0 CommentProfile: 2 x NL MVP, 7 x All Star, 5 x Gold Glove Winner, 4 x Silver Slugger, 1988 Roberto Clemente Award recipient
Connect: @dalemurphy3
Interview note: I spoke with Dale Murphy earlier this week. He couldn’t have been more engaging, not to mention excited about his foundation and baseball. His enthusiasm was contagious and his thought leadership inspiring. He still follows baseball very closely. He said game 6 of the World Series last week was the “craziest thing I’ve ever seen” and reminisced fondly about some other great games in baseball history – it was rad. It was a terrific interview and I’m very grateful to Dale for taking the time. Oh, and check out his new blog. It’s on point.
Game Changer on the field: On the short list of the very best baseball players during the 1980′s Dale Murphy is right at the top. He played MVP level defense and led the Major Leagues in HR’s and RBI during from 1981 – 1990. Not only was he exceptionally productive, he was consistent and durable – he showed up to play every day. Murphy was inducted into the Atlanta Braves Hall of Fame in 2000. Many fans, writers and sharp baseball people think Murphy should be in the Baseball Hall of Fame (count me in that group). That said the Hall of Fame is not the end all measure of a player. Murphy is one of baseball’s greatest ever gentleman and a class act.
Game Changer off the field:
You could argue baseball has never had a greater ambassador than Dale Murphy. Murphy is widely known for his charitable work and community outreach. The signature initiative of the Dale Murphy Foundation is i Won’t Cheat.
Dale Murphy: Message to Little League on i Won’t Cheat
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i Won’t Cheat (iWC) is a “character education foundation”. iWC is committed to teaching youth that there is a “right way and a wrong way” to do things. A focal point of iWC is education of the perils of performance-enhancing (PED) drugs but as a whole, iWC addresses the broader issue of integrity on and off the field.
Murphy told me that iWC emphasizes that “you can be successful the right way.” He says cheating is done for “short term gain followed by long term problems”. That’s great perspective right there.
iWC is a big supporter of the Little League World Series. In fact the players all wear the official iWC patch on their jerseys during the tournament.
iWC also supports local sports camps around the country. Murphy recently touted iWC at Jimmer Fredette’s youth basketball camp. And will make a similar effort for former Utah Jazz head coach Jerry Sloan’s upcoming camp.
I did ask Murphy about his perception of the PED landscape in recent years. Murphy has been outspoken about the responsibility of pro athletes to be clean and play the game the right way. He did say MLB has done a “remarkable job” in recent years to clean up the game and that he is happy that the testing has improved. Interestingly, he said the penalty for using PED’s “could be stronger” in baseball. He said he wasn’t opposed to a 100 game penalty for a first time offender, twice the actual penalty of 50 games. That’s not to say he is opposed to giving people a second chance but a more rigid penalty would undoubtedly be a greater deterrent. Hard to argue against that, or any other point he made.
Not too many super-star athletes are grounded like Dale Murphy. It was so cool to speak with him and get his insights. I look forward to following the success of his foundation and ventures.
