Fun card to add to the WTHBALLS stable today, my 1979 "dedicated rookie" for Oakland A's outfielder Dwayne Murphy:
Murphy
put in a very nice 12-year career in the Major Leagues between 1978 and
1989, and sadly can be overlooked since he happened to come up at the
same time as another Oakland outfielder, Hall of Famer Rickey Henderson.
But
between 1980 and 1985 Murphy was as solid as you could ask, winning six
straight Gold Glove Awards while also a "double-threat" at the plate,
hitting as many as 33 home runs (1984) while also stealing as many as 26
bases (1980 and 1982).
The center-fielder led the league in
putouts at his position three times, assists once and "Range Factor" for
you analytics guys four straight seasons between 1980 and 1983.
By
the time he retired after the 1989 season, he finished with 166 homers,
100 stolen bases and a .246 average over 1360 games and 4347 at-bats.
