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Originally Posted by PotatoPeeler
I like this idea and I'm thinking of trying something similar. How did Dale Murphy turn out?
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Thanks, PotatoPeeler!
In this history, Dale Murphy would have to be considered a disappointment, much as George Brett was.
Drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in 1975, the hulking catcher was unable to come to an agreement with the Redbirds and went back into the first year player draft for 1976 where he was drafted and signed by the Oakland Athletics.
No position change this time for the mild-mannnered Murphy as he spent his entire 11 plus seasons donning the tools of ignorance, but doing so as a backup catcher for the A's, Angels and Brewers.
Murphy only garnered a total of 1537 AB's in his 11 plus major league seasons, only managing to get 358 hits and 44 HR before retiring with a meager .233 lifetime batting average.
Clearly used as a part-time player throughout the entirety of his career, Murphy never managed as many as 300 at bats in any one season, only coming close once with 298 AB's in 1980 after A's starting catcher Alan Ashby signed with the Expos as a free agent following the 1979 season. Dale's .657 OPS wasn't exactly what the A's were looking for and the next season saw Bob Brenly as the starter behind the plate relegating Dale to backup status once again.
All in all, it wasn't a good career in this replay for Murphy as he wasted his talents as a backup catcher and was never really given a chance other than the 1980 season which really hamstrung him with Oakland.