The Hall of Fame
case for Dale Murphy
An Atlanta public relations firm is launching a campaign to get Atlanta Braves icon Dale Murphy inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Murphy, a two-time National League Most Valuable player who was one of the best players in the game during a 17-year Major League career, almost certainly will be on the ballot in early December, when the Contemporary Baseball Era Committee votes. This committee considers players who made their greatest impact from 1980 to the present and have been retired for more than 15 seasons.
Fans and players who think Murphy belongs in the Hall of Fame should send letters of support to:
Josh Rawitch
President
Baseball Hall of Fame
25 Main Street
Cooperstown, NY 13326
The campaign is an effort by Hope Beckham Espinosa, whose leadership includes former Braves Public Relations Director Bob Hope and former news executive Mark Meltzer.
“Dale Murphy belongs in the Baseball Hall of Fame,” said Hope. “We just want to help remind fans and the committee of his achievements.”
Murphy possessed a rare combination of elite power and defense that should make him an easy choice for induction into the Hall of Fame.
Murphy is one of 10 players in baseball history to hit at least 398 home runs and earn five Gold Glove awards, and all are in the Hall of Fame except Murphy and former Braves center fielder Andruw Jones, who is expected to be inducted in the next two years. The others are Willie Mays, Ken Griffey Jr., Mike Schmidt, Al Kaline, Adrian Beltre, Carl Yastrzemski, Dave Winfield and Barry Bonds. (Jones hit 434 home runs and won 10 Gold Gloves.)
Schmidt, Murphy and Bonds are the only three players in baseball history who have hit at least 398 homers, won at least 5 Gold Gloves and won consecutive MVPs: Schmidt in 1980, 1981 and 1986, Murphy in 1982 and 1983 and Bonds in 1990, 1992-93 and 2001-2004. Mays won non-consecutive MVPs, in 1954 and 1965.
Fourteen players have won back-to-back MVPs in baseball history, from Jimmie Foxx in 1932-33 to Shohei Ohtani in 2023 (AL) and 2024 (NL). Of those, only six are not in the Hall of Fame. Albert Pujols (2008-09) and Miguel Cabrera (2012-13) are shoo-ins for the Hall when they are eligible, as is Ohtani, who also won the AL MVP in 2021 and if he wins the NL MVP in 2025 would have won two in each league. The other three that are not in the Hall are Bonds, whose extraordinary numbers are marred by his association with steroids, Roger Maris (1960-61), whose career numbers (275 HR, .260 average, 38.2 WAR) are considered too modest, and Murphy. (The Hall of Famers in that back-to-back MVP group are Foxx, , Hal Newhouser, Ernie Banks, Yogi Berra, Mickey Mantle, Joe Morgan, Schmidt, and Frank Thomas.)
How rare are Murphy’s 398 career home runs? Only 62 players in baseball history have hit that many. Of those, just 20 played at least in part during the Modern Pre-Expansion ERA (1969-1989), before the 1990s power explosion, without the benefit of small ballparks, juiced baseballs and the high-offense environment of later decades. The list includes such superstars as Frank Robinson (586), Harmon Killebrew (573), Reggie Jackson (563), Schmidt (548), Willie Stargell (475), Dave Winfield (465) Andre Dawson (438) and Billy Williams (426). Fifteen of the 20 are Hall of Famers. The ones who aren’t are: Jose Canseco, Dave Kingman and former Braves Darrell Evans, Andres Galarraga and Murphy.
Murphy has been penalized by Hall of Fame voters primarily because, after an elite seven-year run from 1980 to 1987, his numbers fell off sharply after age 32, which was not uncommon at the time. After a 7.7 WAR season in 1987 (.295 average with 44 home runs and 16 stolen bases) and a 3.1 season in 1988, Murphy had seasons of 1.6, 1.0, 1.0, 0.0, 0.8, -0.7 and -0.9 WAR before retiring with Colorado at age 37 in 1993.
But despite that dropoff, Murphy compiled career numbers that are comparable to those of such Hall of Famers as Jim Rice, Tony Perez, Harold Baines and Ralph Kiner:
Jim Rice: 47.7 WAR, .298 average, 382 HR, 8 time All Star
Tony Perez: 53.9 WAR, 379 HR, .279 average, 7 time All Star
Ralph Kiner: 48.1 WAR, 369 HR, .279 average, 6 time All Star
Dale Murphy: 46.5 WAR, 398 HR, .265 average, 7 time All Star
Harold Baines: 38.8 WAR, 384 HR, .289 average, 6 time All Star
(Source: Baseball Reference)
