Profiles In Bravery – Dale Murphy

Subject:
Dale Murphy
Years With Team:
1976-1990
Positions:
Catcher, 1st Base, Center Field, Right Field
Notables:
5 Golden Gloves, 2-time National League MVP, 7-time All-Star.
Post Season:
One appearance, 1982, Braves shut out by Cardinals in NLCS.

It’s only fitting for this first profile in Braves history to be written on none other than Dale Murphy. Why, you may ask?

Simply put, for the decade of the 80′s, Murphy was the face of the franchise, and often the face of Major League baseball itself. In fact, during this time, Topps often used his image to display their in-store baseball card boxes.

Atlanta Braves fans didn’t have much to cheer about between 1974 (Hank Aaron’s record breaking season) and 1991 (Atlanta’s first trip to the series) except for Dale Murphy. With the Braves from ’76-90, Murphy was nothing short of an outstanding ballplayer.

His stats are great but, so far, not Hall of Fame material. .265 lifetime batting average, five Golden Gloves, 2 National League MVP awards, and seven trips to the All-Star game.

But when you look more closely, you see that for four years in a row, he played every single game of the 162 game season. That’s 648 straight games. I know, I know, not a record. Still, given that the next two years he played 160 and 159 games, that’s quite impressive.

Quite speedy for his size, Murphy patrolled a very wide center field, owning a cannon of an arm and earned five golden gloves in a very defensively competitive era.

But more, he didn’t drink alcohol, use tobacco products, or curse. He was tall, handsome, and never sported facial hair. He declined to be interviewed in the clubhouse until he was fully clothed. For crying out loud, he actually did milk commercials.

In fact, during the height of his popularity, the song Centerfield was released by John Fogerty. You hear it at almost every ball game now. In it, he says, “Rounding third and headed for home is a brown-eyed handsome man..” I may be wrong on this, but I always thought that since Murphy played center field at the time, maybe Fogerty was thinking of him when he wrote it.

So why do fans still love Murph so much? Probably because year in/year out, he busted his butt for a mediocre (at best) team and was conscious about the example he set for kids.

And as recently as the ’07 season, Murphy was on ESPN decrying Bonds alleged use of steroids. And Barry did juice. Federal grand jury transcripts have multiple people, under oath, saying so. Dale went on to say that he wasn’t trying to personally assault Barry, but it was just that professional athletes who use steroids are setting a bad example for youngsters.

To that end, Murphy has helped create the iWon’tCheat! Foundation, which has as it’s corporate statement: The iWon’tCheat! Foundation is a solution to the illegal performance enhancing drug problem that has entered the world of sports. Studies show that over 1 million high school athletes used steroids last year.

How’s that for continuing to give back to the game?

Like Hank Aaron before him, Murphy is revered not only for his character, but also for his consistent talent despite difficult circumstances.

Here’s to you, Mr. Murphy. Thanks for being a Brave.

I hope you have enjoyed this edition of this edition of Profiles in Bravery.

Let me know what you think-good, bad, or ugly. Especially if I goofed up something on my facts.

If there is a particular Brave you would like to see profiled, please let me know. I have a running list of players who I plan to highlight, but I want to know what you, the reader, want in this section.

-Smitty