Hall of Fame Poll: Dale Murphy

by Tom Dakers on Dec 8, 2011 9:10 PM EST in Fun

After the excitement of the winter meetings, I thought we'd get back to these. I'm skipping Bill Mueller and Terry Mulholland, both had long careers but neither is anything like a Hall of Famer. Mueller had a really good season in 2003, hitting .326/.398/.540, helping the Red Sox make it to the playoffs. Mulholland was a sub-.500 pitcher (124-142), whose career was extended because he was left-handed and would throw out of the pen.

Dale Murphy is another that looked like a sure Hall of Fame choice, in the middle of his career, but his numbers fell off a cliff soon after he turned 30. He came up as a catcher for the Braves, but he wasn't very good behind the plate. They moved him to first base then center field where he became a Gold Glover. He won NL MVP awards in 1982 and 83 and got votes several other years. He played in 7 All-Star games, won 5 Gold Gloves and 4 Silver Sluggers. He led the league in homers and RBI a couple of times. He played every game for 4 straight seasons, 1982-1985.

Murphy had a career line of .265/.346/.469 with 398 home runs, 1266 RBI and 161 stolen bases. For a few years he was thought of as the best player in baseball, but injuries slowed him.

Poll

Would you vote Dale Murphy into the Baseball Hall of Fame?

Yes

106 votes

No

231 votes

337 votes | Poll has closed

Tweet Comment 14 comments | 0 recs |

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Comments

nope

belongs in the Hall of Very Good

Derp

by Pikachu on Dec 8, 2011 10:13 PM EST reply actions

it's strange to me

that players who were, at one time or another, the best player in the game, don’t make the HoF. there is no player in the NBA that has won an MVP that is not in the Hall of Fame.

I tweet.

by benk on Dec 8, 2011 10:50 PM EST reply actions

was he ever the best player in the game though?

going by fWAR, in 1982, he was far from being the best player. In 1983, he was much closer, but still was more than a win worse than Cal Ripken and almost a win worse than Wade Boggs. He was again close in 1987, but was nearly 2 wins worse than Boggs. I don’t think he ever truly was the best player in the game.

Derp

by Pikachu on Dec 8, 2011 11:19 PM EST up reply actions

alright then

I tweet.

by benk on Dec 8, 2011 11:22 PM EST up reply actions

though I guess you could make an argument for best player in the league

Derp

by Pikachu on Dec 8, 2011 11:26 PM EST up reply actions

It would still have made him the best player in the NL

Hic sunt fortuna dracones
There is only 1 "n" in Hutchison

by JaysfanDL on Dec 9, 2011 9:25 AM EST up reply actions

in 1987?

nope. Tony Gwynn

Derp

by Pikachu on Dec 9, 2011 11:03 AM EST up reply actions

I wonder if there is

a really great insight about the natures of the respective sports underlying this comment. I’d be interested to hear speculations.

by njd on Dec 8, 2011 11:28 PM EST up reply actions

I'm sure there's plenty of cases of players leading the majors in fWAR (not that fWAR is be-all end-all)

and not making the HOF.

Derp

by Pikachu on Dec 8, 2011 11:39 PM EST up reply actions

err nevermind

been randomly checking years, and I haven’t yet found one

Derp

by Pikachu on Dec 8, 2011 11:43 PM EST up reply actions

It's easier to use rWAR

since BBref has yearly WAR leaders in a nice tabular form

I found the following examples of players since 1900 who led MLB in rWAR and are no longer eligible for the BBWAA HoF vote:

Will Clark, 1989 – 9.4 rWAR. Missed the 5% cutoff in 2006 and is off the HoF ballot.
Dwight Gooden, 1984 – 12.5 rWAR. Also missed cut in 2006.
Al Rosen, 1953 – 9.7 rWAR (tied with Robin Roberts). Could not find info on HoF voting results.
Eddie Stanky, 1950 – 8 rWAR. Missed cut in 1960. This year, both the AL (Stanky) and NL leader (Ned Garver) are non-HoFers.
Bucky Walters, 1939 – 9.3 rWAR. Missed cut in 1953.

Dizzy Trout, 1944 – 9.7WAR. Missed cutoff in 1964.

by SuckaMD on Dec 10, 2011 5:29 PM EST up reply actions

thanks

Derp

by Pikachu on Dec 10, 2011 6:04 PM EST up reply actions

A great number of big-hall folks here

I’m surprised to see guys like Dale Murphy, Mattingly and Juan Gonzalez get such broad support.

by gabrielsyme on Dec 9, 2011 2:37 AM EST reply actions

I'm not surprised about Murphy and Mattingly

When I was a kid, they were always two of the biggest “stars” you heard of. Those kind of guys usually get HOF support. A little surprised about Gonzalez, he never seemed to be in that top tier of guys for his era, he was was not considered the same level as guys like McGwire, Bonds, Griffey, except for that one year when it looked like he might break the RBI record.

Hic sunt fortuna dracones
There is only 1 "n" in Hutchison

by JaysfanDL on Dec 9, 2011 9:29 AM EST up reply actions