Rickey Henderson and Jim Rice will make up the 2009 Hall of Fame class. Henderson was voted into the Hall in his first time on the ballot and Rice gained admission in his final time. Jim Rice has been a true bone of contention among voters and fans for over a decade since his retirement. His numbers were right there but not quite over the top.

But his induction brings up a very sore subject for me - what about Dale Murphy??

Let's compare the career stats of both players:

Jim Rice: AVG. .298/HR: 382/RBI: 1451/H: 2452

Dale Murphy: AVG. .265/HR: 398/RBI: 1266/H: 2111

So Rice edges Murph in AVG. and RBI. But Murph had more HRs and won two MVP awards - in back-to-back seasons. He also collected 5 Golden Glove Awards as an OF - he was a catcher all through his minor league career and converted to OF just to fit on the Brave's roster. Rice had one MVP season and not a single GG. In fact, during Rice's time as a player, Murphy was widely considered to be the best player in the game - all while playing for a piss-poor Atlanta team that only made the playoffs once during his career. He played in 740 consecutive games - the 12th longest streak ever - and was an early member of the 30/30 club. Murph's body gave out on him too early - that's certain. But he made the most of his playing time.

But most of all, it is Murph's character that shines. I think the stat that speaks the most about him is that he was never ejected from a game during his entire career - that's nearly 2,200 games.

If Rice is in, then Murph should be in the Hall. But he only collected 11.2 % of the vote this time.

Unfair doesn't even begin to describe it for me . . .

 

Dale Murphy is an icon and I agree that its a shame he was not inducted...what a great player, on and off the field...

 

Murphy was universally respected by everyone in the game.

Imagine this scene: It's 1991, Braves vs. Phillies. Otis Nixon gets beaned by the Phillies pitcher next time up after hitting a homer. The bottom half of the inning, Tom Glavine has to respond and hit the first Phillies batter. Only it's Dale Murphy. He can't do it; no way. So he does the meanest thing he can bring himself to do; he throws Murph four high and inside fastballs to brush him back and put him on. Murphy got the base, and Glavine got the boot by the ump. Glavine said the ump later told him, "I only let you throw four, because that was Murphy and because I knew you wouldn't." It was not merely because they had been teammates, but because Murphy was so respected that he was off limits (by the umpires) for stunts like that.

And let's not forget the class and honor that he brought to the game. He was a tireless supporter of the Huntington Disease Foundation, the 65 Roses Club, MDA, Make-A-Wish, The March of Dimes and many many others. He won the Lou Gehrig Award in 1985 and the Roberto Clemente Award in 1988. He thanked reporters for interviewing him. In Philadelphia once, a stadium security guard didn't recognize him and wouldn't let him into the stadium. He just laughed it off. I can only imagine what Barry Bonds might have done in that situation. Murphy didn't have an "All Suites" clause in his contract, nor did he have his team guarantee him charter jet flights home to his ranch during the season like Kevin Brown.

There will never be another player like Dale Murphy. But only 11.4% of the writers find him worthy of the HOF. I am starting to lose my faith in the process.

 

You make a strong case for Murph and he's definetly a Hall of Fame person. I'd vote yes but Andre Dawson should get in before Murph.

I think Rice deserved HOF nomination.

Of course, Ricky is the best leadoff hitter of all time. If you don't believe, just ask him....

 

HOF is not for OFs with .265 batting averages and a shade over 2100 hits. Great character is not enough to put a borderline player in.

The more I look at Murph's body of work, the less I'm convinced he's a HOFer. And I like Murph enough to have shelled out decent money to own his rookie card.

 

Does Joe Torre deserve to be in the HOF as a player?

 

No. Joe Torre is not a HOF player and I'll tell you why. To be a HOF player you must be the very best in baseball - or at least your league - for an extended period of time. Torre had the MVP season with the Cardinals in 1971. Besides that, I don't think that anyone considered him the dominant overall player in baseball at any time. Murphy - on the other hand - was widely considered the best player in baseball for about a 7-8 year stretch during which he won 2 MVP awards and 7 Gold Gloves.

Torre is a winner and has won championships as a player and a manager. But he was never the dominant player of his era.