Voters need to fill the glaring hole that is in the Baseball Hall of Fame
Growing up in West Texas, a day’s drive from the nearest major league baseball park, you would think that I’d know next to nothing about Atlanta Braves baseball player Dale Murphy. But even far from the MLB, we knew about his MVP awards, and how he won or shared several awards for his community work and charity.
Yet it seems stunning that Murphy’s one of only two players who have won a pair of MVP awards to be denied a spot in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Given his success at the plate, in the field, and in society, this absence is all the more glaring as each year goes by, and he’s passed over for this deserving award. This year, he’s coming up for what could be his final chance to get in.
Murphy started as a catcher, then moved to the infield, then played in the outfield from the late 1970s through the early 1990s. He was a seven-time All-Star, picked up four Silver Slugger awards, and five Golden Gloves.
If you know anything about the team from that era, you quickly learn that Murphy was a leader, but often the only top-notch bat in the lineup. He had to shoulder quite a load, and could be easily walked to prevent another home run or extra-base hit. He had to cover a lot of ground in the outfield getting line drives hit to him.
It’s different for some of his competitors, who won fewer awards, served on stronger lineups, and made it more to the postseason more often, getting the headlines in bigger cities, as opposed to Atlanta, which received little attention from professional baseball fans outside of the South until the early 1990s and the franchise’s epic playoff run.
When Murphy was going up for a possible place in Cooperstown, New York, he had to go up against a lot of steroid abusers who sucked away valuable votes. Their ill-gotten home runs and RBIs overshadowed Murphy’s honest work at the plate. Plus, outside of Ozzie Smith and pitchers, few defensive stars get their due from baseball writers (just ask Omar Vizquel). Therefore, when it comes to Murphy’s career, he’s only judged by home runs and RBIs (which are still impressive), ignoring all of those Golden Gloves. Meanwhile, defensive liabilities with slightly better offensive stats, got several times more votes.
I’ve heard from several of you a personal story about Murphy: a signed autograph, a pose for a picture, a conversation about baseball, or something where this baseball star completely made someone’s day with that personal connection. His work off the baseball diamond is just as illustrious, as he won the Lou Gehrig Memorial Award in 1985, the Roberto Clemente Award in 1988, and shared the Sports Illustrated Sportsman/Sportswoman of the Year Award in 1987, all for his work with charity.
But it’s not like we can lobby Congress to make the right call. I can’t convince all of you to contact your senator or the president to push for Murphy to go to the Hall of Fame. But if you believe that justice should be done for America’s pastime, here’s what I will suggest. Write letters to the editor for sports sections around the country. If you know where those baseball writers are voters, send those over to the papers or magazines where they write. If we’re lucky, then Murphy will get his due in 2020, restoring some semblance of what made the game great: selflessness, teamwork, excellence on offense and defense, and a connection between the athletes and the community.
John A. Tures is a professor of political science at LaGrange College in LaGrange. He can be reached at jtures@lagrange.edu. His Twitter account is JohnTures2.