomas are known for certain to have not taken banned substances to enhance performance or recover from injury. Even knowing that most of these numbers came from cheating, voters allowed this era to warp perspectives of power hitting standards.
Additionally, the poor talent level of the Braves for most of his tenure there meant that opposing pitchers could key on him and safely ignore others. Even when the slugger Bob Horner hit behind him, not much else on that squad worried opposing managers. They could “pitch around” Murphy and take the bat out of his hands by offering a free pass to first base. His two complete years with the Philadelphia Phillies also saw him deliver good power numbers on a team that struggled to get wins.
Judging Murphy as a power hitter, however, also dims the brilliance of his other accomplishments.
Murphy took an unusual journey through his personal field of dreams. The Braves drafted him in 1974 as a catcher, briefly sent him to first base, then in 1980 assigned him the position he would play much of the rest of his career, centerfield. He tied several other players in eighth place with five Gold Gloves, a recognition of defensive excellence.
The story does not end with statistics, however.
Media visionary Ted Turner had a dream of taking his Atlanta broadcast television station, WTBS, and offering it nationally to cable subscribers. The station offered mostly a mishmash of movies and syndicated reruns of classic television and cartoons, but had two important anchors to draw audiences. One was professional wrestling and the other, the Atlanta Braves.
Just as WGN did with the Chicago Cubs, WTBS took a team with little prospects of going to the World Series and put them on America’s television sets for all of baseball season. Most enjoyed watching their favorite team beat up on the Braves, or simply wanted to watch Major League Baseball in any format, no matter who took the field.
A lot of fans, like my Italian grandmother, however, enjoyed watching the clean cut Christian ballplayer who did not drink or smoke. They appreciated how he reminded them of the hard charging players of old, like Joe DiMaggio who gave 110 percent on every play. She would stay up until the wee hours of the night or morning, even during West Coast and extra innings games to watch her favorite player’s team lose more often than they won.
Murphy’s graciousness extended to fans and causes in the surrounding community. His work outside of baseball earned him selection to the World Sports Humanitarian Hall of Fame exactly 30 years ago.
For many fans living in states or regions without obvious team allegiances, Murphy gave fans who otherwise cared nothing for the Atlanta team a reason to cheer for them. One could opine that made him as close to “Mr. Baseball” in the 1980s as anyone else.
On hitting statistics alone, Murphy earned a spot in the Hall of Fame, especially relative to the history of baseball until the 1990s. That said, he also provided solid centerfield defense and leadership to a team that needed a great deal of both.
In 2028, Dale Murphy deserves induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
