Jeff Kent to the HOF and not Murphy

thewupk said:
Yes he was great for 7 years. That still doesn't make a HOFer when the rest of your career is meh at best.

Mattingly is very comparable to Murphy. And he was in the biggest market of them all and still hasn't gotten in.
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I want to clarify that the objective part of me doesn't disagree with your arguments against Murphy. You make good points, and I'd agree with you on all of them if he wasn't a former Brave and my favorite player growing up.
 
DirkPiggler said:
I want to clarify that the objective part of me doesn't disagree with your arguments against Murphy. You make good points, and I'd agree with you on all of them if he wasn't a former Brave and my favorite player growing up.
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That's fair. I'm in a similar boat with Andruw right now. Granted I do think he was an overall better player than Murph but he's a clear borderline candidate as well.
 
DirkPiggler said:
His knees had a lot to do with it. Granted, he's pretty old now but he doesn't get around very well. Being such a big guy playing that much CF took its toll. Maybe if they had left him at first he would have stayed healthy a little longer too.

Knee surgeries, treatments, rehab, etc. weren't nearly as advanced in his day. Modern medicine might have squeezed a few more productive years out of him. And of course he could have taken the Bonds/Clemens route and probably put up another 200 HR.

On a related note, for the low low price of $699 you can join Murph in a suite at Truist Park for a Braves game. My wife actually suggested this for a Christmas present for me as we're going to be in Atlanta for one of the games where it's available (Brewers series in mid June). If I hadn't gotten to meet him a couple of years ago I likely would have taken her up on it.
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And he came up as a Catcher. Can't be good for longevity.
 
thewupk said:
That's fair. I'm in a similar boat with Andruw right now. Granted I do think he was an overall better player than Murph but he's a clear borderline candidate as well.
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I'm there with Andruw as well, although I do agree his case is better.

Murphy was thought of as a good defensive CF in his days as evidence by the Gold Gloves, although we now know the flaws in their reasoning. But Andruw is pretty much universally acknowledged as the best defensive OF of his generation while also being a middle of the order hitter. If he can't get in I want Ozzie Smith's credentials revoked, along with any other glove only players in Cooperstown.
 
Playing the greatest defensive centerfield of the modern era for a decade, and arguably all time while having a decent bat should be more than enough at this point for Andruw. He's also helped by the fact in the majority of his highlights, the starting pitchers are Glavine, Maddux, Smoltz. They've all vouched for him too.
 
The Tariff King said:
Playing the greatest defensive centerfield of the modern era for a decade, and arguably all time while having a decent bat should be more than enough at this point for Andruw. He's also helped by the fact in the majority of his highlights, the starting pitchers are Glavine, Maddux, Smoltz. They've all vouched for him too.
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I'm certain Druw should be in.

I think more should be made of the fact Murph came up at catcher then transitioned to CF. To me- that kinda makes his whole career that much more outstanding.
 
Tapate50 said:
I'm certain Druw should be in.

I think more should be made of the fact Murph came up at catcher then transitioned to CF. To me- that kinda makes his whole career that much more outstanding.
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Also that he got to 30/30 in an era when that just wasn't happening.

I counted seven such seasons in the 1980s. Murph's in 1983 was the first of them.
 
Adding to the 30/30 theme, Murphy was only the sixth player to ever accomplish the feat, and put up the eleventh such season in MLB history.

Bobby Bonds had five of the ten 30/30 seasons in history prior to Murphy in 1983.
 
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