Of all of the greats that have worn an Atlanta Braves uniform, none have as polarizing a Hall of Fame case as Dale Murphy. Everyone thinks that Murphy is a great ambassador of the team and baseball in general, but opinions are very strong when it comes to him being Cooperstown worthy with only Andruw Jones potentially rivaling him among the players not currently inducted.
Murphy's proponents point to his insane peak in the 1980's including a pair of MVP wins and are quick to say that the only reason why he didn't end up with HOF counting stats was because of severe knee troubles. Meanwhile, Murphy's critics point to the fact that a lot of players have had their careers ruined or shortened by injury and the Hall of Fame should be a career recognition and Murphy's, fair or not, just doesn't measure up.
Both sides have their merits, but the debate may not matter because after the results of the Contemporary Era vote for the Hall of Fame. Not only did Murphy not make it, but how the vote went down seems to imply that Murphy has little to no chance to get into Cooperstown.
Latest Contemporary Era Hall of Fame vote proof voters have no intention of letting Dale Murphy in
It is becoming very apparent that Murph's best chance to get into Cooperstown was on the writers' ballots. The era committees have righted some wrongs over the years, but they are generally very stingy when it comes to letting anyone in and the committees themselves are usually mostly composed by very traditional voters that tend to view their role as gatekeepers.
This is a real problem for a borderline case like Murphy. He was already up against long odds with Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, and Don Mattingly on the ballot. That it was Jeff Kent getting into Cooperstown somehow while those three plus Murphy were not even close tells us what we need to know. The era committees are clearly for pet causes (see: Tony LaRussa lobbying for Harold Baines) and sometimes letting players/executives in after they die.
Again, there is a real debate to be had here. There are real reasons to vote against Murphy for the Hall of Fame, but few would visit Cooperstown and want to protest if Murphy had a plaque in there. The issue now is that if Bonds, Clemens, and Mattingly weren't close to getting inducted by committee vote, Murphy doesn't have a chance.