<a href='http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=1701698' target='_blank'>http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=1701698</a>

Dale Murphy is getting closer and closer to being left off the ballot. He only got about 7% of the vote this year.

JoltinJacket Wrote:Dale Murphy is getting closer and closer to being left off the ballot. He only got about 7% of the vote this year.

that's because he doesn't deserve to get in. He had 6 great years and he struck out a lot. He hit over .300 once.

I agree that his prime years didn't last quite long enough. If he had maybe 2 more great years, he'd get in. Also, I think if he had made it to 400 homers, he'd get in (it's amazing what the difference between 398 and 400 is :rolleyes: ). His last couple years in Atlanta when he hit around .230 are the difference.

Even with all that, he did win back to back MVP awards and several gold gloves. He also played in nearly 800 straight games (which was a league high at the time). He did strike out a lot, but so did Babe Ruth and Reggie Jackson.

Dale Murphy deserves to be in for sure. Like JJ said, Babe Ruth struck out a lot, but I don't see anyone saying he doesn't deserve to be in.

GDawgs88 Wrote:Dale Murphy deserves to be in for sure. Like JJ said, Babe Ruth struck out a lot, but I don't see anyone saying he doesn't deserve to be in.

you've got to be kidding me! Yeah, babe ruth did strike out a lot, except he hit .342, with 714 HR and had 2062 walks (3rd most all time). Reggie jackson struck out a lot too, but he hit 563 HR and walked 1375 times (26th all time).

As for the MVP's that's great. I'm not saying they're easy to win, but having two MVP years (six great years in all) isn't nearly enough. You need at least 10 great years. hey, even terry Pendleton won one MVP.

he was a good fielder, but as most people know, gold glove is more what you do at the plate than in the field (there are a couple exceptions). Neifi perez didn't win a gold glove and i'm pretty sure jack Wilson didn't, yet those two guys, IMO, are the 2 best SS in the game.

It's great that he played nearly 800 straight games and that should count for something, but it's not enough to count for only 6 great years.

No, I'm not kidding you. Murph was a consistent 30 HR guy in his prime. That's not Hall worthy now, but back then it was. Don't diss Pendleton either. He was a heck of a player. Not a superstar, just a dang good baseball player.

And you can say he only hit .300 once, but he also had years when he hit .295, .290 and .281 twice.

GDawgs88 Wrote:No, I'm not kidding you. Murph was a consistent 30 HR guy in his prime. That's not Hall worthy now, but back then it was. Don't diss Pendleton either. He was a heck of a player. Not a superstar, just a dang good baseball player.

in his time there were 25-30 guys each season who hit at least 25 HR. many of the guys on that list(s) didn't make the Hall.

I'm not dissing Pendleton, but he definitely didn't deserve the MVP in 1991, Bonds did.

flyingswoosh Wrote:I'm not dissing Pendleton, but he definitely didn't deserve the MVP in 1991, Bonds did.

I don't know about that. Bonds had better numbers, but only by a little bit. He hit 27 points worse and only had three more home runs. And the Pirates were supposed to win the NL in '91. The Braves were supposed to be terrible. But Pendleton was a huge reason why we went from worst to first and made it to the WS.

flyingswoosh Wrote:in his time there were 25-30 guys each season who hit at least 25 HR. many of the guys on that list(s) didn't make the Hall.

But Murph was better all-around. He won several Gold Gloves and had a lot of extra-base hits and stolen bases (at least for 3 or 4 years).

GDawgs88 Wrote:

flyingswoosh Wrote:I'm not dissing Pendleton, but he definitely didn't deserve the MVP in 1991, Bonds did.

I don't know about that. Bonds had better numbers, but only by a little bit. He hit 27 points worse and only had three more home runs. And the Pirates were supposed to win the NL in '91. The Braves were supposed to be terrible. But Pendleton was a huge reason why we went from worst to first and made it to the WS.

you're forgetting the fact that Pendleton walked 43 times and stole 10 bases. While Bonds walked 107 times and stole 43 bases. In the end both teams ended up in going deep in the playoffs.

But who was more important to his team? I think that's an easy one. Pendleton by far. The Pirates were loaded with the likes of Bonds, Van Slyke, Smiley etc..

And Bonilla, of course...

flyingswoosh Wrote:in his time there were 25-30 guys each season who hit at least 25 HR. many of the guys on that list(s) didn't make the Hall.

Actually, that was during that last "dead ball" era. Here are Murph's homer totals and NL ranking for each year...

1980: 33 HR (3rd)
1981: 13 HR (10th...yes 10th with 13 homers)
1982: 36 HR (2nd)
1983: 36 HR (2nd)
1984: 36 HR (1st)
1985: 37 HR (1st)
1986: 29 HR (4th)
1987: 44 HR (2nd)
1988: 24 HR (t-9th...that's when the dropoff started)

Anyway, I'm gonna sign off. I'll continue this argument later...

GDawgs88 Wrote:But who was more important to his team? I think that's an easy one. Pendleton by far. The Pirates were loaded with the likes of Bonds, Van Slyke, Smiley etc..

You want to talk valuable? Who made Van Slyke and Bonilla, any good? Bonds. Bonds hit behind those guys. he was the protection. As for the Braves not having anyone... pitching, Glavine, Avery, Smoltz, Liebrandt, Wohlers, Bielecki (167 innings, not bad).

JoltinJacket Wrote:

flyingswoosh Wrote:in his time there were 25-30 guys each season who hit at least 25 HR.&nbsp; many of the guys on that list(s) didn't make the Hall.

Actually, that was during that last "dead ball" era. Here are Murph's homer totals and NL ranking for each year...

1980: 33 HR (3rd)
1981: 13 HR (10th...yes 10th with 13 homers)
1982: 36 HR (2nd)
1983: 36 HR (2nd)
1984: 36 HR (1st)
1985: 37 HR (1st)
1986: 29 HR (4th)
1987: 44 HR (2nd)
1988: 24 HR (t-9th...that's when the dropoff started)

i agree that it was a dead ball period, but my point was that many players had around the same totals as Murphy.

flyingswoosh Wrote:

GDawgs88 Wrote:But who was more important to his team? I think that's an easy one. Pendleton by far. The Pirates were loaded with the likes of Bonds, Van Slyke, Smiley etc..

You want to talk valuable? Who made Van Slyke and Bonilla, any good? Bonds. Bonds hit behind those guys. he was the protection.

Who led his team to the World Series? Not Bonds' Pirates. It was Pendleton's Braves.

flyingswoosh Wrote:As for the Braves not having anyone... pitching, Glavine, Avery, Smoltz, Liebrandt, Wohlers, Bielecki (167 innings, not bad).

I never said we didn't have anyone good.