I don’t want to make a huge deal out of this for 2 reasons:
- I just got done uploading the MMCS and that takes priority and it would be really cool if you checked it out and tossed us a review. I think it’s the best Cubs podcast on the internet but obviously I’m biased.
- I’d rather make a big deal out of a Ben Brown blog later and I can’t use up all the good words here.
Even so I’d be remiss not to say that I think Dale Murphy should be in the Hall of Fame because he was one of the best players of his generation. And while standards and metrics and voters change, I think that simple tenet should reign supreme in Hall of Fame voting. Are they one of the best of their generation?
Dale Muprhy won back to back MVP awards in the early 80’s. Here’s a complete list of players to win the award in consecutive seasons since World War 2 ended:
- Shohei Ohtani
- Barry Bonds
- Miguel Cabrera
- Frank Thomas
- Mike Schmidt
- Joe Morgan
- Roger Maris
- Mickey Mantle
- Ernie Banks
- Yogi Bera
I’m not saying that alone should do it, but let’s at least consider what kinda legacy that means in comparison to the other guys to hold the same accomplishment.
Another thing is the era. There’s so few great power hitters from the 80’s and that’s because the game was dominated by pitching, defense, base-running and batting average. So when you look at Dale Muprhy’s career numbers, they’re much bigger in comparison to the time he played:
- 2,111 hits
- 398 home runs
- 350 doubles
- 46.5 WAR
- 1,200 runs
- 1,250 RBIs
- 1,000 walks
- 5 gold gloves
- 7 all star games
The only player with more home runs in the 1980s is Mike Schmidt and he’s literally the greatest third baseman of all time.
Eddie Murray is #3 on the list with 25 less homers than Dale Murphy.
And not to get caught up in the gross totals – but just comparatively. I want to think about it from context in relation to his peers vs. the steroid era totals.
In that mindset, Murphy was better than everybody else in his era as reflected by awards and comparative totals.
Maybe not the best if compared 1-to-1 with other Eras but he didn’t play in those eras. And when you look at the Hall’s representation from the 80’s, it’s so weak with respect to power hitters like Dale Murphy and I think that’s kinda weird to just skip over because Dale Murphy doesn’t compare favorably to the roided out 500 club.
Another thing is that he got a late start to his career and that should be rewarded. He didn’t get going til his 7th season in professional baseball, and then he went on a 9-year rampage until he could hardly walk and had to retire early.
Maybe if he took steroids he could have kept playing – but he was known as a notoriously clean guy.
So really just a matter for how baseball wants its history to be remembered.
Do we just pretend the 80’s didn’t have any great power hitters or do we honor the great power hitters from that era? It’s a nuanced but important question, and I’m inclined to side with including the best players from the era. Even if that means being more liberal on applying the hard-data criteria and of course, making Dale Murphy wait 26+ years from the time he first made a ballot.
For these reasons and all of these reasons, I’d vote for Dale Murphy.
Just too bad he didn’t play for Jerry Reinsdorf.