Dale Murphy Is Too Damn Good For These Astros

So I got stuck having to listen to portion of yesterday’s Astros game while I was in my car, which meant that I didn’t get to listen to Jim Deshaies.

What I did hear, at one point, was Dave Raymond and Brett Dolan get into a conversation about Dale Murphy. Normally, this would be a good thing as I’m a huge Dale Murphy fan, but this time, they lost me when they talked about what a great fit Murphy would be in the Astros clubhouse.

Which proved to me that these guys really didn’t know anything about Murphy.

What makes these guys think that Dale Murphy, who heads up a foundation called I Won’t Cheat — which is about the dangers of steroids — would fit into a clubhouse that has guys like Miguel Tejada and Ivan Rodriguez? What makes these guys think that Dale Murphy, an excellent outfielder who won five Gold Gloves for defensive excellence would fit into a clubhouse with a guy like Carlos Lee who probably couldn’t spell defense if you spotted him the d-e-f-e-n-s? What makes them think that Dale Murphy, a guy who retired when he couldn’t perform at one hundred percent, would fit into a clubhouse with guys like Kazuo Matsui, Mike Hampton, and Brandon Backe who continue to play despite not being one hundred percent and despite harming the club time in and time out?

Murphy was one of my favorite players when I was growing up. He was a
two-time NL MVP who got stuck playing most of his career on one of the
worst teams in baseball — the Atlanta Braves were considered to be the
equivalent of the Washington Nationals for most of the 1980s. And I
still can’t understand why he’s not in the Baseball Hall of Fame. I
was able to convince Jose de Jesus Ortiz to cast his Hall of Fame vote
for Murphy the last time out, but unfortunately, I don’t get to talk to
the rest of the voters.

So while I appreciated hearing Dale Murphy discussed during an Astros
game, I didn’t appreciate those guys trying to sully his name by
associating him with the likes of Tejada, Pudge, and Lee. Now, if they
want to talk about Murphy, maybe they should just concentrate on his
stats and on the reasons why he should be in the Baseball Hall of
Fame. But if they do talk about him again, I just hope they don’t try
to ruin his reputation by talking about how good he would fit into the
current Astros clubhouse.