Ex-Indians Star Eddie Murphy Dies

Eddie Murphy, a longtime Spokane professional baseball star remembered as “The Hill yard Rifle,” has died in Medford, Ore., after a long battle with cancer.

Murphy, eight days short of his 78th birthday, died peacefully in his sleep Friday afternoon in Rogue Valley Medical Center, according to his daughter, Kathy Weil, of Grants Pass.

Services have been scheduled for Thursday in Quincy, Mass.

A black-haired Irishman from Boston, Murphy was among the most beloved players in the Western International League, spending nine seasons in that World War II-era circuit and two more in its successor, the Northwest League.

The strong-armed, fleet-footed former centerfielder wore a Spokane Indians uniform for seven seasons and led the WIL in stolen bases five times.

He enjoyed one of his finest seasons with Spokane’s pennant-winners in 1951, stealing a league-record 90 bases while batting .297, scoring 124 runs and drawing 105 walks. He also played on Spokane’s 1953 title team.

In 1947, he batted .311 with 109 runs batted in and 113 runs for the Bremerton Bluejackets while winning the first of his stolen-base titles. He hit .308 and scored 101 runs for Spokane in 1955.

Murphy ranked fourth among Western International League players by appearing in 1,094 games. He stands second on the Spokane Indians career list with 868.

With backing from the late sports philanthropist Joey August, the Indians trainer and an up-and-coming beer distributor at the time, he opened Eddie Murphy’s tavern in Hillyard while he was still active as a player and operated the popular nightspot for more than 15 years. “On Saint Patrick’s Day, you couldn’t even get in the door,” recalled Ernie Abbott of Spokane, a longtime friend who tended bar at Eddie Murphy’s for several years. “One year, we went through 27 kegs of beer and that’s when the taverns couldn’t stay open until 2 o’clock.

“He was a great person. I have some binoculars he gave me for Christmas 45 years ago. I still take them hunting and I’ve never looked through a better pair.”

Murphy later worked as a bartender and part-owner of two Las Vegas bars, including the Nite Twain, where his partner was August’s brother, Frankie.

Fellow outfielder Edo Vanni, rivals for years and teammates when the Indians won the pennant in 1951, is among many former players who mourn a good friend.

“He was just a great guy,” said Vanni, who had talked to Murphy as recently as last month. “You can’t put it into words when you lose guys like Dolph Camilli and the other ones we’ve lost lately. You just hope they go up there and save a place for me.”

During the 1951 season, Vanni was patrolling right field at Sanders Field in Kennewick one night when a Tri-City batter hit a skyscraping fly toward right. Vanni tried for a leaping catch, but the ball skimmed the fence, hit him on top of the head and rebounded over the fence.

Vanni, semi-conscious, was carried to the dressing room. Between innings, Murphy raced in to check on his friend.

“Hey, Dago,” said Murphy, “way to use your head.”

“Right,” replied Vanni groggily. “I held him to a double.”

Former catcher Bill Sheets, a close friend for four decades, drove through Grants Pass early Friday.

“He had a difficult time the last two years,” said Sheets, who joined Murphy on Spokane’s 1951 and 1953 championship teams. “He was a good ballplayer, a good person and an honest businessman. I was very fond of him.”

Murphy, who remained active as a standout softball player until well into his 60s, moved to Oregon after becoming seriously ill in 1995.

Other than his daughter and her husband Bill, he is survived by two brothers, Harry and Alan Murphy of Weymouth, Mass., and numerous nieces and nephews.

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