As we tend to look back at the glorious history of baseball, today marks the retirement of one of the best to ever put on a jersey for the Atlanta Braves. And yet, somehow, after an astonishing 18-year career is not a member of the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame. Is this the correct decision by the HOF committee, or has something gone astray for the long-time outfielder to miss his shot at Cooperstown?
In case you are new to baseball or don’t keep up with past greats, Dale Murphy was just that. Dale Murphy was one of the greatest players of the 1980s. He was a staple to the game from his call up in 1976 with the Braves. He played for Atlanta until being traded to Philadelphia midway through the 1990 season. His career ended during a brief, injury-shortened stint with Colorado in 1993.
In fact, Murphy had one of the best spans by any player during the majority of the 1980’s. But yet, nearly three decades after retiring, the former Braves outfielder is still not seen as a suitable option to have his legacy live on in Cooperstown. Why?
Murphy’s latest bid fell short in 2019, when he was not elected via the Modern Baseball Era ballot. During his time on the official Hall of Fame ballot (1999 to 2013), Murphy never received more than 23.2 percent of the votes, and he garnered as much as 15 percent just three times (1999, 2000 and 2013).
Well, Murphy’s career, taken as a whole, just isn’t quite good enough for the Hall of Fame.
Murphy hit .265 with 398 homers and a .815 OPS over a 18-season career that began with the Braves. He won two National League MVP Awards, gained seven All-Star selections, collected five Gold Glove Awards and achieved four Silver Slugger Awards.
Murphy won consecutive NL MVP Awards (1982 and ’83) and finished in the top 10 in MVP voting in four consecutive years (1982-85). His 32.4 fWAR ranked ninth in MLB from 1982-87. Each of those eight players who ranked ahead of him are Hall of Famers (Wade Boggs, Gary Carter, Eddie Murray, Alan Trammell Rickey Henderson, Cal Ripken, Mike Schmidt, and Tim Raines). In a stretch between 1980 and 1987 He was one of the best players in baseball when he accumulated 42.2 bWAR in eight seasons. Even with a subpar season in 81’ (MLB was also on strike during this season)
When Dale Murphy was putting up big numbers in the eighties, he was considered a shoo-in for the Hall of Fame. At that time there were five center fielders in history that were clearly head and shoulders above everyone else – Ty Cobb, Tris Speaker, Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, and Willie Mays. Beyond them, Dale might have been on track to be the next best. Then all of a sudden he was just an ordinary player. He lost 70 points off his batting average, 100 points off his slugging. He didn’t hit the milestone numbers that Hall of Famers have which is really hurting him fall behind other retirees to the game.
Some like to put Murphy in a a class with Kirby Puckett and Don Mattingly due to the way Dale finished his career. Making it hard for some to remember his earlier great years. It should be mentioned that Mattingly has a lot of supporters for the Hall of Fame, just like fellow former MVP Murphy does.
All three of them have similar WAR totals. Puckett’s is 50.9, Mattingly’s is 42.2, and Murphy’s is 46.2. Puckett is clearly the best of them, but he went into Cooperstown on the first ballot. Those numbers aren’t immensely better than the other two, which leaves reason to why a player like Murphy could make it in. However, recency bias strikes again as Puckett went out on a 130 OPS+ season, as well as his pair of championships.
As the years go by, the memory of Dale Murphy fades a little, although his number (3) hangs clear in Braves stadiums new and old. His batting numbers, which looked great in the eighties, pale in comparison to the numbers that the sluggers have been putting up the last thirty years. The painful moments at the end of his injury plagued career watching him try to get to 400 home runs and falling short at 398 also will fade, which such remove any recency basis left to the voter’s mind.
Will he ever get in? Of course, only time will tell, and I believe Murphy still has a strong case from the senior committee. If it were up to me, I would put him in Cooperstown where he belongs. Hopefully, we do not have to wait another three decades for it to become a reality.
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About the Author
Christian Rauh is the Co-Founder of Slasher Sports and is the Host of The Rauh Report Podcast and Wake Up! with Wowie and The Kid. You Can find all his written work here.
