Murray’s Selfishness Deprives Him His Due 3,000th Game Should Have Been Monumental, Not Overlooked
Something special happened Tuesday night, and Albert Belle was there to see it. He could learn something by considering the undertones that caused it to feel like just another night at the ballpark.
Eddie Murray played in his 3,000th game. It’s the kind of milestone that should have been celebrated around baseball. It would have been had it been achieved by Paul Molitor or Kirby Puckett.
The Anaheim Angels tried their best, shooting off fireworks in the fifth inning, when the game became official. But most of the 14,806 fans at Anaheim Stadium didn’t know why the sky was turning colors until the scoreboard told them.
Not a single national reporter showed up to report on Murray joining the ranks of Pete Rose, Carl Yastrzemski, Hank Aaron, Ty Cobb and Stan Musial. The Los Angeles Times gave Murray’s 3,000th game five paragraphs. The Orange County Register did a little better, but its story was on the fifth page of the sports section. USA Today didn’t give it a headline.
From a historical perspective, the media missed the point.
“That’s 150 games a year for 20 years,” White Sox third base coach Doug Rader said. “Eddie is a special guy. He has been a real force for a long time.”
Like Murray, the Minnesota Twins’ Molitor is playing out the final act of his career in his hometown. He is an icon in the Twin Cities. Murray, most assuredly a first-ballot Hall of Famer when he retires, barely casts a shadow on the landscape of his hometown.
This is a question of selfishness. While players such as Molitor, Cal Ripken and Tony Gwynn share their gifts with others, Murray has held on to his tightly. By declining to talk to reporters for so much of his career, Murray has distanced himself from the fans who want to embrace him. Belle is doing the same thing.
No one questions an athlete’s right to go through his career without comment. But it’s open season on their lack of judgment.
Few people have the skills to spend a lifetime playing the sports they loved as kids. Most are reduced to a vicarious experience. And for every athlete who is unwilling to share the ride with others, there are dozens of others who welcome the company. Fans move on. And in the end, it is the Sphinxes who are left behind.
Conspicuously absent
When the Cleveland Indians announced manager Mike Hargrove’s contract extension Wednesday, they did it at the Ballpark in Arlington, not Jacobs Field. And not only was the news released on the road, but no club official was present. GM John Hart judged it more important to check out his team at Class A Kinston.
Hargrove said he took no offense to the poorly staged news conference, but it did nothing to signal an improved relationship between him and Hart. Hargrove denied worrying that this would be his last year with the Indians.
“I don’t think that has been an issue,” he said. “But this does allow the club to get one more distraction off its plate.”
Hargrove’s new deal runs through 1999 with a club option for 2000. It is worth a reported $1.8 million, including the option year. If Hargrove makes it through the full contract, he will have managed the Indians for 9-1/2 seasons, giving him the longest tenure for a manager in Cleveland. He has a 466-396 record with the Indians.
Counting the days
How much longer can Dan Duquette last as the Red Sox’s GM? Not only has the once-proud franchise slipped below Detroit in the standings, but Duquette is getting no return on his international investments. The Red Sox spent $1.85 million on Japanese refugee Shane Mack, who is buried on the bench, and $3.5 million on Dominican right-hander Robinson Checo, who is pitching for the Class A Sarasota Red Sox. Checo has recovered from the elbow problems for which he was treated in spring training, but remains ineffective.
In Duquette’s latest trade, he added reliever Toby Borland to a bullpen leading the league in walks. Borland, acquired for right-hander Rick Trlicek, had walked 14 in 13-1/3 innings in Philadelphia. The Phillies gave up on him quickly after trading Rico Brogna to get him.
Touching the bases
Cecil Fielder’s home run Thursday in Texas released some of the frustration from the previous two days, when he returned to Melbourne, Fla., to see his wife lose a court case. Stacey Fielder was fined and ordered to enter an anger-management seminar for her reaction to a car accident involving the couple’s son… . With 2,103 career hits, Julio Franco has passed Felipe Alou to become the all-time leader among players from the Dominican Republic… . The Twins hope to get cleanup hitter Marty Cordova back by June 30 from his bout with plantar fascitis in his left foot. He should start a minor-league rehabilitation this week… . Second baseman Mark McLemore was miffed it took Texas’ medical staff six weeks to diagnose a torn ligament in his right hand, apparently suffered when Jose Valentin spiked him on Opening Day. McLemore, who was hitting only .174 as the Rangers’ primary leadoff hitter, is expected to miss four to six weeks… . Orioles outfielder Jerome Walton might be out for the year. He’s bothered by calcium deposits lingering from off-season surgery for a torn abductor muscle near his groin… . Rusty Greer of the Rangers pulled off a rare triple last weekend, starting in all three outfield positions during a three-game series at Fenway Park. Manager Johnny Oates calls Greer “the ultimate team player.” The former Double-A first baseman has made himself into a Gold Glove candidate.