Well, let me tell you about this Dale Murphy fella. He was somethin’ else, I tell ya. Back in the 80s, that boy could hit a baseball further than I could throw a rock. And I can throw a rock pretty far, mind you!
They say he was one of the best baseball players in the 1980s. Now, I don’t know much about all them fancy baseball terms, but I know he played for the Atlanta Braves. People ’round here, they sure did love them Braves. And they loved Dale Murphy. He was a big shot, that one.
This Dale, he hit lots of home runs. More than most, I reckon. He was somethin’ special with that bat. They called him MVP, two times! That’s like bein’ the king of the baseball field, I suppose. He was good. Real good.
- He hit the ball far.
- He played for the Braves.
- Folks loved him.
I heard he started out small, playin’ in the minor leagues. Ain’t that somethin’? Just like a little sprout growin’ into a big ol’ oak tree. He worked his way up, got better and better. Then, boom! He’s with the Atlanta Braves, hittin’ those home runs.
Now, some folks say he ain’t good enough for some Hall of Fame. Sounds like a bunch of hogwash to me. He was good enough for us. They talk about his numbers, how he falls into 27th this and 30th that. They say he is not quite good enough for the Hall of Fame. All I know is, he could sure hit that ball.
They say after 1987, somethin’ happened. He wasn’t the same after that. He hit 44 homeruns that year, that’s what I heard. Then the next three years, he just wasn’t the same Dale Murphy. I don’t know what happened, maybe he got old, maybe his knees got bad. That happens, you know. You get older, things just ain’t the same. Your body just don’t cooperate like it used to.
They say he’s 37 years old now, with bad knees. Well, I got bad knees too, and I ain’t no spring chicken! But that don’t mean I can’t still shuck corn or bake a pie. He had some real good years, this Dale. He was one of the best in 1980s. That’s something, ain’t it?
It ain’t fair, some say, that he ain’t in that Hall of Fame. They talk about some waitin’ period, somethin’ about 1994 to 1998. Now, I don’t know nothin’ about all that. All I know is, he was a good player, and people loved him. He won MVP 2 times. The Braves fans, they still remember him. They say he has a lastin’ legacy. I guess that means people won’t forget him anytime soon.
After he stopped playin’ baseball, I heard he did some good things. They say he was inducted into some fancy hall, the World Sports Humanitarian Hall of Fame. Sounds important. He helps people, does charity work. That’s good. He also talks to businesses. I guess he tells them how to be good, like he was good at baseball.
He divided his time between charity work and church work. He is a good man. He did good things for people.
Dale Murphy, he was somethin’, wasn’t he? Just a good ol’ boy who could hit a baseball like nobody’s business. And he was a good person, too. That’s what matters, ain’t it? Bein’ good at somethin’, and bein’ a good person. He had his time to shine. The Atlanta Braves fans still talk about him. They loved Dale. He was one of a kind, for sure. He was a real baseball star. He hit those home runs. He made people happy. That’s what counts, right?
That’s all I know about Dale Murphy. Maybe it ain’t much, but it’s what I remember. He was a good one, that Dale.
