01-13-2009, 01:41 PM
<!--quoteo(post=11255:date=Jan 13 2009, 11:35 AM:name=Butcher)-->QUOTE (Butcher @ Jan 13 2009, 11:35 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec--><!--quoteo(post=11252:date=Jan 13 2009, 11:29 AM:name=rok)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (rok @ Jan 13 2009, 11:29 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec--><!--quoteo(post=11244:date=Jan 13 2009, 11:23 AM:name=Butcher)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Butcher @ Jan 13 2009, 11:23 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec--><!--quoteo(post=11239:date=Jan 13 2009, 11:15 AM:name=rok)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (rok @ Jan 13 2009, 11:15 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->And, it's just my opinion, but Murphy had 5 really good seasons, but seemed to tail off really badly for his final 5-6 years. Just seems like there aren't too many HOFs with track records like that. I always remember thinking he was a very good player, but never a star.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Most Valuable Player (twice) doesn't mean anything?
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He deserved to be MVP twice, but I also remember him when he sucked for his final 5-6 seasons. I can't ignore that either.
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He only played in 44 games in his last two seasons and he probably should've retired -- he was 36 and 37 years old. Those were like Juan Gonzalez's last couple of seasons when he was just trying to squeeze a few more ABs into his career.
His last 5 seasons before those? He averaged 26 homers and 86 RBIs. I'd love to have that kind of suck on the Cubs.
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I'm not denying that he was very good up until he turned 31/32. For some reason (injuries, old age, whatever), his production still fell off a cliff from 88-93. 32 wasn't ancient even for that era. Maybe I remember those years more than the great ones from the mid 80s, not sure why, but I just do. I'm not saying my perception is correct, but there aren't many players that turn 5 really good seasons and an equal amount of ok or bad seasons into an automatic HOF induction.
Most Valuable Player (twice) doesn't mean anything?
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He deserved to be MVP twice, but I also remember him when he sucked for his final 5-6 seasons. I can't ignore that either.
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He only played in 44 games in his last two seasons and he probably should've retired -- he was 36 and 37 years old. Those were like Juan Gonzalez's last couple of seasons when he was just trying to squeeze a few more ABs into his career.
His last 5 seasons before those? He averaged 26 homers and 86 RBIs. I'd love to have that kind of suck on the Cubs.
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I'm not denying that he was very good up until he turned 31/32. For some reason (injuries, old age, whatever), his production still fell off a cliff from 88-93. 32 wasn't ancient even for that era. Maybe I remember those years more than the great ones from the mid 80s, not sure why, but I just do. I'm not saying my perception is correct, but there aren't many players that turn 5 really good seasons and an equal amount of ok or bad seasons into an automatic HOF induction.