An MMO Fan Shot by Laura (Mookie4ever)
Love him or hate him, Daniel Murphy left his mark on the Mets. He was a homegrown player, who was here through the dark years of sub-.500 teams, often providing the only bright spot at the plate to go along with his misadventures in the field and on the bases. Always entertaining, sometimes maddening, he was the perfect incarnation of a NY Met, ironically, because of his imperfection. He became our Murph and Oh Murph, a hardworking, blue collar underdog, whose fielding, mouth and emotions invariably got him into trouble, but whose pure hitting made our hearts sing.
2015 started off with a bang with the early 11-game winning streak, but by July looked to be more of the same old Mets. Of course, we know what happened next, and there was Murph, hitting .300 with 37 RBI smack in the middle of an unbelievable Mets stretch run. It was a wild exciting ride of a season that was a wonderful surprise to us Met fans.
Then he suddenly turned into a monster home run machine in the playoffs, putting the Mets on his shoulders to win the pennant. He even set a major league record along the way. Of course, we all know the fairy tale did not have the happiest of endings, with Murph right in the middle of that, too, but that doesn’t take away the magic of 2015. Now Murph has been replaced by a steady Neil Walker, seemingly a blue collar player himself, who will hopefully do very well here.
But still, many of us will miss Murph terribly. Here is my Top 10 list of things I will miss about him:
#10 Speed. He’s only got one, full throttle, all day, every day. We always got 100% of him every inning of every game. The Charlie Hustle of modern-day ballplayers.
#9 Defense. Making most routine plays and turning the occasional defensive gem, (see above, diving stop to end NLCS Game 1) unfortunately were obscured by his tear-your-hair-out errors. I always appreciated his aggressive effort on the field, even though it didn’t always work out.
#8 Courage. Standing tall in NYC. Owning every miscue like a man even while answering the same question posed in 15 different ways by the relentless New York media.
#7 Joy. Watching his face light up like a kid on Christmas morning whenever something wonderful happened, along with Tigger bounces. Lots of those last year!
#6 Passion. Seeing his “lion face” roar with fists up when he or a teammate made a great play or scored a crucial run. I always thought he was about to beat his chest like Tarzan but unfortunately never saw it happen. Lots of these last year, too!
#5 Clutch. The one player we looked for at the plate with a big hit needed. Usually delivered.
#4 Comfort. Knowing at least Murph would hit in most games, no matter how the rest of the team did. He can just flat-out hit, day in and day out.
#3 Buzz. Watching Daniel talk his way through a game was fun. From checking the location of each pitch with the ump, to chewing the ear off every defender he was near, he is a nonstop yakker every at-bat. I can only imagine how annoying he is to the opposing team. I guess the Mets will find out in 2016. And he is a walking sound bite. See Yowzers! and Above my pay grade.
#2 Filth. His dirty-from-head-to-toe-uniform showed us every day his hard-working, all-in attitude. He willed himself to play in the major leagues, kept himself there with his bat and whatever he had to do, learn new positions, or anything else his team asked him to do. There have been many, many below-average-defensive infielders that just faded away after a year or two. Murph made sure he would not with his commitment to hard work on the field and at the plate.
#1 Love. For his teammates, Mets fans, the game. Never once took credit for his major league record home run tear, giving it instead to his teammates and Kevin Long. Tugged at my heart when he said the best part about winning in the postseason was the gift of spending more time playing with the guys.
He obviously wanted to stay with the team, but after the Mets didn’t give him more than a sniff, and traded for Neil Walker, he had to do what was best for his family’s security. I feel bad that he will miss the raising of the pennant on opening day at Citi Field. Well, at least he doesn’t have to watch KC raise their championship banner.
Good-bye Murph, we will always think of you as a Met and welcome you back warmly when you visit. And good luck, except when you are playing the Mets. No one can ever take Murphtober away from you—or us.
(Photo: Anthony DiComo)
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This MMO Fan Shot was written by MMO reader Laura (Mookie4ever). Have something you want to say about the Mets? Share your opinions with over 30,000 Met fans who read this site daily. Send your Fan Shot to [email protected]. Or ask us about becoming a regular contributor.
