Dale Murphy and his wife received text messages this week from a former Braves publicist that began: “30 years since one of the most depressing days in Atlanta Braves history…”
Murphy also noticed a few Twitter posts that commemorated the 30th anniversary of the Braves trading him to Philadelphia. One fan wrote that he was “heartbroken” by the trade as a 13-year-old kid and that it “still stings a little” 30 years later. Another wrote that he was in high school at the time and “cried at the breakfast table” upon learning of the trade from a headline in the morning newspaper, then looked up to see his dad “tearing up too.”
Murphy appreciated the nostalgic sentiments expressed by text and tweet, so much so that he shared screenshots of them with a reporter.
On Aug. 3, 1990, in surely one of the most painful trades in Atlanta sports history, the Braves sent outfielder and 1980s franchise icon Murphy and pitcher Tommy Greene to the Phillies for an underwhelming return of relief pitcher Jeff Parrett, outfielder Jim Vatcher and infielder Victor Rosario.
“It really hits home all these years later when people share their stories of the day I got traded,” Murphy said from his Lehi, Utah, residence on the 30th anniversary of the trade. “It has been a really interesting experience even after all these years. It’s an unfortunate part of the game that not everybody can stay with the team they grew up with. It’s emotional for all of us.”
Yet, he also feels there was more to the trade than many people may know or remember.
Credit: UPI
Credit: UPI
Drafted by the Braves at 18 years old and a two-time National League MVP by age 27, Murphy is now 64. He and his wife, Nancy, have lived in Utah since 1994. They have eight kids, ranging in age from 26 to 40, and 14 grandchildren.
“A lot has happened in 30 years,” Murphy said with a laugh.
He has done speaking engagements and autograph-signing shows around the country in recent years, but “that stuff all dried up,” he said, when the coronavirus pandemic struck in March. He and two partners own a restaurant near Truist Park, Murph’s, its business also hard hit by COVID-19. He was “two days away from signing a lease on an apartment” in Atlanta for the summer before the pandemic changed everything.
But back to 30 years ago: the trade.
“It was such a sudden thing for fans and even teammates,” Murphy said.
Except it really wasn’t quite so sudden, he recalled.
“It was a week or more in the making,” Murphy said. “You look at ’89 and ’90, and I wasn’t doing well, let’s be honest, and we weren’t doing well as a team. I had seen what happened to ‘Knucksie’ (Hall of Fame pitcher Phil Niekro, whom the Braves released after the 1983 season) and really had just observed what happens to most players. You usually don’t stay with the same team your whole career, and there comes a point in time when it gets uncomfortable with a long-time member of an organization.”
Murphy, then 34, felt it was getting to that point with him and the Braves.
He was on the last year of his contract in 1990 and eligible to become a free agent after the season. In July of that year, struggling to keep his batting average above .230, he let Bobby Cox, doubling as the Braves’ manager and general manager at the time, know what he was thinking.
“I went into Bobby’s office … and told him of my decision. I told him, ‘Bobby, I’m going to move on after the season, going to be a free agent,’” Murphy said. “I said if there’s a trade that looks like it could work, I’d be interested.”
He had the contractual right to reject any trade, but was particularly open to one if the acquiring team would extend his contract and keep him off an uncertain free-agent market after several subpar seasons. He also thought a change of scenery might “regenerate” his game.
The Phillies extended Murphy’s contract two years, through 1992, as a condition of the trade. To this day, Murphy doesn’t think the trade would have happened if he hadn’t broached the topic with Cox.
“The Braves were accommodating us,” Murphy said. “That’s the back story.”
Credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS
Credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS
Thirty years later, Murphy remains one of the most beloved sports stars ever in Atlanta, even if the Baseball Hall of Fame has yet to recognize the greatness this city saw in him on and off the field.
He made the All-Star team seven times from 1980-87, claimed rare back-to-back MVP awards in 1982-83, averaged 36 home runs and 105 RBIs per season from 1982-87, played in 740 consecutive games at one point, won five Gold Gloves in center field (where he settled after experiencing throwing problems at his original position of catcher) and hit a career-high 44 home runs in 1987. But he declined sharply starting in 1988, hitting .229 from then until the August 1990 trade.
“I think I got into some bad habits,” Murphy recalled. “I wasn’t hitting the ball the other way. I got a little pull-happy. Part of that is mental, too – you start thinking you’ve got to overcompensate, might be losing a little bit of your swing. It’s what happens as you approach your mid-30s, usually.”
The trade -- and the three decades since -- didn’t change the Murphy family’s feelings about Atlanta or the Braves.
“We’ll always be Braves,” Murphy said. “All of our kids were born in Atlanta. We’re always thankful for that association and what I was able to accomplish there because of the Braves and (former general manager) Bill Lucas and because of Bobby (Cox) getting me to the outfield.”
Murphy spent two-plus seasons in Philadelphia, playing only 17 games in 1992 because of a knee infection. His playing career ended in May 1993 after a brief stint with the Colorado Rockies, two homers short of 400 for his career.
By then, of course, the Braves had gone worst-to-first in 1991, starting their streak of 14 consecutive division championships.
“A lot of people say, ‘Why did you leave? Didn’t you see what was coming? You had bad timing,’” Murphy said.
But he didn’t know the team’s promising young pitchers were about to break through to greatness, or that the Braves would hire John Schuerholz as general manager after the 1990 season, or that Schuerholz would make a quick series of moves to fix the team’s porous defense.
“I had no idea all of that was going to happen,” Murphy said. “But I had a very good experience playing for the Phillies organization and a little bit with the Rockies as well.”
Many Braves fans still hope to celebrate Murphy’s induction into the Hall of Fame someday, but he so far has been denied admission by the voters. His candidacy for Cooperstown will be considered again by the Modern Baseball Eras committee in December 2022.
“I think about it and still hold out hope something will happen,” he said. “We’ll see.”
When the pandemic permits, Murphy plans to get back to traveling a few times a month to deliver speeches and attend autograph shows around the country. He has made one trip since March, but has enjoyed doing a few virtual speeches. He looks forward to his next trip to Atlanta and to Murph’s – maybe for the baseball playoffs in October.
“This is one of the longest stretches I’ve gone without getting to Atlanta, for sure,” he said.
He misses connecting in person with fans who remember him from Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium and from Braves telecasts that Ted Turner aired nationally on TBS.
“I get to talk to people all the time when traveling or there at the restaurant,” Murphy said. “There are fantastic memories. Being on TBS in those years was really a unique time in the history of the Braves. People around the country still recite our lineup (from the 1980s), ask me about (Rafael) Ramirez and Bob (Horner) and Glenn Hubbard and Bruce Benedict and everybody.
“We never made it to the World Series, but we were in people’s homes every night. It was a special time for all of us.”
He was reminded of that again, 30 years later.
Credit: AJC file
Credit: AJC file
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