Atlanta Braves History: Dale Murphy - What a career!

Dale Murphy's number 3 was retired by the Atlanta Braves in 1994. What a glorious day that was.

Murphy finished his career with 398 home runs (19th in MLB history at the time of his retirement) and a .265 lifetime batting average. His MVP awards in 1982 and 1983 make him one of only four outfielders in major league history with consecutive MVP years; at the time, he was the youngest to have accomplished the feat. His many honors also include seven All-Star appearances, five Gold Gloves, and four Silver Sluggers. Murphy led the National League in home runs and RBI twice; he also led the major leagues in home runs and runs batted in over the 10-year span from 1981 to 1990.

One of the most productive and decorated players of the 1980s, Murphy led the National League in games, at bats, runs, hits, extra base hits, RBIs, runs created, total bases, and plate appearances during the decade. He also accomplished a 30-30 (30 home runs with 30 stolen bases) season in 1983. Murphy played in 740 consecutive games, at the time the 11th longest such streak in baseball history. His jersey number ("3") was retired by the Atlanta Braves on June 13, 1994. In 1997, Murphy was inducted into the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame & Museum.

I think you have to love Dale Murphy as an Atlanta Brave. What a career!!

Atlanta Braves History: Dale Murphy - His playing career

In 1976 Murphy began his major league career with a nineteen game stint catching with the Atlanta Braves. He appeared in only eighteen games the following season. In 1978, Murphy played first base mostly. At the plate, he slumped to a .226 batting average, though he also showed hints of his future power by hitting 23 home runs.

Murphy switched to the outfield in 1980, a move that would help initiate a decade of highly productive play in the National League. Beginning in left field, he soon switched to center field, the position at which he would find his greatest success. By 1982, the most decorated year of Murphy's career, the former bench-riding catcher had transformed himself into an All-Star MVP outfielder who appeared in each of Atlanta's 162 games. His turnaround as a fielder was equally stark. In 1978, as a first baseman, Murphy had led all National League first-baggers in errors; in 1982, spending time at each of the three outfield positions, he won his first of five consecutive Gold Gloves.

Playing in the decade before the Braves began their unparalleled dominance of the National League East, Murphy also made his only postseason appearance in 1982, though the eventual World Series-champion St. Louis Cardinals eliminated the Braves in the first round of the playoffs. The league's most valuable player failed to translate his regular season preeminence into October success, hitting safely but three times and scoring only one run. Murphy rebounded from the postseason sweep with another MVP award in 1983. The period ultimately proved the high-water era of Murphy's career. Each year during the four season span from 1982 to 1986 he won a Gold Glove, appeared in the All-Star Game, and placed in the top ten in MVP voting.

In 1988, however, despite being voted to what would be his final All-Star appearance, Murphy's production began an inexorable slide downward. Never a particularly high average hitter, Murphy saw his batting average free-fall from .295 in 1987 to .226 in 1988. Only once more, in 1991, would Murphy bat above .250. Once a consistent source of power at the plate, he never again hit even 25 home runs in a season. This fall off in production accompanied increased fragility. In the nine year span beginning with his first MVP season in 1982, Murphy missed an average of only three games each year; the final five years of his career found Murphy sitting out an average of over 90 games each season.

The Braves traded Murphy after fifteen seasons to the Philadelphia Phillies in 1990. Murphy's three seasons with the Phillies were mostly uneventful, though in 1991 he did experience a return to at least reliability, if not excellence, by appearing in 154 games. In 1993, his final season, Murphy took a pay cut of over $2,000,000, down to the major league minimum, to join the Colorado Rockies for their inaugural season. During his last two years in the majors Murphy's batting average lingered well beneath that mark of batting infamy, baseball's Mendoza Line.

Atlanta Braves History: Dale Murphy - Some background

So a little background on Dale (Bryan) Murphy. He was born March 12, 1956 in Portland, Oregon and  is a former Major League Baseball outfielder and first baseman. During an 18-year baseball career, 1976–1993, he played for three different teams, but is noted for his time with the Atlanta Braves.

Murphy won consecutive National League Most Valuable Player Awards in 1982–1983, the National League's Silver Slugger Award four straight years 1982–1985, and the National League's Gold Glove award five straight years 1982–1986.

Most important, I think, is that he was nicknamed the "Beeg Donkey" by Rico Carty.