Circuit Clouts - Eddie Murray

HALL OF FAME INDUCTEE

Eddie Murray Elected 1993

First Baseman
Los Angeles Outlaws (DEN, CLE, HAV)
1977-1991

Eddie Clarence Murray was born in Los Angeles in 1956, the eighth of 12 children. He often quipped that as a child he did not have to go far for a pick-up baseball game. He was a star at Locke High School in South Central, where he was teammates with Ozzie Smith.

Selected #2 overall by the Denver 14ers in the 1977 draft, Murray was a fan favorite throughout his UL career. Expectations were sky high for the switch-hitting first baseman who could hit for power and average, plus had good plate discipline. In his rookie campaign, Murray hit .328-34-120, finished 2nd in Rookie of the Year voting, and was named to the first of his seven All-UL Teams. In 1979—at just the age of 22—he hit .332-46-128 with a 7.8 WAR. His reward was a trade to L.A. in the middle of 1980, for mainly young catcher Butch Wynegar, but that is where their careers diverged.

Murray was a staple at first base and in the lineup of the Outlaws for the next eight seasons, as he rarely missed a game and rarely turned in a sub-par year. To wit, he led the league in games started five times between 1979 and 1986. In 1981, his first full season in Los Angeles, he helped lead the Outlaws to their first UL championship. The next year he arguably had his best season in an Outlaws uniform,with a .335-41-124 season and a 3rd place finish in MVP voting. His contribution to the 1985 title run was even larger, with 39 HR and 103 RBI, and a .345 average and .953 OPS in World Series win over St. Louis. His biggest playoff moment came in Game 6 of that series, when he delivered a two-run homer in the 10th to force a decisive seventh game.

As he seemed to decline at age 31, he was traded to Cleveland for Chili Davis and a 1st round pick and at age 32 he had a resurgence providing most of the offense in Cleveland with a .301 average, 36 HR, and 131 RBI. L.A. resigned him the very next year as a key bench player and he closed his career with a year in Havana. While his career was short considering how little he got hurt or even missed games, he was selected to the 1980's All-Decade Team, won two championships and even earned two Gold Gloves. The only category he finished in the top 10 all time was homeruns but he ranks in the top 25 in most of the other major offensive categories. Eddie was a great all around player, beloved by the fans, and a real steady Eddie everywhere that he played. (Peter Vays)

AWARDS & ACCOLADES

All-Decade Team (1981-90)
All-UL Team (1977, 1978, 1979, 1982, 1983, 1985, 1986)

Gold Glove Award (1987, 1989)

UL Champion (1981, 1985)
2-time Batter of the Month

9-time Player of the Week

CAREER RANKINGS (as of 1992)
#10 in Home Runs
#13 in Total Bases
#14 in Hits
#14 in Runs
#15 in RBIs
#19 in At-Bats
#22 in Slugging Percentage
#23 in WAR
#25 in Games
#29 in OPS
#36 in Doubles

#37 in Batting Average

REGULAR SEASON

Year Team Age G AB H 2B 3B HR RBI R BB K SB CS AVG OBP SLG OPS WAR

1977 Denver 20 152 609 200 22 3 34 120 98 40 116 1 4 .328 .369 .542 .911 4.8

1978 Denver 21 149 561 178 22 1 35 93 100 48 89 5 0 .317 .369 .547 .916 5.2

1979 Denver 22 156 630 209 31 0 46 128 112 50 89 3 2 .332 .380 .600 .980 7.8

1980 DEN/LA 23 151 625 190 21 1 38 92 114 69 99 1 2 .304 .376 .523 .899 5.2

1981 Los Angeles 24 148 618 176 24 0 35 97 101 62 93 6 0 .285 .348 .494 .842 4.4

1982 Los Angeles 25 156 648 217 31 1 41 124 102 42 89 0 1 .335 .373 .576 .949 7.2

1983 Los Angeles 26 155 616 193 36 1 34 96 85 52 85 2 2 .313 .368 .541 .909 5.7

1984 Los Angeles 27 161 645 201 29 2 27 79 93 53 86 13 4 .312 .364 .488 .853 5.1

1985 Los Angeles 28 160 650 189 37 2 39 103 102 33 92 12 2 .291 .324 .534 .858 5.5

1986 Los Angeles 29 160 629 194 24 2 40 116 89 51 79 3 1 .308 .359 .544 .903 5.9

1987 Los Angeles 30 161 655 184 32 1 29 105 92 42 98 4 3 .281 .323 .466 .789 2.3

1988 Los Angeles 31 152 576 162 17 0 29 101 75 37 84 4 2 .281 .320 .462 .782 1.5

1989 Cleveland 32 161 634 191 24 2 36 131 90 36 80 5 0 .301 .340 .516 .856 4.9

1990 Los Angeles 33 83 155 40 11 1 7 18 20 12 23 1 0 .258 .310 .477 .787 0.6

1991 Havana 34 83 152 30 5 0 3 14 12 9 34 1 0 .197 .244 .289 .533 -0.8

Total UL 15 yrs 2188 8403 2554 366 17 473 1417 1285 636 1236 61 23 .304 .352 .520 .873 65.1

WORLD SERIES

Year Team Age G AB H 2B 3B HR RBI R BB K SB AVG OBP SLG OPS BR

1981 Los Angeles♦ 24 7 28 5 0 0 1 3 2 2 9 0 .179 .233 .286 .519 -2.1

1983 Los Angeles 26 4 16 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 .188 .188 .188 .375 -1.9

1985 Los Angeles♦ 28 7 29 10 1 0 2 5 4 1 4 0 .345 .367 .586 .953 2.3

1986 Los Angeles 29 6 23 6 1 0 0 1 2 3 5 1 .261 .346 .304 .651 -0.1

1990 Los Angeles 33 5 6 2 0 0 1 2 1 0 0 0 .333 .333 .833 1.167 0.8
Total UL 5 yrs 29 102 26 2 0 4 11 9 6 19 1 .255 .296 .392 .688 -1.1