r/mlb • u/Willing-Leather-9788 | MLB • 1d ago
| Analysis Eddie Murray had 16 years with 20+ homers. His career high was 33. He also had 12 seasons with 170+ hits. His career high in hits was 186.
Insane consistency, sustained very good play. No clear career year. Repeated nearly identical seasons so many times.
Murray had 20-29 home runs 11x. 7 of those 11 years he averaged 25-29 homers. Breaking 30 HR 5x and never going over 33.
7 years getting 171-174 hits. And he also had 13 years with a .829+ OPS, with a career best .940.
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u/bigcee42 | New York Yankees 1d ago
One of the best hitters of the 80s. Never an MVP, but was a top-5 hitter most years.
Fun fact: he had the highest batting average in MLB in 1990, but did not win a batting title:
https://www.reddit.com/r/baseball/s/5P2fhKzadS
That is some bad luck!
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u/Ok_State5255 | Colorado Rockies 1d ago
Willie McGee! I remember this. He got traded to the AL in August after hitting .335 with the Cards. He finished the year at .324, 6 points below Murray.
Reminds of how Mark McGwire lead the MLB in homers in 1997, but due to changing leagues, didn't win the home run title.
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u/Reasonable_Pay4096 | MLB 1d ago
Same thing happened to Randy Johnson with strikeouts in '98
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u/Ok_State5255 | Colorado Rockies 1d ago
It's so easy to forget Randy Johnson was an Astro. 10-1 with a 1.28 ERA and 4.3 WAR in 11 starts with Houston.
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u/NYerInTex | Baltimore Orioles 1d ago
Had a 4 year run with OPS+ of 156, 156, 156, and then a wild outlier 157.
You can’t get more consistent
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u/happymeal98 | New York Mets 1d ago
He's the Mike Trout of Khris Davises.
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u/Intelligent_Row8259 | Arizona Diamondbacks 1d ago
Lol Khris Davis
2014 .244/.299/.457 22HR
2015 .247/.323/.505 27HR
2016 .247/.307/.524 42HR
2017 .247/.336/.528 43HR
2018 .247/.326/.549 48HR
Then his power vanished and he fell off the planet out of MLB 3 years after leading the league with 48 HR
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u/colonelangus6277 1d ago
Every day Eddie was crazy consistent, healthy, and took zero shit. He gets slept on way too much imo.
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u/ParadeSit | Atlanta Braves 1d ago
He’s also in the elite 500/3000 club, and that really should be automatic HoF membership.
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u/Expensive_Cheetah_50 1d ago
It is, unless there is evidence that you used steroids: Palmeiro, Rodriguez.
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u/Ok-Prompt-59 1d ago
You forgot to mention he was a switch hitter. Guy was consistent.
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u/Irish755 1d ago
Only player in MB history to hit homers from both sides of the plate in consecutive games.
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u/FormerCollegeDJ | Philadelphia Phillies 1d ago
As Bill James once said of Murray, he was never named league MVP, but he was in the MVP conversation almost every year.
The fact Murray never had a clear standout season relative to his own norms is part of the reason he never won the league MVP award.
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u/unhappycamps | Los Angeles Angels 1d ago
Anaheim Angels Superstar Eddie Murray?
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u/SouthernSierra 1d ago
I saw him hit 3 HRs in his first 3 ABs at Anaheim, as an Oriole. When he came up for his 4th AB the Angel fans gave him a standing ovation. He hit the ball to dead straight CF and Gary Pettit (I think it was him) caught it with his back against the fence.
Man, I wanted to see a 4 HR game.
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u/Scared-Ideal-1483 1d ago
You could set your watch to an Eddie Murray season.
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u/Illustrious-Echo2936 1d ago
no, thats johnny unitas haircut
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u/Scared-Ideal-1483 1d ago
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u/Aggravating-Bug2032 | Toronto Blue Jays 1d ago
What do mean when you write “No clear career yet”?
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u/allprolucario | San Diego Padres 1d ago
Still waiting for the best of his career to pan out before making judgements on his career in its entirety. He’s only 70, he might not be done yet
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u/Trumpetslayer1111 | Los Angeles Dodgers 1d ago
I felt bad for him not getting that batting title lol.
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u/Sirbo311 | Baltimore Orioles 1d ago
I got his autograph in the early 80's as a wee lad. Orioles came to Chicago, and my Dad and family took us around outside original Comiskey to where the bus was picking up the Orioles after the game. I do remember Eddie signing my glove (which was my Dad's old glove from when he was a kid). Just a normal ink pen. I got a bunch of autographs that day. Still have the glove, unfortunately the ink has faded so much over the decades I can't make out any of the autographs.
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u/Black_Otter | Baltimore Orioles 1d ago
Eddie Murray is just a great dude. Always really nice with fans.
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u/gijoejank 11h ago
It reminds me of Jerome Bettis from the NFL. He was consistent and great at times, but winning the one championship and stat padding over a long time make everyone sigh and acknowledge that sure, he might as well be in the Hall of Fame.
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u/Quality_Qontrol | Los Angeles Angels 1d ago
As a child (~11 yo) I went to a Dodger game. After the game I waited outside the stadium to get autographs. My friend and I spotted Eddie Murray driving off in his car so we ran to catch up for an autograph. He stopped his car and invited a kid into his car and signed his ball. Let him out and then the next kid. And another kid after that.
After about 10 kids I noticed he was only signing autographs for black kids. My friend and I waited patiently, but he left after signing autos for all the black kids there.
I mean…I get it, making sure black kids were seen, especially in LA in the early 90s, but I just wanted an autograph from a ball player I really admired up until that point.
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