Quote:
Originally Posted by cinemaodyssey
I was perusing the missing players list and came across an interesting thing. Clarence Murphy, a player (and missing player) for whom almost nothing is known, was the starting CF for the 1887 St. Paul Saints and then seemingly dropped off the face of the earth. He had contributed 205 hits and stole 80 bases while batting .350. The following season CF was occupied by 31 year old Larry Murphy, who didn't hit as well but contributed 94 stolen bases. He has no record of playing professionally before that, at least on Baseball-Reference. I'm curious if they are the same person?
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According to the mini-bio in the 11-Mar-1888 St. Paul Daily Globe, the to St. Paul Murphys appear to be the same player. That said, the birth data does not match up to major leaguer
Larry Murphy, who has the St. Paul stats included in his playing record. According to the Globe, the St. Paul player was born in Indianapolis in 1861. B-R lists Murphy's birth date as 1857, and his hometown as Toronto.
Further tracing the career arc listed in the Globe, B-R's minimal roster listing does not include a Murphy with the
1884 Evansville club, and the Murphy who played for
Birmingham and
Nashville in 1885 is listed as
John.
EDITED TO ADD: The
1886 Minneapolis Murphy is only listed by his last name, with no linkage to other years or teams.
That's more of a mystery than I have time to run down this morning, but I'll try to dig in again this evening.