Does Dale Murphy belong in the Hall of Fame?

Tyson Murphy is a character artist at Blizzard Entertainment. He is also the son of 1980s superstar Dale Murphy, winner of back-to-back MVP Awards in 1982 and 1983, slugger of 398 home runs, driver-in of 1266 runs, hero of many youngsters that collected baseball cards in the 1980s.

Tyson Murphy recently used his art talents in tribute to his father, who is in his last year of eligibility on the BBWAA ballot for the Hall of Fame. Click here to see the full cartoon.

There are several other interesting articles, letters, petitions, and videos regarding Murphy’s candidacy:

• Why I Now Think Dale Murphy Should Be in the Hall of Fame [Yahoo! Sports]
• Dale Murphy and the Hall of Fame: BBWAA Needs to Observe and Honor Their Own Voting Guidelines [Change.org petition]
• Dale Murphy’s son pleads for father’s Hall of Fame inclusion [Ultimate Astros]
• Pushing for Dale Murphy to enter Hall of Fame [11 Alive]

I’ve never been shy in proclaiming my admiration of Murphy and my opinion that he belongs in Cooperstown along with other 80s greats, some already in (Mike Schmidt, Ryne Sandberg, Ozzie Smith), and others not yet (Don Mattingly, Alan Trammell).

He won’t make it this year, I know. But I hope the Veteran’s Committee will take a fresh look at his career, at the impact he had on the game, and the positive off-the-field contributions he made to society at large.

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