November 27, 2025 • 38 mins
(This episode was recorded in 2022).
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Dale Murphy was a 7X All-Star, 2X NL MVP, 5X Gold Glove winner, 4X silver slugger award winner. He finished his 18 year career with 2,111 hits and 398 home runs and is a member of the Atlanta Braves Hall of Fame.
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Episode Transcript
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Mike Koser (00:00):
Hi, I'm Mike Koser, and welcome to the Lost
Ballparks Podcast.
Announcer (00:08):
Podcast Open
Mike Koser (00:35):
Dale Murphy was a seven-time All-Star, two-time NL
MVP, five-time gold glovewinner, four-time Silver Slugger
Award winner, finished his18-year career with 2,111 hits
and 398 home runs, and is amember of the Atlanta Braves
Hall of Fame.
And he is our guest today onthe Lost Ballparks podcast.
Dale Murphy.
Dale Murphy (00:54):
Hello.
There you are.
Mike Koser (00:56):
Hey Murph, how are you?
Dale Murphy (00:58):
Good, good.
Thanks for having me on.
Mike Koser (01:00):
Thanks so much for doing this.
I got to tell you, so when Iwas probably eight, nine, ten
years old, my cousin lived in uhAtlanta.
And we used to drive down fromOhio.
I'm originally from uhMansfield, Ohio, right in
between Columbus and Cleveland.
We would drive down to Atlantaand we would drive past Fulton
County Stadium.
And I would say to my dad andmom as we were in the car, hey,
(01:21):
that's where Dale Murphy lives.
He lives.
I wonder he's probably thereright now.
That's where he lives.
And I could see because my mycousin Jimmy was such a huge fan
of the Braves and a huge fan ofuh of you.
And so I can remember again asa young guy going to McDonald's
and they had uh, I think at thetime like these specialty cups.
Dale Murphy (01:40):
Oh, yeah, they had cups.
They had uh well, someone hadlids.
That was 7-Eleven.
7-Eleven had slurpy lids.
Mike Koser (01:48):
I can remember getting one of those cups and
thinking, okay, this is thecoolest thing ever.
I'm taking this back to Ohio.
Let's jump into it.
You grew up in Portland,Oregon.
Where and when did you attendyour first major league baseball
game?
I mean, I know your dad for ashort time worked in Morago.
Is that how you pronounce it,California?
Dale Murphy (02:03):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
My first one would beCandlestick Park.
Okay.
And uh my dad had tickets.
He worked for Westing House,and I remember sitting in some
of those boxes up there, uhsuites, I guess you'd call them,
and uh yeah, watching WillieMays and Willie McCovey and
Gaylord was probably there.
Um that would be my first bigleague, major league game.
(02:25):
The only thing I remember ishoping for extra innings.
You know, I was like, man, Iwish I could stay here longer.
Now, my dad shared a story onenight.
Uh, he might have been speakingor given an interview
somewhere.
He said that I told him when wewere driving up to Candlestick
Park one day that I'm gonna workthere someday.
And you did?
Yeah, I did.
And my I think my dad said, youknow, I thought he was gonna be
(02:46):
a peanut vendor, but uh and uh,you know, of course I don't
remember, but yeah, you know, myfirst professional game that I
remember is going to PortlandBeaver games.
Uh Sam McDowell, Chico Simone,and Louis Tiant.
It's so weird to think.
I faced Louis Tian in springtraining and seeing those big
ballparks like that.
Then we moved back to Portland,Oregon.
(03:07):
You know, that was fifth andsixth grade, moved back to
Portland, and I was telling myfriends, man, these these major
league ballparks, you would notbelieve them.
I'd be trying to explain it tothem.
Great memories from candlestickand from the Coliseum.
Mike Koser (03:20):
Well, and you know, in the 60s and early 70s, both
those ballparks were uh wideopen in the outfield.
I mean, they eventually closedthem off for football and added,
you know, other decks.
That was a kind of a neat viewuh of candlestick.
I'm sure it made it colder.
Dale Murphy (03:33):
Now that you mentioned that, yeah, I remember
when I was there going to gamesin the 60s as a kid, yeah,
candlestick was not enclosed.
The wind was always a littletricky, even when they enclosed
it, because I don't know, maybeit was a little more predictable
uh if it was open.
Sometimes you close it and thenyou get kind of swirls.
All right.
We used to look at which uhright field corner or left field
(03:53):
corner had accumulated the mostgarbage, and that's how we
figured which way the wind wasblowing.
Remember back in the day, Imean, I was talking with this
about somebody else.
They said, remember how muchtrash used to fly around
ballparks?
And you see some old some oldvideo, and you're like, Yeah, I
mean, guys were always pickingit up, putting it in their
(04:14):
pocket, but candlestick wasalways a little tricky.
But back in the day, yeah,definitely open.
Mike Koser (04:19):
And speaking of trash, they had a chain link
fence in the outfield, so thetrash would like stick to the
back of the front of the fence,depending on which way the wind
was blowing.
Dale Murphy (04:28):
I think Johnny Bench was a little ahead of me
in in visiting home runs incandlestick park.
I can't remember exactly, butthe ball carried good to right
field, and people were like,Well, why does the ball carry so
good to right field?
I think it it typically the uhthe wind came in from left field
and then circled back out toright.
So you could catch a little bitof a jet stream to right.
Mike Koser (04:49):
Uh it's interesting you should say that because we
were talking with Jon Miller, uhlongtime play-by-play guy for
the Giants a few weeks ago, andhe was telling us that Willie
Mays had trouble hitting homeruns his first year there, but
then changed his stance a littlebit, his second year
candlestick, to hit more ballsout to right because he said the
ball would get caught up inthat jet stream and carry.
Dale Murphy (05:08):
Yeah, absolutely.
And I'd heard that aboutWillie, so that kind of confirms
what I had heard.
But I remember Jack Clarkhitting some blasts left field.
Mel Allen (05:16):
And there goes a long drive deep to left field,
going, going, and it is gone.
A great souvenir for the kid.
Remember that name, Jack Clark.
Dale Murphy (05:26):
I think the prevailing wind was in from
left, and then it would come inand and sling out to right.
So I liked hitting there.
It was kind of weird.
Not everybody liked playingthere or hitting there, but I
liked hitting there.
You know, when I played themearly in the year, early in my
career, they still had fight theblue, uh, but he wasn't
throwing like a young Vida blue.
I I felt comfortable there, andI usually had family or friends
(05:47):
down from Portland.
And so it's a weird thing.
I have pretty good numbers atCandlestick Park.
Let's go!
John Sterling (05:53):
To deep left field.
It is high.
Far and gone.
Dale Murphy connects on a homerun with two on.
The Braves lead itfour-nothing.
And how did the Braves everneed that!
Mike Koser (06:06):
You get called up to the big league September 13th,
1976.
The Braves are visiting DodgerStadium.
Okay, so walk me through themoment that you put on that big
league uniform for the firsttime and you're walking out.
Dale Murphy (06:19):
Yeah, and and a young kid from Portland, Oregon
just watched the 74.
I, you know, I was drafted in74.
So I think I think they playedthe A's at 74.
Right.
So this is 76.
Two years after I get drafted,I got called up a September
call-up as a catcher.
So I was just shaken.
I mean, I don't know how elseto say it.
My catching was was a littlefunky at that time.
(06:39):
Uh, my throwing went, you know,that's the reason why I I ended
up at first base and then theoutfield.
Definitely intimidated.
Rick Roden was pitching, anduh, you know, I took the first
pitch and I was like, man, Icould have hit that one.
What am I, you know?
I might as well start swinging.
So it was it was prettynerve-wracking.
La Sorda was down there yellingat me, and we're gonna run on
(07:02):
you, Murphy.
And uh Davey, Davey Lopesprobably had at least three
stolen bases that day.
I don't even remember.
I want to say Jamie Easterlymight have started that game.
I know he came in that game.
I I don't even remember hestarted that, but I got I got an
infield infield hit my first atbat and got down to first base,
and Steve Garvey said, Hey,nice going, kid.
You know, hope you get hope youget a lot more.
Mike Koser (07:24):
Well, yeah, and you did.
Uh, in fact, you in that game,I think you got two hits in that
first game.
Did I?
Dale Murphy (07:28):
I don't even remember the second one.
Mike Koser (07:30):
Yeah.
It's all blurred.
When you get called up in 76,I'm sure you're aware that in
the ballpark that you're gonnaplay at Fulton County Stadium,
just two years earlier, HankAaron hits number 715, breaking
Babe Ruth's home run record.
Okay, wow.
(07:54):
Look where I'm at.
Look where I'm playing on thesame, you know, the same field
where that happened.
Dale Murphy (07:58):
In April of 74, I was at home.
I can't remember if the gamewas on tape delay or what, but I
was outside playing and my momcame in and and I remember she
said, Hank here, and it hit 715.
I I think I was mad at herbecause I wanted to watch the
replay.
And uh yeah, and then it wasreally surreal.
Hank wasn't there.
(08:19):
Yeah, he's back with thebrewers.
So I mean, it was still thatmystique.
If Hank had been there, I Idon't know what I would have
done.
Mike Koser (08:26):
Well, you played most of your career at Atlantis
Fulton County Stadium.
What were some of the thingsabout that ballpark that you
liked?
Dale Murphy (08:32):
You know, it's called the the launching pad for
reasons, great place to hit.
They brought the fence in.
I mean, it was one of thoseround multi-purpose stadiums
that most of them had a bigconcrete wall down the line was
probably, you know, 340 or 350.
And most of those ballparksthat I can remember now is I'm
thinking the round stadiums,riverfront, three rivers,
Atlanta Fold County Stadium, um,the vet, they put a fence, they
(08:56):
brought a fence in.
So I think it was 320 down bothlines.
It was symmetrical, the ballcarried well.
Wind never really affected usbecause if a thunderstorm came
through Atlanta, you know, wewere enclosed and it might blow
in for a while, but we never hadany wind problems.
And a lot of people don'trealize the altitude.
I'm not sure exactly what itis, but it I think it was over a
(09:17):
thousand feet, which you youdon't realize that all the a lot
of the ball parts are at sealevel.
Maybe there's a littledifference there, but the ball
always carried well.
So uh that's what I remember.
We changed our fence a fewtimes.
I did cut my hand on aplexiglass, plexiglass fence.
When I first got there, there'scyclone fences.
We didn't have any other uhtechnology at the time.
(09:38):
You could see the ball well.
I wasn't an infielder exceptfor one year, and it wasn't
known for being very smooth.
Again, we didn't have thetechnology, and the Falcons
played there, and they did a lotof multiple, you know, a lot of
events there, and the infieldwas not always really good.
We just did not have thetechnology to keep the grass, uh
the dirt wet and uh rakable andsmoothable uh like they do now.
(10:02):
They it's just differentmixtures, you know.
Yeah, and uh so the infield waskind of tough.
It was a hitter's ballpark allthe way, and uh fast outfield,
fast infield, and it all carriedwell.
So I loved it.
I mean, I talk to fans now andthey go, People love Fulton
County State.
I mean, I it's definitely thememories of 80s baseball.
And I was just gonna saysomething else about Fulton
(10:24):
County State.
Oh, just about the time weplayed, people always say, Oh,
Murph, if you played the besttime to watch baseball in
Atlanta.
I always go, Well, what do youmean?
We you know, we didn't playthat good.
We had a couple, you know, afew good years.
They go, No, that's not what Imean.
You can play a buy afive-dollar ticket in the
outfield, and by the thirdinning, you could sit behind the
dugout.
So that's what they mean.
Mike Koser (10:44):
That's great.
Yeah, you know what?
You talk about it being calledthe uh the launching pad, and
for good reason, May 18th, 1979,you hit three home runs in one
game against the Giants, two offVida Blue, and then one off Tom
Griffin.
Tom Griffin, who actually isthe an usher at my church now.
I gotta bring that up to him.
But yeah, that was funny.
(11:06):
Three home runs in a game.
Talk about feeling it.
Dale Murphy (11:08):
I I felt good in 79.
I uh I ended up getting hurtsometime that year and missed a
lot of that year, but I got offto a really good start.
And I could never hit Vida whenI saw him on TV as a kid.
Uh but Vida was still throwingpretty good.
I mean, but he just wasn't, youknow, flamethrower like he was.
So he was left-handed, and youknow, he got a couple balls up
to me, and I remember the game,and I I was saying, oh, this
(11:31):
game's kind of easy, you know,like typical stuff.
And I never did three again,you know.
Uh of course I played with Bobuh Horner with four, and that's
remarkable.
Crazy.
Uh I I just want to say onething.
You reminded me about HankAaron.
I was thinking about he cameback with Al Downing on a
10-year anniversary in 84, rightwhen they recreated his 715th
(11:52):
home run.
Mike Koser (11:53):
Oh, wow.
Dale Murphy (11:53):
And Al Downing was pitching, and Hank was hitting,
and he hit one about 10 feetaway from where he hit 7.15.
Mike Koser (12:00):
Hank and uh at 84 is 50.
I mean, think about that.
50 years old to hit a bomb likethat?
That's pretty impressive.
Dale Murphy (12:06):
No, they hit a ball out of a ballpark at 50.
Uh you know, I mean, just tohit the ball.
No, those old timers, like likeHank and all the grades, you
know, they would pitch to eachother in these old timers games.
The pitchers would pitch, andthese guys could still hit.
It was it was reallyinteresting to watch.
They were a different breed.
Mike Koser (12:24):
In 1980, you made your first All-Star game.
PA Announcer (12:26):
From the Atlanta Braves, outfielder, Dale Murphy.
Mike Koser (12:31):
And I always like to hear about players' first
experiences at All-Star gamesbecause I mean it's your first
real opportunity to play with somany of the guys who just a few
years earlier you're watchingand admiring from your couch at
home.
Some of your teammates on that80 All-Star team were, as you
talked about earlier, being afan growing up of Johnny Bench.
So now Johnny Bench is ateammate.
Dave Parker, Pete Rose, MikeSchmidt, Gary Carter, Dave
(12:53):
Winfield, I think, was on thatteam.
Steve Carlton.
What was that like walking inthe locker room that time?
Dale Murphy (12:58):
Yeah, it was really crazy.
It wa it was really crazy.
It was at Dodgers Stadium, andof course I had been there and
you know played there, but thefirst All-Star game is we always
say surreal, but yeah, there'sreally no other word to that
sums it up.
You walk in the locker room andyou see all those guys, and
you're going around shakinghands.
It it was just um unrealfeeling.
(13:19):
Chuck Tanner got me in the gamefor two innings, and I got in a
bat, and I Jose Cruz didn'tplay.
And so I felt kind of bad, youknow.
Uh, they had a veteran likeJose Cruz, and Chuck got me in
there in the the bottom of theeighth and ninth, and I got
another bat off of Gossage.
The first pitch from Gossage,uh I I hit I hit a long uh foul
(13:40):
fly ball, pulled it, but then hethrew me another slider and I
hit it off the end of my bat andgrounded it out.
Man, it was just crazy.
But uh one little anecdote, I'mwalking from the tunnel to the
dugout on our on our way to thedugout, and I'm with Ray Knight.
Pete Rose walks by us and hegoes, Hey, congratulations, you
two.
Uh, now if you get in the game,don't do anything different out
(14:03):
there than what you would do ina regular season game.
Yeah, and I just watched on TV,you know, him ending Ray
Fosse's career.
Mike Koser (14:11):
The 1970 All-Star game.
Dale Murphy (14:13):
And I don't think he ended his career, but I think
Ray Fosse was hurt the rest ofhis career after that.
But I felt like, okay, this islike this is serious business.
It's kind of fun for usrookies.
We're not starting or anything,but uh, you know, it was
serious business because wedidn't play the American League
except in the World Series.
The we had uh league presidentsthat didn't they wanted to beat
(14:33):
each other, yeah.
And it was a chance to provethat you were better than the
American League, other than theWorld Series.
So, you know, there was alittle people say, Well, you
seemed like it used to bebetter.
And I say it's still a goodgame.
Baseball's a good game becauseyou can't really uh, you know,
basketball and football, no onewants to play defense, and I
don't blame them.
You know, it's they're not outthere to to play defense, right?
(14:54):
And they're they're justexhibitions.
And yeah, our all-star game isan exhibition, but everybody
wants to play good defense,nobody wants to miss the ball.
Pitchers want to strike guysout, so it it lends itself to a
good game.
But I there was a little bitmore on it when they didn't have
interleague play, and it was achance to prove that you were
better.
And you hadn't seen some ofthese guys before.
And now with interleague play,you usually have seen you know
(15:15):
the American League.
So it's a little different now.
Mike Koser (15:17):
Well, and some of those guys you may never see
again, maybe at the end of theircareer in their American League
or the whole time.
Dale Murphy (15:22):
Yeah, uh, yeah, absolutely.
I'd have to go through and seeall who I faced, but I remember
Dave Steib striking me out.
I grounded out off of Clemens.
I hit my only home run off ofWillie Hernandez.
That was in candlestick.
Announcer (15:35):
In weather like this, there's a lot of bees in the
band.
Dale Murphy (15:48):
And so it was really had this mystique to it,
you know, and what who who wason our pitch instead?
Mike Koser (15:53):
So in the 1980 All-Star game, Jerry Reuss was
the winning pitcher.
J.R.
Richard was the startingpitcher of that game.
Uh you had Vida Blue, SteveCarlton, Kent Tekulve, who had
that wicked, you know, sidearm.
Bob Bob Welch pitched, somegood players.
Dale Murphy (16:07):
Some some big guys, yeah.
Mike Koser (16:08):
You know, one of the things that very unique things
about those 1980 Braves teamswas that you were on every night
on TBS across the country.
Announcer (16:16):
Super station TBS presents, the Atlanta Braves,
America 's team.
Mike Koser (16:22):
Now, even though me lived in Mansfield, Ohio at the
time, I could see you, could seeBob Horner, Glenn Hubbard,
Chris Chambliss, Rafael Ramirez,Butler, Claudell Washington.
I could watch you guys playfrom my living room in Ohio.
So I bet, I mean, you can tellme if this is true.
Would you go across the countryand find that you had fans in
just about every city that maybeyou wouldn't otherwise have if
not for TBS?
Dale Murphy (16:43):
I still do.
Yeah, right?
Absolutely.
You know, we get to Atlanta alot.
I live in 30 minutes south ofSalt Lake City.
I was just with somebody theother day from Elko, Nevada.
He goes, I can name your wholelineup, just like you did.
Bruce Benedict.
Oh, yeah.
You know, you see Bob Horner,how's Rafael Ramirez?
You know, it's like we're stillwe're still all playing
together, you know.
Right, yeah.
Yeah.
But no, I I just have to say,and uh, you're exactly right,
(17:07):
uh, Fargo, North Dakota.
I gave a speech up there.
It was a baseball fundraiser,so there were a lot of baseball
fans there, but probably ahundred Braves fans.
And so there's a hashtag thatthat's kind of started, TBS kid.
And on Twitter, people say I'ma TBS kid.
And that's what you are.
You're a TBS kid.
Yeah.
Uh it was it was on, so it wasbaseball, and you watched it.
(17:29):
We weren't always that good.
We had a couple good years, andour announcers, uh Ernie
Johnson, Skip Caray, Pete VanWieren were the main three.
We had some others, but thoseare the main three guys.
They brought you a hometownbroadcast.
Pete Van Wieren (17:41):
There's a two-two on the way....
Dale Murphy (18:00):
You weren't seeing a national broadcast.
You they endeared you to usbecause they were our guys.
Skip Caray (18:06):
Murphy has hit many a pitch like that into the seats
somewhere.
Dale Murphy (18:09):
They weren't a national announcer that was just
analyzing the game.
You know, Skip Caray would saysomething crazy about me, and I
was eating donuts on the bus orsomething.
I think it was a really fun,unique thing to experience.
Mike Koser (18:22):
Again, growing up a Cleveland fan, I could name you
more guys from those 80s Bravesteams than I could from my own
team.
Dale Murphy (18:29):
No question about it.
We we started playing well, andif we weren't playing that
well, our announcers made itentertaining.
They were fun to listen to.
Skip Caray (18:35):
Now, what are we waiting for?
Does anyone know?
I think waiting for theESPN cue to begin.
So as soon as some little nerdsays we can play, we'll play.
Dale Murphy (18:45):
I think Ted and those three announcers should be
in the Hall of Fame for growingthe game of baseball.
Yeah, okay, you say, well, theygrew Braves fans.
Well, I will say that they grewbaseball fans.
Yeah, they did.
Yeah, there are some Bravesfans.
It was it was our broadcast,but people will still love the
game because of those days.
It was a fun time to play, Ihave to say.
Mike Koser (19:04):
Well, I can think of the one team that really stood
out to me as a kid that wasparticularly fun to watch was
1982.
The Braves go on a tear whenthe first 13 games of the season
went on to win the West,finishing 89 and 73.
You ended the year with, Ithink, 36 home runs, 109 RBIs,
and won your first NL MVPtrophy.
That that was a fun year.
Dale Murphy (19:25):
Well, it was, no question about it.
Little known fact.
We started out 13-0.
Guess what our record was fromthere on out?
Three games over 500.
Stuff like that.
Mike Koser (19:36):
Was it really?
Oh, that's right, because ifyou finished 89 and 73, you're
what 16 games over.
Yeah.
16 over for the season.
But you yeah, you're right.
You're three games over therest of the way.
Dale Murphy (19:47):
We played 500 ball the rest of the day.
The way it was the way.
We just, if we hadn't got offthat start.
And so, yeah, we uh Nuxe had 17wins.
Pascual Perez, I don't know, weprobably won 12-14.
And but we weren't very deep.
I mean, we had some goodoffense, but pitching staff, we
just weren't deep.
And so that's why next coupleof years we were competitive,
but we weren't really set up forthe for the long term.
(20:08):
But but that was kind of fun.
That was a fun year.
People in Atlanta still saythat was the most exciting thing
ever, the first two weeks of82.
Because it was so unexpected.
Mike Koser (20:17):
Oh, yeah, it's just crazy.
And 82 was great, uh, but foryou, 83 was even greater.
You hit 36 home runs again, andthis time finished with 121
RBIs picking up your secondstraight NL MVP.
And now, and by the way, you'rethe only player in Brave's
history, I think, to win twoMVPs.
And at this point, are you justthinking, wow, this is just uh
yeah, just par for the course.
(20:38):
This is just what happened.
Dale Murphy (20:39):
Well, you know, you gotta have pretty good time.
You look at some of HankAaron's years and who he was
competing against.
And if he was playing in the80s, he probably had four or
five straight MVPs.
You know, really uh 82, it waskind of up for grabs.
Yeah, 83.
I I had my best year ever, andvery fortunate to win back to
back.
I mean, it it is kind of atiming thing.
(20:59):
It it it worked out.
I'm very thankful for it.
We had a fun team to play for.
It was fun to play for JoeTorre during the time, and it
was fun to show up to theballpark.
I mean, we started drawing fansand it was fun.
And and Fulton County Stadiumwas full a lot.
So that makes you you know,you're fired up to play.
Mike Koser (21:13):
Did you uh is there anything that you say from the
82 or 83 season?
Do you have any bats from thoseyears?
Obviously, you would have theNL MVP trophies, but I mean, is
there anything that's special toyou from those years,
memorabilia-wise?
Dale Murphy (21:25):
Just probably the trophies, because you know, I
some guys my age, they weregetting signed bats by you know
Pete and all the the playersthat they knew they that were
getting ready to retire, but itwasn't a thing.
You know, I had probably threeor four uniforms during the
year.
If I if I ripped my pants, youknow, they'd sew them up.
If I ripped them slide, they'dsew them up.
(21:46):
And uh, you know, we just werenot into the idea that, man, I
should have 81 home unis andwear one a night.
I never even thought of that.
So people say, Well, you gotyou got a bunch of stuff.
I go, I really don't.
I mean, I could go through mystuff and I think I have some a
couple batting gloves and ajersey and things from those
(22:07):
years, but even then it was likejust for keepsakes, it wasn't a
thought that, hey, this couldbe really good for your
posterity someday to sell.
Mike Koser (22:15):
Nobody, nobody was thinking about that stuff.
I I there's a picture uh of thepolo grounds where the polo
grounds came down after the Metsended up playing there, and uh,
maybe it was 63 or 64 when itwas demolished.
And there is a giant pile ofpolo ground seats, wooden seats,
and some of them with thefigure rolls on the side.
By the way, those seats nowcould be $10,000.
(22:36):
There's hundreds of them in apile waiting to be taken to the
dump.
I mean, people just didn't knowthat one day.
Yeah, what you know, yeah.
To them, it's just like, oh,it's just junk, let's throw that
away.
Dale Murphy (22:47):
Yeah.
Why would you save old seats?
What's the point?
Right, right.
So uh I don't have to be honestwith you, I don't have a lot of
personal game used quoteunquote memorabilia.
It's just kind of the nature ofthe time.
Mike Koser (22:59):
Hey, I'd love to talk to you real quickly about
some of the ballparks you playedin throughout your career.
Wrigley Field.
Dale Murphy (23:03):
Well, you know, I wasn't that familiar with
Wrigley, just didn't see it thatmuch as a kid, you know, with
no internet and no I I rememberas a kid watching a replay of
Ernie Banks, I think he had his500.
Announcer (23:13):
Game audio . That's a fly ball, he's the left hack,
crack, that's it, that's it, oh!He did it! Ernie Banks got
number 500.
Dale Murphy (23:25):
Kind of had to rub your eyes when you went out.
You're like, wait a minute, nowthis this is again playing in
the 70s and 80s, and everywherewe go is a round ballpark,
cookie cutter, if you will.
Then all of a sudden you go toWrigley.
I mean, I loved it and I didn'tlike it so much.
We'd take BP, and if the windwas blowing out, of course, it
was coming from inland, goingout to the lake, and it was
(23:46):
warm, and balls would be you'dbe hitting balls in the street
all day in BP.
Then we'd go up and at 49minutes before the game, and the
temperature would drop 10, 12degrees, and it'd be blowing in
off the lake.
And so it was for me, I I don'tknow what my numbers are,
pretty good there, probably, butit's tough to play outfield
there with that wind.
I did play some night games uhwith Philly at the end of my
(24:09):
career, so I experienced that,but the lights weren't really
good those first few years.
It was fun to play.
I couldn't have done that allyear.
I don't know how those guys didit day games, you know, every
day at home, but it was fun.
Fans were really close to you,fans would really get on you.
Pitcher seemed like he wasright on top of you.
I mean, it was you really hadto adjust to it.
Mike Koser (24:27):
So, Murph, the 1986 All-Star game was at the
Astrodome.
Al Michaels (24:30):
Houston entered the National League in 1962.
The old Colt 45s played in anoutdoor stadium that was hot and
sultry and mosquito laden.
But then the Astros moved inhere to at that time what they
called the eighth wonder of theworld, the Astrodome.
Mike Koser (24:47):
What did you think about the eighth wonder of the
world?
Dale Murphy (24:49):
Really tough, especially in the outfield with
the glass, the way they had itpainted the roof.
You had to be careful not totake your eye off the ball.
Like if the ball was in a gapand you put your head down and
run, which you're kind of taughtbecause you run faster without
looking at the ball.
So you kind of get a beat onwhere the ball's going to end
up.
You turn, you know, run as fastas you can, then you look up
and recalibrate where the ballis, but you gotta be you had to
(25:11):
be really careful there becauseyou could lose the ball in the
roof.
And it wasn't that play greatplace to hit.
I had a really weird yearthere, though.
One year I hit I think I hitfive home runs there or
something.
I mean, they had Nolan Ryan,Joe Niekro, J.R.
Richard, his early years, anduh it wasn't a great place to
hit.
I think I hit okay there.
Uh yeah I'd probably speak foreverybody.
We didn't like the play in theextra though.
(25:33):
No right, you know, they hadgood teams.
Remember those good teams inthe 80s?
Mike Koser (25:36):
Yeah.
Dale Murphy (25:37):
And Mike Scott, and then they went to the playoffs
86 or whatever.
So they had a lot of good teamsthere.
And man, they would pound thatball down in the ground, Enus
Cabell, they would run, BillyDoran.
They just had a team like thelike St.
Louis.
So they're really fast, toughto beat at home.
And it was just the oddestplace to play.
I I don't know what else tosay.
(25:58):
It was the only domed field,and it it it was just a weird,
you know, nothing had beenupdated since the 60s, and that
scoreboard was weird.
Yeah, and uh, I don't know whatto say, and I can't believe
it's still standing.
Mike Koser (26:11):
I can't either.
So the 90 uh 1983 All-Star gameat Comiskey Park.
Uh yeah,
Dale Murphy (26:16):
that was fun.
Mike Koser (26:17):
Another ballpark with a lot of history.
What did you think about uhComiskey?
Dale Murphy (26:20):
Oh, my recollection of Comiskey was uh, you know, a
little bit taller, as I recall,a little bit taller.
Grandstand reminded me ofWrigley a lot.
You could tell it was old.
Clubhouse was was small.
Everything in those ballparksback then was small.
Faced Dave Steib, and I don'tknow who else I faced, but Steib
was impossible to hit.
All I remember is Fred Lynnhitting a grand slam over my
(26:41):
head off of Atlee Hammacher.
Mike Koser (26:58):
Truly one of the great moments in All-Star Game
history.
Well, uh, anything else youremember from Comiskey Park and
that 1983 All-Star game?
Dale Murphy (27:05):
Oh, aside from Comiskey, I met uh Joe DiMaggio
at the All-Star Gala.
Mike Koser (27:09):
You gotta talk about that.
What was that like?
Well, Barry Halper, uh alongtime Yankee, he might even
be an investor, but he had youknow millions of dollars worth
of memorabilia back before hewas the first one that I recall.
And I had met him, and then Ihe came up to me and goes, Hey
Dale, Joe Demaggio, I'd like tomeet you.
(27:30):
I was like, okay, where is he?
Let's go meet him.
And uh man, did I get hisautograph?
I can't remember, but Nancy andI went over there.
It was just it was really funat All-Star Games because uh
those guys would always show up.
What's cool about that too isthat later on, and I think this
was in a sports illustratedarticle, and maybe that same
year, might even have been 1983.
(27:50):
Nolan Ryan was quoted assaying, I can't picture Joe
DiMaggio being any better anall-around player than Dale
Murphy.
He's one of the toughest guysI've ever pitched to.
Dale Murphy (28:00):
I don't know.
I I got known a couple times,but I think Nolan's being
overgenerous there.
But uh that was a really nicequote.
I can't imagine hitting 56games in a row, but uh I
appreciate that that compliment.
Yeah, it was a real thrill.
He he is kind of bigger thanlight, you know.
I grew up with watching his copMr.
Coffee commercials.
Joe DiMaggio (28:20):
I'm gonna show you how to make the best cup of
coffee you ever tasted in justseconds with Mr.
Coffee, automatic drift coffeemaker.
Dale Murphy (28:27):
And he was kind of a celebrity, uh, more than a
baseball player to me, to mygeneration.
Right.
But it's still I knew what herepresented.
Mike Koser (28:35):
And Murph, think about this.
Like, how many people in theworld can say there was this
time where someone said to me,Joe DiMaggio would like to see
you, right?
Dale Murphy (28:43):
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah, no, I I I what can I say?
I was just like, you know,baseball it gave me a chance to
some things that I just itreally is hard to describe.
Like, what did you feel?
I don't know.
I didn't know I was I was 27.
I didn't know.
I was probably I was probablylooking for some more shrimp,
you know, yeah uh to eat.
(29:03):
Uh and then these thingshappened.
And you know, I met WillieMays, I mean, out of candlestick
one night.
I just like, yeah, I'm very,very grateful.
The older I get, those thingsbecome more special, no
question.
But when you're a kid, Iprobably didn't appreciate it,
but I knew it was cool.
But man, now I gotta meet TedWilliams at the uh Hall of Fame
exhibition game when they usedto do that.
(29:24):
Two teams would fly in, andI'll just share one story
quickly.
Uh yeah, but well, I went up tomeet him.
You know, they were exchanginglineups or something.
He's an honorary captain So Isaid, Oh geez, I got I I gotta
go meet Ted Williams.
So I go up to him, I go, HeyTed, Dale Murphy.
He goes, Dale Murphy.
I he guess what he watches onTBS every day.
Yeah, I watch your games allthe time.
(29:45):
He goes, Dale, you gotta get abetter pitch to hit.
Oh my gosh.
I you know, I struck out 140whatever times a year.
Ted probably struck out 15 ayear.
He probably didn't strike outthat much his whole career.
Yeah.
And I I felt like saying, hey,Ted, I mean, I'm not Ted
Williams, you know, I'm DaleMurphy.
But I was like, yeah, you'reright, Ted.
(30:06):
I gotta, I gotta get a betterpitch to hit.
Mike Koser (30:09):
That was the thing, that was the thing about Ted
Williams, though.
He was very direct.
Like he would just he wouldjust call like he sees him, you
know.
Dale Murphy (30:15):
Yeah, and then I got I put spent a couple years
with the Phillies and Ted livedin Clearwater or in that area.
And I went in to get breakfastand he's sitting over there.
And I'm like, oh man, I gottago say hi to him.
So I went over there.
He said, Dale, good to see you.
He scoots over.
He goes, have a seat, have aseat.
So uh, you know, I know I knowhis reputation and and all his
(30:36):
history, and but with players,he was everybody said he had a
you know, he just had adifferent relationship with the
media and all that kind ofstuff.
Mike Koser (30:43):
So you had you had breakfast with Ted Williams too.
Dale Murphy (30:46):
I know I couldn't stay because I had to I had to
get to spring training.
I had to I had to get there,but it was kind of weird.
You're walking out, I'm like,dang, I just said you know,
you're right, and yeah, I'm 65now, and these memories, I I
don't know what to say exceptthat I'm just so grateful to be
before.
Mike Koser (31:05):
Throughout uh most of the 1980s, you were one of
the most feared hitters inbaseball.
There was a six-season stretchthere where you averaged 36 home
runs a year.
And on August 21st, 1987, whenyou were only 31, you hit home
run number 300 at Fulton CountyStadium.
Pete Van Wieren (31:20):
3-2 Atlanta, two men out in the sixth.
High and deep to Right Field.
This could be number 300, andit is for Dale Murphy.
Mike Koser (31:29):
1987 was pretty special, too.
You finished with 44 home runsthat year.
But do you remember number 300?
Dale Murphy (31:34):
Yeah, I do because it gets retweeted a lot.
And I also I speak a lot, soI've included it in my little
highlight reel introductionthing.
So I see that one a lot.
I believe it was against BrianFisher.
It was a fastball low and away,and I hit it to right center
field, just like I had beendoing.
And then uh later on in mycareer, I just I didn't go the
(31:55):
other way as much.
And so that kind of hurt mebecause when I was going really
well, I was hitting the ball theother way like like number 300.
Mike Koser (32:02):
Uh at the end of the 1990 season, uh, after 15 years
with the Braves, you weretraded to the Phillies.
And then the following season,I want to say it was June 4th,
1991.
It was when the Phillies wereat Fulton County Stadium, your
first time back, actually, atthe old ballpark.
Braves put on a pregameceremony, and I kept because I
was watching this video lastnight, like how awkward that
must have felt.
Okay, because you're now in ayou're in a Phillies uniform
(32:24):
with all of your new teammates,right?
And here are here's theopposing team that you just want
to beat their brains in thatnight, celebrating you before
the game.
Dale Murphy (32:32):
It was really awkward, but you know, in
hindsight, you know, what areyou supposed to say to the
Braves?
We want to honor you.
No, I do not want to do it now.
I want to do it when I retire.
I mean, they're like, no, wewant to honor you.
And we had a fight that night,too, with the Braves.
Oh, that's right.
I remember it.
Yeah, we hit Otis Nixon, anduh, so it was very memorable for
(32:55):
a number of reasons.
Mike Koser (32:57):
Well, I do want to ask you this.
Who was the most intimidatingpitcher that you I think I know
what the answer is gonna be?
In fact, why don't I guess?
Al Michaels (33:03):
And on the mound from the Houston Astros, James
Rodney Richards.
J.R.
Richard.
Yeah, and for those who don'tremember J.R.
Mike Koser (33:12):
Richard, he pitched for the Astros, and he was I
want to say either 6'7 or 6'8.
And I talked with Dave Parker acouple weeks ago, and uh Dave
said that when he would pitch,when he would release the ball,
you felt like he was on top ofyou.
Dale Murphy (33:24):
All you gotta do is look at his his numbers, uh 300
strikeouts, and you know, anduh so people say, well, you
know, more intimidating NolanRyan on all like Nolan was kind
of an average-sized human being.
This J.R.
was 6'8, the ball, the balllooked like a little golf ball,
and he was a little wild.
Mike Koser (33:42):
So you're like, yeah, because Nolan Ryan, look
at Nolan Ryan was couldconsistently paint where he
wanted the ball to go.
You know what I mean?
Like if he wanted to hit you,okay, he could hit you.
But Nolan wasn't wild.
Like J.R.
Richard sometimes would let aball go and not know where it
was going.
Dale Murphy (33:56):
No, it he was very intimidating.
He probably he probably didn'teven know how intimidating he he
was.
I mean, you know, he would makea mistake.
I mean, even Nolan would make amistake.
I mean, if if those guys didn'tmake a mistake, they'd throw no
hitter.
That's just all there was toit.
But uh, yeah, J.R.
Richard was just no day at thebeach, as Bob Horner used to
say.
Mike Koser (34:17):
Uh hey, listen, I'll wrap up with this.
I just want to say uh HankAaron said about Dale Murphy,
I'd say that he's probably thebest all-round player in either
league, probably the mostvaluable player in baseball
right now.
Joe Torre, your former manager,said all he does is play
baseball better than anyoneelse.
Seven-time All-Star, two-timeNL MVP, five-time gold glove
(34:38):
winner, Roberto Clemente Awardwinner, Lou Gehrig Memorial
Award, and honestly, in myopinion, a lifetime of reasons
why Dale Murphy should be in thebaseball hall of fame.
Dale Murphy (34:48):
Well, thank you.
Mike Koser (34:49):
Just want to thank you for the time.
It has been uh, you know, as aTBS kid.
Dale Murphy (34:54):
There you go.
Mike Koser (34:55):
It has been it's been an honor and a privilege to
spend some time with you todayand reflect back on a uh a great
career.
Dale Murphy (35:02):
Well, it's been so much fun.
Like I say, the the older youget, the the more we all
appreciate those young, young uhdays and opportunities that
baseball so provided all of us.
So I I I mean I love to talkabout it.
I wasn't a very good interviewback when I played.
I didn't say too much, but nowthe older I get, you know, uh I
just shake my head at uh howlucky we were.
(35:24):
So it's it's fun to reminiscewith you.
Thank you so much.
Mike Koser (35:27):
Yeah, and for those who don't know, the the website
is DaleMurphy.com, and you do umspeaking engagements throughout
the country.
And great, great talk.
So if folks wanted to get intouch and maybe have you speak
to their company, just go toDaleMurphy.com, correct?
Dale Murphy (35:41):
Yep, yep, Dale Murphy.com.
We got a I got a few thingsgoing on.
I have our MVP experiences thatNancy and I put on in Atlanta
and talk about that because theMVP experience is pretty crazy.
Mike Koser (35:51):
You have a restaurant right near the new
ballpark, Murph's.
Dale Murphy (35:54):
Right.
Well, basically, we spend theday with you.
I don't think we have muchavailability left.
We are gonna do one forbusiness leaders the for the
first time this year, but uh forthe fans, uh, I don't think we
have much availability left.
But yeah, you learn more onDaleMurphy.com.
But yeah, we uh we start theday with uh lunch at Murph's and
then we you know have a privateroom we go over to, I'll sign
(36:14):
some things and talk about theold days and uh pick photo ops,
and then we'll uh we'll go overand take a tour of uh of Truist
Park and give everybody a chanceto you know uh buy souvenirs
and everything, and then I Imeet them again in the Home
Depot Clubhouse, which is asuite out in left center field.
I spend the whole day with you.
And Nancy and I are with youthe whole time.
(36:36):
Nancy has been my organizer andand uh has put this MVP
experience together.
So it's it's so fun to be youknow with everybody.
And Nancy came up with this ourtagline is from fan to friend.
And the people that have doneit have kind of bonded together
too.
So we have a lot of fun.
We have a lot of fun.
Mike Koser (36:56):
Yeah, I would encourage you to check that out.
And uh just I know that I knowa lot of your talks are on
resilience and and uh it's youknow, your story going from
where you were in the early orlate 70s and after you were
drafted, you know, battlingthrough a lot of adversity to
become the player that youbecame.
It is a great talk for forbusinesses who are looking for
some motivation for you know,salespeople or whatever.
(37:18):
I yeah, I encourage people tocheck that out, DaleMurphy.com.
Dale Murphy (37:21):
Thank you so much.
Yeah, I love to speak, andyou're right.
You know, resilience is thebest attribute for a baseball
player.
And it is, I think it's thebest attribute we can all have,
this especially the way thingsare going in our world now.
We we gotta be resilient, wegotta bounce back.
Mike Koser (37:35):
Absolutely.
Murph, thanks for the time,man.
I so appreciate you.
That was a blast.
Dale Murphy (37:40):
Thank you so much.
Mike Koser (37:41):
You know, it's interesting.
Throughout the years, I'veheard so many different folks
from inside the world ofbaseball talk about how nice of
a guy, how generous Dale Murphyis.
And after spending some timewith him, I can see exactly what
they're talking about.
Hi, I'm Mike Koser, and welcome to the Lost
Ballparks Podcast.
Announcer (00:08):
Podcast Open
Mike Koser (00:35):
Dale Murphy was a seven-time All-Star, two-time NL
MVP, five-time gold glovewinner, four-time Silver Slugger
Award winner, finished his18-year career with 2,111 hits
and 398 home runs, and is amember of the Atlanta Braves
Hall of Fame.
And he is our guest today onthe Lost Ballparks podcast.
Dale Murphy.
Dale Murphy (00:54):
Hello.
There you are.
Mike Koser (00:56):
Hey Murph, how are you?
Dale Murphy (00:58):
Good, good.
Thanks for having me on.
Mike Koser (01:00):
Thanks so much for doing this.
I got to tell you, so when Iwas probably eight, nine, ten
years old, my cousin lived in uhAtlanta.
And we used to drive down fromOhio.
I'm originally from uhMansfield, Ohio, right in
between Columbus and Cleveland.
We would drive down to Atlantaand we would drive past Fulton
County Stadium.
And I would say to my dad andmom as we were in the car, hey,
(01:21):
that's where Dale Murphy lives.
He lives.
I wonder he's probably thereright now.
That's where he lives.
And I could see because my mycousin Jimmy was such a huge fan
of the Braves and a huge fan ofuh of you.
And so I can remember again asa young guy going to McDonald's
and they had uh, I think at thetime like these specialty cups.
Dale Murphy (01:40):
Oh, yeah, they had cups.
They had uh well, someone hadlids.
That was 7-Eleven.
7-Eleven had slurpy lids.
Mike Koser (01:48):
I can remember getting one of those cups and
thinking, okay, this is thecoolest thing ever.
I'm taking this back to Ohio.
Let's jump into it.
You grew up in Portland,Oregon.
Where and when did you attendyour first major league baseball
game?
I mean, I know your dad for ashort time worked in Morago.
Is that how you pronounce it,California?
Dale Murphy (02:03):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
My first one would beCandlestick Park.
Okay.
And uh my dad had tickets.
He worked for Westing House,and I remember sitting in some
of those boxes up there, uhsuites, I guess you'd call them,
and uh yeah, watching WillieMays and Willie McCovey and
Gaylord was probably there.
Um that would be my first bigleague, major league game.
(02:25):
The only thing I remember ishoping for extra innings.
You know, I was like, man, Iwish I could stay here longer.
Now, my dad shared a story onenight.
Uh, he might have been speakingor given an interview
somewhere.
He said that I told him when wewere driving up to Candlestick
Park one day that I'm gonna workthere someday.
And you did?
Yeah, I did.
And my I think my dad said, youknow, I thought he was gonna be
(02:46):
a peanut vendor, but uh and uh,you know, of course I don't
remember, but yeah, you know, myfirst professional game that I
remember is going to PortlandBeaver games.
Uh Sam McDowell, Chico Simone,and Louis Tiant.
It's so weird to think.
I faced Louis Tian in springtraining and seeing those big
ballparks like that.
Then we moved back to Portland,Oregon.
(03:07):
You know, that was fifth andsixth grade, moved back to
Portland, and I was telling myfriends, man, these these major
league ballparks, you would notbelieve them.
I'd be trying to explain it tothem.
Great memories from candlestickand from the Coliseum.
Mike Koser (03:20):
Well, and you know, in the 60s and early 70s, both
those ballparks were uh wideopen in the outfield.
I mean, they eventually closedthem off for football and added,
you know, other decks.
That was a kind of a neat viewuh of candlestick.
I'm sure it made it colder.
Dale Murphy (03:33):
Now that you mentioned that, yeah, I remember
when I was there going to gamesin the 60s as a kid, yeah,
candlestick was not enclosed.
The wind was always a littletricky, even when they enclosed
it, because I don't know, maybeit was a little more predictable
uh if it was open.
Sometimes you close it and thenyou get kind of swirls.
All right.
We used to look at which uhright field corner or left field
(03:53):
corner had accumulated the mostgarbage, and that's how we
figured which way the wind wasblowing.
Remember back in the day, Imean, I was talking with this
about somebody else.
They said, remember how muchtrash used to fly around
ballparks?
And you see some old some oldvideo, and you're like, Yeah, I
mean, guys were always pickingit up, putting it in their
(04:14):
pocket, but candlestick wasalways a little tricky.
But back in the day, yeah,definitely open.
Mike Koser (04:19):
And speaking of trash, they had a chain link
fence in the outfield, so thetrash would like stick to the
back of the front of the fence,depending on which way the wind
was blowing.
Dale Murphy (04:28):
I think Johnny Bench was a little ahead of me
in in visiting home runs incandlestick park.
I can't remember exactly, butthe ball carried good to right
field, and people were like,Well, why does the ball carry so
good to right field?
I think it it typically the uhthe wind came in from left field
and then circled back out toright.
So you could catch a little bitof a jet stream to right.
Mike Koser (04:49):
Uh it's interesting you should say that because we
were talking with Jon Miller, uhlongtime play-by-play guy for
the Giants a few weeks ago, andhe was telling us that Willie
Mays had trouble hitting homeruns his first year there, but
then changed his stance a littlebit, his second year
candlestick, to hit more ballsout to right because he said the
ball would get caught up inthat jet stream and carry.
Dale Murphy (05:08):
Yeah, absolutely.
And I'd heard that aboutWillie, so that kind of confirms
what I had heard.
But I remember Jack Clarkhitting some blasts left field.
Mel Allen (05:16):
And there goes a long drive deep to left field,
going, going, and it is gone.
A great souvenir for the kid.
Remember that name, Jack Clark.
Dale Murphy (05:26):
I think the prevailing wind was in from
left, and then it would come inand and sling out to right.
So I liked hitting there.
It was kind of weird.
Not everybody liked playingthere or hitting there, but I
liked hitting there.
You know, when I played themearly in the year, early in my
career, they still had fight theblue, uh, but he wasn't
throwing like a young Vida blue.
I I felt comfortable there, andI usually had family or friends
(05:47):
down from Portland.
And so it's a weird thing.
I have pretty good numbers atCandlestick Park.
Let's go!
John Sterling (05:53):
To deep left field.
It is high.
Far and gone.
Dale Murphy connects on a homerun with two on.
The Braves lead itfour-nothing.
And how did the Braves everneed that!
Mike Koser (06:06):
You get called up to the big league September 13th,
1976.
The Braves are visiting DodgerStadium.
Okay, so walk me through themoment that you put on that big
league uniform for the firsttime and you're walking out.
Dale Murphy (06:19):
Yeah, and and a young kid from Portland, Oregon
just watched the 74.
I, you know, I was drafted in74.
So I think I think they playedthe A's at 74.
Right.
So this is 76.
Two years after I get drafted,I got called up a September
call-up as a catcher.
So I was just shaken.
I mean, I don't know how elseto say it.
My catching was was a littlefunky at that time.
(06:39):
Uh, my throwing went, you know,that's the reason why I I ended
up at first base and then theoutfield.
Definitely intimidated.
Rick Roden was pitching, anduh, you know, I took the first
pitch and I was like, man, Icould have hit that one.
What am I, you know?
I might as well start swinging.
So it was it was prettynerve-wracking.
La Sorda was down there yellingat me, and we're gonna run on
(07:02):
you, Murphy.
And uh Davey, Davey Lopesprobably had at least three
stolen bases that day.
I don't even remember.
I want to say Jamie Easterlymight have started that game.
I know he came in that game.
I I don't even remember hestarted that, but I got I got an
infield infield hit my first atbat and got down to first base,
and Steve Garvey said, Hey,nice going, kid.
You know, hope you get hope youget a lot more.
Mike Koser (07:24):
Well, yeah, and you did.
Uh, in fact, you in that game,I think you got two hits in that
first game.
Did I?
Dale Murphy (07:28):
I don't even remember the second one.
Mike Koser (07:30):
Yeah.
It's all blurred.
When you get called up in 76,I'm sure you're aware that in
the ballpark that you're gonnaplay at Fulton County Stadium,
just two years earlier, HankAaron hits number 715, breaking
Babe Ruth's home run record.
Okay, wow.
(07:54):
Look where I'm at.
Look where I'm playing on thesame, you know, the same field
where that happened.
Dale Murphy (07:58):
In April of 74, I was at home.
I can't remember if the gamewas on tape delay or what, but I
was outside playing and my momcame in and and I remember she
said, Hank here, and it hit 715.
I I think I was mad at herbecause I wanted to watch the
replay.
And uh yeah, and then it wasreally surreal.
Hank wasn't there.
(08:19):
Yeah, he's back with thebrewers.
So I mean, it was still thatmystique.
If Hank had been there, I Idon't know what I would have
done.
Mike Koser (08:26):
Well, you played most of your career at Atlantis
Fulton County Stadium.
What were some of the thingsabout that ballpark that you
liked?
Dale Murphy (08:32):
You know, it's called the the launching pad for
reasons, great place to hit.
They brought the fence in.
I mean, it was one of thoseround multi-purpose stadiums
that most of them had a bigconcrete wall down the line was
probably, you know, 340 or 350.
And most of those ballparksthat I can remember now is I'm
thinking the round stadiums,riverfront, three rivers,
Atlanta Fold County Stadium, um,the vet, they put a fence, they
(08:56):
brought a fence in.
So I think it was 320 down bothlines.
It was symmetrical, the ballcarried well.
Wind never really affected usbecause if a thunderstorm came
through Atlanta, you know, wewere enclosed and it might blow
in for a while, but we never hadany wind problems.
And a lot of people don'trealize the altitude.
I'm not sure exactly what itis, but it I think it was over a
(09:17):
thousand feet, which you youdon't realize that all the a lot
of the ball parts are at sealevel.
Maybe there's a littledifference there, but the ball
always carried well.
So uh that's what I remember.
We changed our fence a fewtimes.
I did cut my hand on aplexiglass, plexiglass fence.
When I first got there, there'scyclone fences.
We didn't have any other uhtechnology at the time.
(09:38):
You could see the ball well.
I wasn't an infielder exceptfor one year, and it wasn't
known for being very smooth.
Again, we didn't have thetechnology, and the Falcons
played there, and they did a lotof multiple, you know, a lot of
events there, and the infieldwas not always really good.
We just did not have thetechnology to keep the grass, uh
the dirt wet and uh rakable andsmoothable uh like they do now.
(10:02):
They it's just differentmixtures, you know.
Yeah, and uh so the infield waskind of tough.
It was a hitter's ballpark allthe way, and uh fast outfield,
fast infield, and it all carriedwell.
So I loved it.
I mean, I talk to fans now andthey go, People love Fulton
County State.
I mean, I it's definitely thememories of 80s baseball.
And I was just gonna saysomething else about Fulton
(10:24):
County State.
Oh, just about the time weplayed, people always say, Oh,
Murph, if you played the besttime to watch baseball in
Atlanta.
I always go, Well, what do youmean?
We you know, we didn't playthat good.
We had a couple, you know, afew good years.
They go, No, that's not what Imean.
You can play a buy afive-dollar ticket in the
outfield, and by the thirdinning, you could sit behind the
dugout.
So that's what they mean.
Mike Koser (10:44):
That's great.
Yeah, you know what?
You talk about it being calledthe uh the launching pad, and
for good reason, May 18th, 1979,you hit three home runs in one
game against the Giants, two offVida Blue, and then one off Tom
Griffin.
Tom Griffin, who actually isthe an usher at my church now.
I gotta bring that up to him.
But yeah, that was funny.
(11:06):
Three home runs in a game.
Talk about feeling it.
Dale Murphy (11:08):
I I felt good in 79.
I uh I ended up getting hurtsometime that year and missed a
lot of that year, but I got offto a really good start.
And I could never hit Vida whenI saw him on TV as a kid.
Uh but Vida was still throwingpretty good.
I mean, but he just wasn't, youknow, flamethrower like he was.
So he was left-handed, and youknow, he got a couple balls up
to me, and I remember the game,and I I was saying, oh, this
(11:31):
game's kind of easy, you know,like typical stuff.
And I never did three again,you know.
Uh of course I played with Bobuh Horner with four, and that's
remarkable.
Crazy.
Uh I I just want to say onething.
You reminded me about HankAaron.
I was thinking about he cameback with Al Downing on a
10-year anniversary in 84, rightwhen they recreated his 715th
(11:52):
home run.
Mike Koser (11:53):
Oh, wow.
Dale Murphy (11:53):
And Al Downing was pitching, and Hank was hitting,
and he hit one about 10 feetaway from where he hit 7.15.
Mike Koser (12:00):
Hank and uh at 84 is 50.
I mean, think about that.
50 years old to hit a bomb likethat?
That's pretty impressive.
Dale Murphy (12:06):
No, they hit a ball out of a ballpark at 50.
Uh you know, I mean, just tohit the ball.
No, those old timers, like likeHank and all the grades, you
know, they would pitch to eachother in these old timers games.
The pitchers would pitch, andthese guys could still hit.
It was it was reallyinteresting to watch.
They were a different breed.
Mike Koser (12:24):
In 1980, you made your first All-Star game.
PA Announcer (12:26):
From the Atlanta Braves, outfielder, Dale Murphy.
Mike Koser (12:31):
And I always like to hear about players' first
experiences at All-Star gamesbecause I mean it's your first
real opportunity to play with somany of the guys who just a few
years earlier you're watchingand admiring from your couch at
home.
Some of your teammates on that80 All-Star team were, as you
talked about earlier, being afan growing up of Johnny Bench.
So now Johnny Bench is ateammate.
Dave Parker, Pete Rose, MikeSchmidt, Gary Carter, Dave
(12:53):
Winfield, I think, was on thatteam.
Steve Carlton.
What was that like walking inthe locker room that time?
Dale Murphy (12:58):
Yeah, it was really crazy.
It wa it was really crazy.
It was at Dodgers Stadium, andof course I had been there and
you know played there, but thefirst All-Star game is we always
say surreal, but yeah, there'sreally no other word to that
sums it up.
You walk in the locker room andyou see all those guys, and
you're going around shakinghands.
It it was just um unrealfeeling.
(13:19):
Chuck Tanner got me in the gamefor two innings, and I got in a
bat, and I Jose Cruz didn'tplay.
And so I felt kind of bad, youknow.
Uh, they had a veteran likeJose Cruz, and Chuck got me in
there in the the bottom of theeighth and ninth, and I got
another bat off of Gossage.
The first pitch from Gossage,uh I I hit I hit a long uh foul
(13:40):
fly ball, pulled it, but then hethrew me another slider and I
hit it off the end of my bat andgrounded it out.
Man, it was just crazy.
But uh one little anecdote, I'mwalking from the tunnel to the
dugout on our on our way to thedugout, and I'm with Ray Knight.
Pete Rose walks by us and hegoes, Hey, congratulations, you
two.
Uh, now if you get in the game,don't do anything different out
(14:03):
there than what you would do ina regular season game.
Yeah, and I just watched on TV,you know, him ending Ray
Fosse's career.
Mike Koser (14:11):
The 1970 All-Star game.
Dale Murphy (14:13):
And I don't think he ended his career, but I think
Ray Fosse was hurt the rest ofhis career after that.
But I felt like, okay, this islike this is serious business.
It's kind of fun for usrookies.
We're not starting or anything,but uh, you know, it was
serious business because wedidn't play the American League
except in the World Series.
The we had uh league presidentsthat didn't they wanted to beat
(14:33):
each other, yeah.
And it was a chance to provethat you were better than the
American League, other than theWorld Series.
So, you know, there was alittle people say, Well, you
seemed like it used to bebetter.
And I say it's still a goodgame.
Baseball's a good game becauseyou can't really uh, you know,
basketball and football, no onewants to play defense, and I
don't blame them.
You know, it's they're not outthere to to play defense, right?
(14:54):
And they're they're justexhibitions.
And yeah, our all-star game isan exhibition, but everybody
wants to play good defense,nobody wants to miss the ball.
Pitchers want to strike guysout, so it it lends itself to a
good game.
But I there was a little bitmore on it when they didn't have
interleague play, and it was achance to prove that you were
better.
And you hadn't seen some ofthese guys before.
And now with interleague play,you usually have seen you know
(15:15):
the American League.
So it's a little different now.
Mike Koser (15:17):
Well, and some of those guys you may never see
again, maybe at the end of theircareer in their American League
or the whole time.
Dale Murphy (15:22):
Yeah, uh, yeah, absolutely.
I'd have to go through and seeall who I faced, but I remember
Dave Steib striking me out.
I grounded out off of Clemens.
I hit my only home run off ofWillie Hernandez.
That was in candlestick.
Announcer (15:35):
In weather like this, there's a lot of bees in the
band.
Dale Murphy (15:48):
And so it was really had this mystique to it,
you know, and what who who wason our pitch instead?
Mike Koser (15:53):
So in the 1980 All-Star game, Jerry Reuss was
the winning pitcher.
J.R.
Richard was the startingpitcher of that game.
Uh you had Vida Blue, SteveCarlton, Kent Tekulve, who had
that wicked, you know, sidearm.
Bob Bob Welch pitched, somegood players.
Dale Murphy (16:07):
Some some big guys, yeah.
Mike Koser (16:08):
You know, one of the things that very unique things
about those 1980 Braves teamswas that you were on every night
on TBS across the country.
Announcer (16:16):
Super station TBS presents, the Atlanta Braves,
America 's team.
Mike Koser (16:22):
Now, even though me lived in Mansfield, Ohio at the
time, I could see you, could seeBob Horner, Glenn Hubbard,
Chris Chambliss, Rafael Ramirez,Butler, Claudell Washington.
I could watch you guys playfrom my living room in Ohio.
So I bet, I mean, you can tellme if this is true.
Would you go across the countryand find that you had fans in
just about every city that maybeyou wouldn't otherwise have if
not for TBS?
Dale Murphy (16:43):
I still do.
Yeah, right?
Absolutely.
You know, we get to Atlanta alot.
I live in 30 minutes south ofSalt Lake City.
I was just with somebody theother day from Elko, Nevada.
He goes, I can name your wholelineup, just like you did.
Bruce Benedict.
Oh, yeah.
You know, you see Bob Horner,how's Rafael Ramirez?
You know, it's like we're stillwe're still all playing
together, you know.
Right, yeah.
Yeah.
But no, I I just have to say,and uh, you're exactly right,
(17:07):
uh, Fargo, North Dakota.
I gave a speech up there.
It was a baseball fundraiser,so there were a lot of baseball
fans there, but probably ahundred Braves fans.
And so there's a hashtag thatthat's kind of started, TBS kid.
And on Twitter, people say I'ma TBS kid.
And that's what you are.
You're a TBS kid.
Yeah.
Uh it was it was on, so it wasbaseball, and you watched it.
(17:29):
We weren't always that good.
We had a couple good years, andour announcers, uh Ernie
Johnson, Skip Caray, Pete VanWieren were the main three.
We had some others, but thoseare the main three guys.
They brought you a hometownbroadcast.
Pete Van Wieren (17:41):
There's a two-two on the way....
Dale Murphy (18:00):
You weren't seeing a national broadcast.
You they endeared you to usbecause they were our guys.
Skip Caray (18:06):
Murphy has hit many a pitch like that into the seats
somewhere.
Dale Murphy (18:09):
They weren't a national announcer that was just
analyzing the game.
You know, Skip Caray would saysomething crazy about me, and I
was eating donuts on the bus orsomething.
I think it was a really fun,unique thing to experience.
Mike Koser (18:22):
Again, growing up a Cleveland fan, I could name you
more guys from those 80s Bravesteams than I could from my own
team.
Dale Murphy (18:29):
No question about it.
We we started playing well, andif we weren't playing that
well, our announcers made itentertaining.
They were fun to listen to.
Skip Caray (18:35):
Now, what are we waiting for?
Does anyone know?
I think waiting for theESPN cue to begin.
So as soon as some little nerdsays we can play, we'll play.
Dale Murphy (18:45):
I think Ted and those three announcers should be
in the Hall of Fame for growingthe game of baseball.
Yeah, okay, you say, well, theygrew Braves fans.
Well, I will say that they grewbaseball fans.
Yeah, they did.
Yeah, there are some Bravesfans.
It was it was our broadcast,but people will still love the
game because of those days.
It was a fun time to play, Ihave to say.
Mike Koser (19:04):
Well, I can think of the one team that really stood
out to me as a kid that wasparticularly fun to watch was
1982.
The Braves go on a tear whenthe first 13 games of the season
went on to win the West,finishing 89 and 73.
You ended the year with, Ithink, 36 home runs, 109 RBIs,
and won your first NL MVPtrophy.
That that was a fun year.
Dale Murphy (19:25):
Well, it was, no question about it.
Little known fact.
We started out 13-0.
Guess what our record was fromthere on out?
Three games over 500.
Stuff like that.
Mike Koser (19:36):
Was it really?
Oh, that's right, because ifyou finished 89 and 73, you're
what 16 games over.
Yeah.
16 over for the season.
But you yeah, you're right.
You're three games over therest of the way.
Dale Murphy (19:47):
We played 500 ball the rest of the day.
The way it was the way.
We just, if we hadn't got offthat start.
And so, yeah, we uh Nuxe had 17wins.
Pascual Perez, I don't know, weprobably won 12-14.
And but we weren't very deep.
I mean, we had some goodoffense, but pitching staff, we
just weren't deep.
And so that's why next coupleof years we were competitive,
but we weren't really set up forthe for the long term.
(20:08):
But but that was kind of fun.
That was a fun year.
People in Atlanta still saythat was the most exciting thing
ever, the first two weeks of82.
Because it was so unexpected.
Mike Koser (20:17):
Oh, yeah, it's just crazy.
And 82 was great, uh, but foryou, 83 was even greater.
You hit 36 home runs again, andthis time finished with 121
RBIs picking up your secondstraight NL MVP.
And now, and by the way, you'rethe only player in Brave's
history, I think, to win twoMVPs.
And at this point, are you justthinking, wow, this is just uh
yeah, just par for the course.
(20:38):
This is just what happened.
Dale Murphy (20:39):
Well, you know, you gotta have pretty good time.
You look at some of HankAaron's years and who he was
competing against.
And if he was playing in the80s, he probably had four or
five straight MVPs.
You know, really uh 82, it waskind of up for grabs.
Yeah, 83.
I I had my best year ever, andvery fortunate to win back to
back.
I mean, it it is kind of atiming thing.
(20:59):
It it it worked out.
I'm very thankful for it.
We had a fun team to play for.
It was fun to play for JoeTorre during the time, and it
was fun to show up to theballpark.
I mean, we started drawing fansand it was fun.
And and Fulton County Stadiumwas full a lot.
So that makes you you know,you're fired up to play.
Mike Koser (21:13):
Did you uh is there anything that you say from the
82 or 83 season?
Do you have any bats from thoseyears?
Obviously, you would have theNL MVP trophies, but I mean, is
there anything that's special toyou from those years,
memorabilia-wise?
Dale Murphy (21:25):
Just probably the trophies, because you know, I
some guys my age, they weregetting signed bats by you know
Pete and all the the playersthat they knew they that were
getting ready to retire, but itwasn't a thing.
You know, I had probably threeor four uniforms during the
year.
If I if I ripped my pants, youknow, they'd sew them up.
If I ripped them slide, they'dsew them up.
(21:46):
And uh, you know, we just werenot into the idea that, man, I
should have 81 home unis andwear one a night.
I never even thought of that.
So people say, Well, you gotyou got a bunch of stuff.
I go, I really don't.
I mean, I could go through mystuff and I think I have some a
couple batting gloves and ajersey and things from those
(22:07):
years, but even then it was likejust for keepsakes, it wasn't a
thought that, hey, this couldbe really good for your
posterity someday to sell.
Mike Koser (22:15):
Nobody, nobody was thinking about that stuff.
I I there's a picture uh of thepolo grounds where the polo
grounds came down after the Metsended up playing there, and uh,
maybe it was 63 or 64 when itwas demolished.
And there is a giant pile ofpolo ground seats, wooden seats,
and some of them with thefigure rolls on the side.
By the way, those seats nowcould be $10,000.
(22:36):
There's hundreds of them in apile waiting to be taken to the
dump.
I mean, people just didn't knowthat one day.
Yeah, what you know, yeah.
To them, it's just like, oh,it's just junk, let's throw that
away.
Dale Murphy (22:47):
Yeah.
Why would you save old seats?
What's the point?
Right, right.
So uh I don't have to be honestwith you, I don't have a lot of
personal game used quoteunquote memorabilia.
It's just kind of the nature ofthe time.
Mike Koser (22:59):
Hey, I'd love to talk to you real quickly about
some of the ballparks you playedin throughout your career.
Wrigley Field.
Dale Murphy (23:03):
Well, you know, I wasn't that familiar with
Wrigley, just didn't see it thatmuch as a kid, you know, with
no internet and no I I rememberas a kid watching a replay of
Ernie Banks, I think he had his500.
Announcer (23:13):
Game audio . That's a fly ball, he's the left hack,
crack, that's it, that's it, oh!He did it! Ernie Banks got
number 500.
Dale Murphy (23:25):
Kind of had to rub your eyes when you went out.
You're like, wait a minute, nowthis this is again playing in
the 70s and 80s, and everywherewe go is a round ballpark,
cookie cutter, if you will.
Then all of a sudden you go toWrigley.
I mean, I loved it and I didn'tlike it so much.
We'd take BP, and if the windwas blowing out, of course, it
was coming from inland, goingout to the lake, and it was
(23:46):
warm, and balls would be you'dbe hitting balls in the street
all day in BP.
Then we'd go up and at 49minutes before the game, and the
temperature would drop 10, 12degrees, and it'd be blowing in
off the lake.
And so it was for me, I I don'tknow what my numbers are,
pretty good there, probably, butit's tough to play outfield
there with that wind.
I did play some night games uhwith Philly at the end of my
(24:09):
career, so I experienced that,but the lights weren't really
good those first few years.
It was fun to play.
I couldn't have done that allyear.
I don't know how those guys didit day games, you know, every
day at home, but it was fun.
Fans were really close to you,fans would really get on you.
Pitcher seemed like he wasright on top of you.
I mean, it was you really hadto adjust to it.
Mike Koser (24:27):
So, Murph, the 1986 All-Star game was at the
Astrodome.
Al Michaels (24:30):
Houston entered the National League in 1962.
The old Colt 45s played in anoutdoor stadium that was hot and
sultry and mosquito laden.
But then the Astros moved inhere to at that time what they
called the eighth wonder of theworld, the Astrodome.
Mike Koser (24:47):
What did you think about the eighth wonder of the
world?
Dale Murphy (24:49):
Really tough, especially in the outfield with
the glass, the way they had itpainted the roof.
You had to be careful not totake your eye off the ball.
Like if the ball was in a gapand you put your head down and
run, which you're kind of taughtbecause you run faster without
looking at the ball.
So you kind of get a beat onwhere the ball's going to end
up.
You turn, you know, run as fastas you can, then you look up
and recalibrate where the ballis, but you gotta be you had to
(25:11):
be really careful there becauseyou could lose the ball in the
roof.
And it wasn't that play greatplace to hit.
I had a really weird yearthere, though.
One year I hit I think I hitfive home runs there or
something.
I mean, they had Nolan Ryan,Joe Niekro, J.R.
Richard, his early years, anduh it wasn't a great place to
hit.
I think I hit okay there.
Uh yeah I'd probably speak foreverybody.
We didn't like the play in theextra though.
(25:33):
No right, you know, they hadgood teams.
Remember those good teams inthe 80s?
Mike Koser (25:36):
Yeah.
Dale Murphy (25:37):
And Mike Scott, and then they went to the playoffs
86 or whatever.
So they had a lot of good teamsthere.
And man, they would pound thatball down in the ground, Enus
Cabell, they would run, BillyDoran.
They just had a team like thelike St.
Louis.
So they're really fast, toughto beat at home.
And it was just the oddestplace to play.
I I don't know what else tosay.
(25:58):
It was the only domed field,and it it it was just a weird,
you know, nothing had beenupdated since the 60s, and that
scoreboard was weird.
Yeah, and uh, I don't know whatto say, and I can't believe
it's still standing.
Mike Koser (26:11):
I can't either.
So the 90 uh 1983 All-Star gameat Comiskey Park.
Uh yeah,
Dale Murphy (26:16):
that was fun.
Mike Koser (26:17):
Another ballpark with a lot of history.
What did you think about uhComiskey?
Dale Murphy (26:20):
Oh, my recollection of Comiskey was uh, you know, a
little bit taller, as I recall,a little bit taller.
Grandstand reminded me ofWrigley a lot.
You could tell it was old.
Clubhouse was was small.
Everything in those ballparksback then was small.
Faced Dave Steib, and I don'tknow who else I faced, but Steib
was impossible to hit.
All I remember is Fred Lynnhitting a grand slam over my
(26:41):
head off of Atlee Hammacher.
Mike Koser (26:58):
Truly one of the great moments in All-Star Game
history.
Well, uh, anything else youremember from Comiskey Park and
that 1983 All-Star game?
Dale Murphy (27:05):
Oh, aside from Comiskey, I met uh Joe DiMaggio
at the All-Star Gala.
Mike Koser (27:09):
You gotta talk about that.
What was that like?
Well, Barry Halper, uh alongtime Yankee, he might even
be an investor, but he had youknow millions of dollars worth
of memorabilia back before hewas the first one that I recall.
And I had met him, and then Ihe came up to me and goes, Hey
Dale, Joe Demaggio, I'd like tomeet you.
(27:30):
I was like, okay, where is he?
Let's go meet him.
And uh man, did I get hisautograph?
I can't remember, but Nancy andI went over there.
It was just it was really funat All-Star Games because uh
those guys would always show up.
What's cool about that too isthat later on, and I think this
was in a sports illustratedarticle, and maybe that same
year, might even have been 1983.
(27:50):
Nolan Ryan was quoted assaying, I can't picture Joe
DiMaggio being any better anall-around player than Dale
Murphy.
He's one of the toughest guysI've ever pitched to.
Dale Murphy (28:00):
I don't know.
I I got known a couple times,but I think Nolan's being
overgenerous there.
But uh that was a really nicequote.
I can't imagine hitting 56games in a row, but uh I
appreciate that that compliment.
Yeah, it was a real thrill.
He he is kind of bigger thanlight, you know.
I grew up with watching his copMr.
Coffee commercials.
Joe DiMaggio (28:20):
I'm gonna show you how to make the best cup of
coffee you ever tasted in justseconds with Mr.
Coffee, automatic drift coffeemaker.
Dale Murphy (28:27):
And he was kind of a celebrity, uh, more than a
baseball player to me, to mygeneration.
Right.
But it's still I knew what herepresented.
Mike Koser (28:35):
And Murph, think about this.
Like, how many people in theworld can say there was this
time where someone said to me,Joe DiMaggio would like to see
you, right?
Dale Murphy (28:43):
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah, no, I I I what can I say?
I was just like, you know,baseball it gave me a chance to
some things that I just itreally is hard to describe.
Like, what did you feel?
I don't know.
I didn't know I was I was 27.
I didn't know.
I was probably I was probablylooking for some more shrimp,
you know, yeah uh to eat.
(29:03):
Uh and then these thingshappened.
And you know, I met WillieMays, I mean, out of candlestick
one night.
I just like, yeah, I'm very,very grateful.
The older I get, those thingsbecome more special, no
question.
But when you're a kid, Iprobably didn't appreciate it,
but I knew it was cool.
But man, now I gotta meet TedWilliams at the uh Hall of Fame
exhibition game when they usedto do that.
(29:24):
Two teams would fly in, andI'll just share one story
quickly.
Uh yeah, but well, I went up tomeet him.
You know, they were exchanginglineups or something.
He's an honorary captain So Isaid, Oh geez, I got I I gotta
go meet Ted Williams.
So I go up to him, I go, HeyTed, Dale Murphy.
He goes, Dale Murphy.
I he guess what he watches onTBS every day.
Yeah, I watch your games allthe time.
(29:45):
He goes, Dale, you gotta get abetter pitch to hit.
Oh my gosh.
I you know, I struck out 140whatever times a year.
Ted probably struck out 15 ayear.
He probably didn't strike outthat much his whole career.
Yeah.
And I I felt like saying, hey,Ted, I mean, I'm not Ted
Williams, you know, I'm DaleMurphy.
But I was like, yeah, you'reright, Ted.
(30:06):
I gotta, I gotta get a betterpitch to hit.
Mike Koser (30:09):
That was the thing, that was the thing about Ted
Williams, though.
He was very direct.
Like he would just he wouldjust call like he sees him, you
know.
Dale Murphy (30:15):
Yeah, and then I got I put spent a couple years
with the Phillies and Ted livedin Clearwater or in that area.
And I went in to get breakfastand he's sitting over there.
And I'm like, oh man, I gottago say hi to him.
So I went over there.
He said, Dale, good to see you.
He scoots over.
He goes, have a seat, have aseat.
So uh, you know, I know I knowhis reputation and and all his
(30:36):
history, and but with players,he was everybody said he had a
you know, he just had adifferent relationship with the
media and all that kind ofstuff.
Mike Koser (30:43):
So you had you had breakfast with Ted Williams too.
Dale Murphy (30:46):
I know I couldn't stay because I had to I had to
get to spring training.
I had to I had to get there,but it was kind of weird.
You're walking out, I'm like,dang, I just said you know,
you're right, and yeah, I'm 65now, and these memories, I I
don't know what to say exceptthat I'm just so grateful to be
before.
Mike Koser (31:05):
Throughout uh most of the 1980s, you were one of
the most feared hitters inbaseball.
There was a six-season stretchthere where you averaged 36 home
runs a year.
And on August 21st, 1987, whenyou were only 31, you hit home
run number 300 at Fulton CountyStadium.
Pete Van Wieren (31:20):
3-2 Atlanta, two men out in the sixth.
High and deep to Right Field.
This could be number 300, andit is for Dale Murphy.
Mike Koser (31:29):
1987 was pretty special, too.
You finished with 44 home runsthat year.
But do you remember number 300?
Dale Murphy (31:34):
Yeah, I do because it gets retweeted a lot.
And I also I speak a lot, soI've included it in my little
highlight reel introductionthing.
So I see that one a lot.
I believe it was against BrianFisher.
It was a fastball low and away,and I hit it to right center
field, just like I had beendoing.
And then uh later on in mycareer, I just I didn't go the
(31:55):
other way as much.
And so that kind of hurt mebecause when I was going really
well, I was hitting the ball theother way like like number 300.
Mike Koser (32:02):
Uh at the end of the 1990 season, uh, after 15 years
with the Braves, you weretraded to the Phillies.
And then the following season,I want to say it was June 4th,
1991.
It was when the Phillies wereat Fulton County Stadium, your
first time back, actually, atthe old ballpark.
Braves put on a pregameceremony, and I kept because I
was watching this video lastnight, like how awkward that
must have felt.
Okay, because you're now in ayou're in a Phillies uniform
(32:24):
with all of your new teammates,right?
And here are here's theopposing team that you just want
to beat their brains in thatnight, celebrating you before
the game.
Dale Murphy (32:32):
It was really awkward, but you know, in
hindsight, you know, what areyou supposed to say to the
Braves?
We want to honor you.
No, I do not want to do it now.
I want to do it when I retire.
I mean, they're like, no, wewant to honor you.
And we had a fight that night,too, with the Braves.
Oh, that's right.
I remember it.
Yeah, we hit Otis Nixon, anduh, so it was very memorable for
(32:55):
a number of reasons.
Mike Koser (32:57):
Well, I do want to ask you this.
Who was the most intimidatingpitcher that you I think I know
what the answer is gonna be?
In fact, why don't I guess?
Al Michaels (33:03):
And on the mound from the Houston Astros, James
Rodney Richards.
J.R.
Richard.
Yeah, and for those who don'tremember J.R.
Mike Koser (33:12):
Richard, he pitched for the Astros, and he was I
want to say either 6'7 or 6'8.
And I talked with Dave Parker acouple weeks ago, and uh Dave
said that when he would pitch,when he would release the ball,
you felt like he was on top ofyou.
Dale Murphy (33:24):
All you gotta do is look at his his numbers, uh 300
strikeouts, and you know, anduh so people say, well, you
know, more intimidating NolanRyan on all like Nolan was kind
of an average-sized human being.
This J.R.
was 6'8, the ball, the balllooked like a little golf ball,
and he was a little wild.
Mike Koser (33:42):
So you're like, yeah, because Nolan Ryan, look
at Nolan Ryan was couldconsistently paint where he
wanted the ball to go.
You know what I mean?
Like if he wanted to hit you,okay, he could hit you.
But Nolan wasn't wild.
Like J.R.
Richard sometimes would let aball go and not know where it
was going.
Dale Murphy (33:56):
No, it he was very intimidating.
He probably he probably didn'teven know how intimidating he he
was.
I mean, you know, he would makea mistake.
I mean, even Nolan would make amistake.
I mean, if if those guys didn'tmake a mistake, they'd throw no
hitter.
That's just all there was toit.
But uh, yeah, J.R.
Richard was just no day at thebeach, as Bob Horner used to
say.
Mike Koser (34:17):
Uh hey, listen, I'll wrap up with this.
I just want to say uh HankAaron said about Dale Murphy,
I'd say that he's probably thebest all-round player in either
league, probably the mostvaluable player in baseball
right now.
Joe Torre, your former manager,said all he does is play
baseball better than anyoneelse.
Seven-time All-Star, two-timeNL MVP, five-time gold glove
(34:38):
winner, Roberto Clemente Awardwinner, Lou Gehrig Memorial
Award, and honestly, in myopinion, a lifetime of reasons
why Dale Murphy should be in thebaseball hall of fame.
Dale Murphy (34:48):
Well, thank you.
Mike Koser (34:49):
Just want to thank you for the time.
It has been uh, you know, as aTBS kid.
Dale Murphy (34:54):
There you go.
Mike Koser (34:55):
It has been it's been an honor and a privilege to
spend some time with you todayand reflect back on a uh a great
career.
Dale Murphy (35:02):
Well, it's been so much fun.
Like I say, the the older youget, the the more we all
appreciate those young, young uhdays and opportunities that
baseball so provided all of us.
So I I I mean I love to talkabout it.
I wasn't a very good interviewback when I played.
I didn't say too much, but nowthe older I get, you know, uh I
just shake my head at uh howlucky we were.
(35:24):
So it's it's fun to reminiscewith you.
Thank you so much.
Mike Koser (35:27):
Yeah, and for those who don't know, the the website
is DaleMurphy.com, and you do umspeaking engagements throughout
the country.
And great, great talk.
So if folks wanted to get intouch and maybe have you speak
to their company, just go toDaleMurphy.com, correct?
Dale Murphy (35:41):
Yep, yep, Dale Murphy.com.
We got a I got a few thingsgoing on.
I have our MVP experiences thatNancy and I put on in Atlanta
and talk about that because theMVP experience is pretty crazy.
Mike Koser (35:51):
You have a restaurant right near the new
ballpark, Murph's.
Dale Murphy (35:54):
Right.
Well, basically, we spend theday with you.
I don't think we have muchavailability left.
We are gonna do one forbusiness leaders the for the
first time this year, but uh forthe fans, uh, I don't think we
have much availability left.
But yeah, you learn more onDaleMurphy.com.
But yeah, we uh we start theday with uh lunch at Murph's and
then we you know have a privateroom we go over to, I'll sign
(36:14):
some things and talk about theold days and uh pick photo ops,
and then we'll uh we'll go overand take a tour of uh of Truist
Park and give everybody a chanceto you know uh buy souvenirs
and everything, and then I Imeet them again in the Home
Depot Clubhouse, which is asuite out in left center field.
I spend the whole day with you.
And Nancy and I are with youthe whole time.
(36:36):
Nancy has been my organizer andand uh has put this MVP
experience together.
So it's it's so fun to be youknow with everybody.
And Nancy came up with this ourtagline is from fan to friend.
And the people that have doneit have kind of bonded together
too.
So we have a lot of fun.
We have a lot of fun.
Mike Koser (36:56):
Yeah, I would encourage you to check that out.
And uh just I know that I knowa lot of your talks are on
resilience and and uh it's youknow, your story going from
where you were in the early orlate 70s and after you were
drafted, you know, battlingthrough a lot of adversity to
become the player that youbecame.
It is a great talk for forbusinesses who are looking for
some motivation for you know,salespeople or whatever.
(37:18):
I yeah, I encourage people tocheck that out, DaleMurphy.com.
Dale Murphy (37:21):
Thank you so much.
Yeah, I love to speak, andyou're right.
You know, resilience is thebest attribute for a baseball
player.
And it is, I think it's thebest attribute we can all have,
this especially the way thingsare going in our world now.
We we gotta be resilient, wegotta bounce back.
Mike Koser (37:35):
Absolutely.
Murph, thanks for the time,man.
I so appreciate you.
That was a blast.
Dale Murphy (37:40):
Thank you so much.
Mike Koser (37:41):
You know, it's interesting.
Throughout the years, I'veheard so many different folks
from inside the world ofbaseball talk about how nice of
a guy, how generous Dale Murphyis.
And after spending some timewith him, I can see exactly what
they're talking about.
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