5
2012
Chasing Mets History: Daniel Murphy
An article by 
At first glance, one look at the title of this piece might elicit a sarcastic chuckle or a roll of the eyes. After all, what could Daniel Murphy possibly do to make Mets history? Well, it’s not just what he’s already done that’s historical in the Mets universe. It’s also what he’s poised to do.
Through the Mets’ first 108 games, Daniel Murphy is batting .307. This comes on the heels of a season in which the Mets’ second baseman hit .320 in 109 games. Should Murphy finish the season above .300, he would join a short, but impressive list of players who hit .300 or more in back-to-back seasons for the Mets (minimum 100 games played). Those players are:
- Keith Hernandez (1984-1986)
- Mike Piazza (1998-2001)
- Edgardo Alfonzo (1999-2000)
- David Wright (2005-2009)
Note: Some of you may be wondering why John Olerud is not listed here. After all, his .315 career batting average as a Met ranks No. 1 in franchise history. Even though Olerud hit well above .300 as a Met, he only hit over .300 in a season once as a Met. In 1998, Olerud set a single-season franchise mark by hitting .354. However, in his other two years as a Met, Olerud failed to reach the .300 mark, batting .294 in 1997 and .298 in 1999.
Murphy is third in the National League with 33 doubles, earning him the nickname “Daniel Murphy, Doubles Machine” by a certain Mets blogger on Twitter. Those 33 doubles put Murphy on pace to become the first Met to collect 50 doubles in a single season, which would break Bernard Gilkey’s franchise mark of 44, a standard he set in 1996. Even if Murphy doesn’t break Gilkey’s team record, he should still set a more obscure doubles record.
Six Mets have collected 40 doubles or more in a season a total of ten times. However, all six were either right-handed batters (Bernard Gilkey, Edgardo Alfonzo, David Wright) or switch hitters (Howard Johnson, Gregg Jefferies, Carlos Beltran). In 1999, John Olerud set the franchise record for most doubles in a season by a left-handed batter when he smoked 39 two-base hits. Teammate Robin Ventura, also a lefty swinger, finished one double short of tying Olerud that year, hitting 38 doubles. Should Daniel Murphy reach 40 doubles, he would become the Mets’ all-time single season leader for doubles by a left-handed batter. He’s already in the top ten for most career doubles by a left-handed batter in Mets history, as his 108 two-base hits rank seventh behind Ed Kranepool (225), Darryl Strawberry (187), Keith Hernandez (159), Rusty Staub (130), Dave Magadan (110) and John Olerud (109).
Put your hands together for Daniel Murphy, Doubles Machine!
Through the Mets’ first 108 games, Daniel Murphy has 48 RBI. He has amassed this RBI total with only three home runs to his credit. It’s quite rare for a batter to drive in a large amount of runs with a home run total in single digits. In fact, only seven Mets players have ever driven in a minimum of 60 runs in a season without reaching double digits in homers. These are the magnificent seven, listed in order by RBI total:
- Dave Magadan (1990): 6 HR, 72 RBI
- Joel Younglbood (1980): 8 HR, 69 RBI
- Lance Johnson (1996): 9 HR, 69 RBI
- John Stearns (1979): 9 HR, 66 RBI
- Gregg Jefferies (1991): 9 HR, 62 RBI
- Doug Flynn (1979): 4 HR, 61 RBI
- Rey Ordoñez (1999): 1 HR, 60 RBI
Barring any unforeseen injuries, if Murphy maintains his current pace, he will finish the season with 72 RBI while keeping his home run total in single digits. That would tie him with Dave Magadan for the highest RBI total of any Met who hit fewer than 10 HR in a single season.
Throughout the years, Daniel Murphy has acquired a legion of dedicated fans. These fans have made the #ImWith28 hashtag one of the most popular on Twitter. But not all fans are with 28. For all the love Murphy has received over the years, he has also been a topic of discussion for Mets fans who feel the Mets would be better off if Murphy was traded. Those fans in the latter group should be careful for what they wish. They may not realize it, but Daniel Murphy has been one of the better hitters the Mets have seen over their 50-year history.
Daniel Murphy is a doubles machine. He amassed 100 career doubles faster than any other Met, reaching the century mark in 1,479 plate appearances. (The previous record holder, David Wright, needed 1,617 plate appearances to reach 100 doubles.) Murphy’s doubles per at-bat ratio is better than any Met who reached the century mark in two-base hits. But he’s not just a doubles hitter.
Murphy’s .296 career batting average is the fourth-highest mark in franchise history, behind only John Olerud (.315), David Wright (.303) and Keith Hernandez (.297). He also has one of the best strikeout per at-bat ratios of any hitter in team history. With 189 strikeouts in 1,418 career at-bats, Murphy’s K/AB ratio is better than such great contact hitters like Keith Hernandez and Mike Piazza.
So the next time you find something to complain about Daniel Murphy, whether it’s his defense (which has been improving as he’s become more acclimated to second base) or his lack of power, take a look at what he has given the team over the years. His name can be found alongside some of the best and most respected hitters in franchise history in a number of categories on the Mets’ all-time leaderboard. That’s not a fluke. He’s there because he’s a very good hitter. We should be thankful the Mets have been with 28 for as long as they have.
About the Author: Ed Leyro
Ed Leyro was hatched in the Bronx, but spent most of his youth in Queens at Shea Stadium. Apparently, all that time spent at Mets games paid off as Ed met his wife (The Coop) for the first time at Citi Field during its inaugural season. Guess the 2009 season was good for something after all. In addition to his work at Mets Merized Online, Ed also owns, operates and is head janitor at Studious Metsimus, where he shares blogging duties with Joey Beartran. For those not in the know, Joey is a teddy bear dressed in a Mets hoodie. Clearly, Studious Metsimus is not your typical Mets blog.
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Never really put it into words but i have grown attached to Murphy. I admire his hard work and determination. His personal story is intriguing and he is a great role model for young players going thru their ups (big leagues) and downs (AAA)
nice article and great music link!
I have been defending Murphy (and not trading him) it seems as long as he first got here.
I always knew he had the bat, the only question was regarding his glove at 2B and he has showed me that is not the concern we all thought it would be…
But there is more to Murphy that doesn’t show up in the Stat Sheet but in the Lockeroom.
The guy is a competitor, a Fighter and it does seem to be contagious. It’s no coincidence that when he came up to replace Davis last year that was when the Mets started playing above .500 Baseball and when he got hurt they went back to thier under .500 ways!
We need to stop looking for reasons to trade him away and decide that our IF in set it’s time to improve the team elsewhere!
He may never be a gold glover or HR king but he will get on base, drive in runs and in time will even become a leader of this team .
We should not just throw or trade that away!
Agree with you here. What’s the point in trading Murph? It would jut create a hole while trying to plug another. The idea should be to add to the good pieces we have.
I just think in general we fans have to stop asking “Who has value that can get us something” when we think about trades and start thinking more along the lines of “Who do we have that really has no long term place here, that we can package in a quantity deal for a good player or for other equally skilled guys who play a position we DO need.”
Guys like Lutz, Cedeno, Rottino, Satin, Hefner, Schwinden, Nickeas, Johnson
Hell trade them all for one guy who makes us better if thats what it takes but those guys are not part of the future, do little to nothing for us now, and will only become worth less and less as time goes on and they wind up being career MiLers.
There are others who are worth more we can trade too, Baxter, Thole, Duda, Kirk, and Young who may not seem like they are indespensible but could be if the right player is gotten back in return for them.
It’s one thing to stick with what you have that works and when your piss poor you might entertain trading away one great player to fix 4 or 5 holes but the only player we have that could do that for us right now is Wright or Niese who would get you far more than Murphy will.
We need to stop looking for players we might be able to do without which is the approach that pisses me off about our FO the most!
We need to start deciding who it is we need to keep who is set for the future and trade the guys who do not make that list for guys who will make it!
Thats how you improve a team, not take your best hitters and trade them for 3 or 4 maybes!
All you accomplish there is 3 or 4 guys who can’t ever prove a thing to you because there is no room to play them so they can prove something to you!
Yes, I’m definitely with 28! He must be coming up on his arbitration pretty soon I hope they just give him a three year extension. Murph is part of the solution.
Gina – I’m trying to get a hold of you via email. Could you shoot me an email to morgantownminers @gmail.com?
I’d really appreciate it.
Follow the #Murphster at the Twitta!
https://twitter.com/DaFakeMurphster
This was a great post. Nice job on digging up all that data as it really puts this whole debate on Murphy into context. One thing I love about this site is that it’s never the same old, same old. Anybody who watches the games day in and day out can see how far Murphy has come along at second. The occasional miscues pale in comparison to what he does for this offense. We struggle enough as it is to score runs, can you imagine how much worse we’d be without Murphy’s potent bat? Lets get a couple of outfielders instead and not try to fix what ain’t broke.
In the field or in the bench i would always have Murph in my team.
Great article, Ed, and one that was necessary because Murph is probably the most under-appreciated guy on the club because he has detractors who still criticize him for limited range in the field and his lack of power as a second baseman.
He is a tough out and to date has hit .300 in three of his four seasons in the majors.
You know what I’m afraid of? That the Mets will trade him since he is arbitration eligible in 2013 and they won’t want to pay what he could command. Angel Pagan was also eligible for arbitration and his salary was just slightly below the combined salaries of the players he was traded for. Their number two draft pick wanted $80K more and the Mets didn’t make any further attempt to negotiate. Jose wasn’t even sent a box of chocolates. They’ve slashed operations throughout.
Sandy’s approach is to get maximum return on as little spending as possible – a combination one rarely is successful at achieving and certainly an attitude is more suited for corporate industry than competitive sports. The Wilpons got themselves into such a mess that one with that mindset was required just to keep them afloat as owners (not the team afloat as competitors).
The attached article sums up a not so rosy future. While the main focus of it is the futility in in-house personnel over the past decades, there is mention of the Wilpon’s recent financial history that led to the drastic measures the author believes Sandy Alderson has to make (BTW – he is an Alderson supporter so it’s not an anti-Alderson article):
- Took out a loan to buy out Doubleday
- Took out a loan to build Citi-Field
- Took out a loan to finance SNY
Then:
- Lost a half billion dollar investment with Madoff
- Lost the annual income coming in from that investment.
- Saw the real-estate market drop out from underneath them
- Projected revenues based on 2009 ticket prices and 38,000 average attendance
That’s why I’m afraid of Murphy being traded.
http://risingapple.com/2012/08/03/new-york-mets-july-served-to-remind-us-change-starts-at-the-top/
So I was thinking ouloud about things and a strange sort of train hit me, The Mets need three things to be truely a playoff team. CF RF and one lock down MR guy. Then I thought of what has been traded last year and then I hung my head. LOL Alot of GM’s will trade away an young uy for a good chnce o get to a WS. What whould our W-L record look like if we had resigned Beltran this year, just that one signing could have made us a playoff team. If you add to that Broxton for a Closer then it becomes even more evident. CF well that would have been a hole no matter what but I can say this team is not far off. We have great contributors such as Murph that make this team a great puzzle now we need a consistant power bat and a CF I am psyched aboutevery game we play this year and am seriously hopefull hat next year will be even beter.
Hi Nathan,
I can give you twenty-six million reasons why the Mets didn’t consider re-signing Carlos as a free agent and they each have a picture of George Washington on them.
In the meantime, Carlos is leading the league in RBI’s, hitting .286 with 25 home runs and has meant more than one run per game in the St. Louis lineup. He also has a .358 OBP for those who follow that stat. Last year he hit .300 and his bat in the lineup was also worth just decimal points below one run a game. Now, it is true his range in the outfield has slowed down, however, it has been said by many that Ike’s bat has cost us more runs than his glove has saved – so the same argument can be applied in reverse to Carlos.
However, the bottom line is that Carlos was not in Sandy’s plans at all. He mad it clear that Carlos was going to be gone by the trade deadline no matter what his performance was or where the team was in the standings. It wasn’t that Zach Wheeler suddenly came along and the Giants made Sandy an offer he couldn’t refuse, for Sandy even said if he wasn’t able to get a top prospect, then monetary consideration would have been in order.
Before he met Sandy for the first time in the winter of 2010, Carlos said he wanted to end his career as a Met if at all possible – it might have been lip service or it might have also meant that a mutual agreement to extend his contract could have been reached – or he could have been signed as a free agent after the season which would have really put a feather in Sandy’s cap – Beltran and Wheeler – and maybe erase the sting of 2011 somewhat.
oehatlaying monday mornin q-back especilly when I have very few facts; however, this team s it is right now could have really made some noise with another consistant bat. I doubt anyone really could have predicted a complete comeback by Santana and Wright but man if only they guessed right lol. This line of thinking should play into the thoughts and actions for the offseason. A bat preferably RH and an OF will go along ways to bringing consistancy and success to this team. As a rule I do not believe in high priced or even FA relievers but it is shapping up that we need one. Edgin looks good and Parnell looks like a solid MR guy but the bullpen still needs bolstering. I agree that Murph’s vlue is underrated but I also think it is underused. The guy is a #2 hitter if there ever was one. just ink him there and leave it until a better option comes along or he goes into a slump. I feel the sme way with Tejada leading off and Wright at #3 hole. The problem is we do not have a #4 hitter or #8 as I see it. Davis is a #5 hitter (lots of power but low average) Duda would make a #8 hitter if he was on his gme but that is quesionable. Anyway I am rambling but this team is only a few pieces away in my eye and could be a true contender for the penant this year or next.
Great Article. I have been a Murphy fan from 2008. I’m glad others see his value as I did. The kid is a value in the Clubhouse a others see his hard work and try to due better. We have a great infield so lets keep it for 2013. Murphs my guy.
There’s not much I can say that those other comments haven’t already said, truly a great post.
Thanks to everyone for your comments. I’m glad to see that so many people are still with 28, as I am. I hope he does set the team record for doubles and becomes the fifth Met to hit .300 in back-to-back seasons after Hernandez, Piazza, Alfonzo and Wright, all of whom are among the best hitters to ever wear the orange and blue.
Murphy is a big guy who swings the bat like Luis Castillo, is a lousy fielder, has no speed and does not draw walks and has poor baseball iq and all you guys love him.No disrespect intended, but Met fans have no idea what a good player is anymore.I don’t dislike him personally, but you need better players than him to win championships.The Yanks have Cano, we have Murphy..Ouch!!!!
And yet the Yankees have only won one championship over the past 11 seasons, so even with Cano, they haven’t won championships (plural). Cano doesn’t exactly have speed either (1 SB this year, as opposed to 7 SB for Murphy) and he’s only walked more than 40 times in a season once in eight seasons with the Yankees. So the Yankees aren’t exactly winning much of anything because of Cano. In fact, I’m sure they’d be doing about the same without him.
For his entire career, Murphy’s batting average with RISP is .331. That’s 35 points higher than his overall batting average in all situations (.296). Cano has a .308 career batting average, but is only a .272 career hitter with RISP, so Murphy comes up much bigger in RBI spots than Cano has.
If I need a big RBI in a tight spot, I’d much rather have Murphy. Let the Yankees have Cano, who is great at hitting homers when the Yankees already have a six-run lead.
One more thing I forgot. With two outs and runners in scoring position, a situation when you absolutely need to get a hit to drive in a run, Daniel Murphy is a career .347 hitter (61-for-176). Robinson Cano? He’s a career .241 hitter (142-for-589). The defense rests, your honor.
Hi Ed,
Murph’s own performance speaks for itself so I don’t think one even has to attempt to defend him by comparing him to others. Cano is Cano, Joe Morgan is Joe Morgan and Murph is Murph.
We all watch him day in and day out with a keen eye and only those looking to find fault in him need be quoted stats to remind them how great he is in the clutch, with two outs, etc. As for the rest of us, it’s “statistics? We don’t need no stinkin’ statistics”. LOL
Granted, he is no Darwin Barney with the glove yet Barney is no Daniel Murphy with the bat. But he now looks comfortable at second, has cut down on his errors and has learned to turn the pivot.
I’m glad we have him.
wow! Murph is great and Cano sucks. wow! Thew Yanks have only one championship in a bunch of years. Oh how the Alderson revisionists are out in full force. Next we’ll hear them giving us a stat that proves that Duda is better than Babe Ruth and Ike Davis is better than Lou Gehrig. And Jeter never won won shit while Ronny Cedeno belongs in the Hall. How about making Thole and his great RBI total the best catcher in the game, because afterall Buster Posey sucks. I’m sure you’ll find a statistical something or other to prove it. Keep up the good work and please keep spending all your money at citidump and keep those wilpons in ownership so we keep having all these great teams. Man I bet you are all so damn heppy you probably weren’t alive the last time the Mets were champs. Its great ain’t 1986 was only 26 little years ago. The Knicks haven’t won in longer than that and they have great ownership too don’t they.
Ed, so what are you saying?If Cano was offered for Murphy even up you would not make the trade?
I’m a big Murph fan, but I’d take a Cano over Murph if that was an option, same for Brandon Phillips, (and maybe Chase Utley or Dustin Pedroia, but injuries are a big concern) …but it’s not an option…but it’s not a fair comparison. Cano is by far the best hitting 2nd basemen in baseball. So if we follow that logic, we’d have to replace everyone on the team except for RAD and maybe Wright. If you remove Cano skewing the curve, Murph’s performance looks much better at the position. He’s also younger and cheaper than the rest of them, sadly that is important to the Sandy era Mets
Fielding is a hard one to judge based on stats…Murph has been much better than expected and he’s gotten much better as the season has gone along. He may not have great range to his right, but his work around the bag has been really good and he has a nice, strong and quick arm.
I know his Baseball IQ has been called into question, but that’s been much improved this year as well.
Murph may not be the best 2nd baseman in MLB, but he’s a hard worker, he has no attitude problems and he’s the biggest cheerleader on the bench. There are several other areas that the team can be much easily improved.
Gary S. — You write suspiciously like a guy who uses a seeing-eye dog. Let me break the news for you: Murphy is the fastest runner in the Mets infield. He beat Wright in a foot race in spring training a few years ago. And he’s certainly faster than Ike and Ruben. So in your one statement, you’ve condemned the entire Mets infield. Yes we might need better players to win championships. More to the point is we need more perceptive fans to recognize what we have.
My vote is cast for Daniel Murphy, a guy who plays a respectable second base and is a hitting machine.
Des, a hittng machine?Daniel Murphy?? Should we reserve space in Cooperstown for him right now?Cmon, snap out of it folks.I like Murphy and he made some strides with the glove but on a team with a real second baseman he never gets a sniff of playing 2nd every day.He is not athletic.He is a big guy with no power who likes to inside out the ball on most of his at bats and swing with one hand off the bat.He is a good guy to have on a roster to play multiple positions or pinch hit.
Gary S. — You are to be commended for not denying that you use a a seeing-eye dog. You didn’t adress his speed after claiming he has none, even though seasoned observers know he’s faster than Wright, Tejada and Ike. You say he is not athletic, but: “He is a good guy to have on a roster to play multiple positions or pinch hit.” Oxymoronic observation.
Des, I commend myself for not lowering myself to name calling like you do.Have you ever heard of the phrase “jack of all trades, master of none”.This is what i was referring to with the help of my seeing eye dog when i made the comment of Murphy being useful as a sub at a couple of positions.As far as his speed goes, he is not a fast runner, he has poor base running instincts and if you are going to play a hitter with no home run power at second base it would be a big plus if he could steal 30-40 bases to compensate for the lack of power.Is this simple enough for you to comprehend?My seeing eye dog left the room so i have to end the comment.
He has better pop than Castillo and the reason he doesn’t walk much is because he’s been getting more strikes. Murphy won’t chase a pitch out of his zone, but he has a fairly sizable zone because of his swing and approach.
And his fielding wasn’t as bad as some people will say.
Yes,m the Yankees have Cano and are enjoying more success. They also have an outfield that is light years better than ours.
Hi Ed,
Was wondering….., why the picture of Daniel Murphy doing an impression of Al Jolson?
Good article. I have been a Murphy fan since he’s come up. Has a great swing and is a polished hitter.
The Mets have some big problems but Murphy isn’t one of them.
If anything, they need more good contact/high average hitters on the club – not free swingers. Hitters like Murph keep rallies alive.
I would expect nothing less because Daniel Murphy comes from a family of proud hard working people. His WW2 soft spoken now deceased Grandpa Tom worked long hours as a mechanic at his co-owned Gulf Service Station in Springfield, KY. And his grandma has worked almost 60 years at the same local bank with no quit in her. Hard work and committment to whatever endeavor for this family is just second nature. It’s not surprising he is a leader by example in the locker room and his impeccable work ethic between the lines will only increase with years.
In NY patience is not a virtue especially with singles and doubles hitters, unless 50+ base steals a year. The Big Appple demands big boomers with the ash lumber and missile flame throwing arms with likeable personalities to match. If the Mets stick with him I guarantee he will work to become in the top 25% defensive 2nd baseman, but probably will never win a gold glove. But, but, but with grandpa looking down ecouraging him to work harder, don’t put it past him. Daniel’s bat has spoken for itself and he’ll gradually hit more home runs. If not, so what – his other strengths will make him a regular in an appreciative line-up for many years. Good luck Daniel, we are all pulling for you. Just don’t change who you are for anybody.