Friday, April 7, 2017
#354 Tom Murphy
12 year veteran whose highlights can be summed up in two campaigns 1970
as an Angels starter, 1974 as a Brewers reliever....especially good in the later highlight, Tom
surprised the AL by leading the circuit in games finished
racking up 20 saves....could not sustain the success going 1-9 the following
year but did repeat his 20 saves....the former highlight his only above .500
season, Tom won 16 games while losing 13....helped the Halos to 15 game
improvement from his first full year...when Tom was much more mediocre, he traveled from team to team,
Royals, Cardinals, Red Sox, and first three years of the Toronto Blue Jays were
his employers....final line 68 wins 101 losses.
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Wow. Imagine going 1-9 as a closer today! Even with the 20 saves.
ReplyDeleteUpon further research, Murphy did great in first half of 1975, on a trajectory to do improve his 1974 stats, but then goes on the DL mid year, comes back and struggles mightily and is never really the same for the rest of his career. In today's game, he would have undergone more medical tests and then to rehab assignment to determine his recovery. Murphy's stats indicate that something was wrong and recovery not complete.
ReplyDeleteLove the pitcher pose while wearing a batting helmet and sporting a batting glove inside of his mitt. You never see a shot like this anymore!
ReplyDeleteIt is a cool card, one I did not have in 1972. Maybe Murphy was bringing some levity to a tumultuous Angel clubhouse. for 1971 was a rough year in Anaheim with unhappy players in Alex Johnson and Tony C.
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