Dale Murphy was once the face of baseball, beamed as it was nightly across America on media mogul Ted Turner’s SuperStation TBS. A face that was hard for Atlanta Braves fans, for fans of nearly every big league team, and for the game itself not to love — for its Hollywood looks, its kind smile, its competitive grit.

His countenance mirrored something different, something that was rare among Major League stars of his day — genuine modesty about baseball, humility regarding his place in the world. Perspective never seemed a stranger to him, and that, alongside his enormous talent, set him strangely apart.

If there was a more adored baseball player in the 1980s, I have no clue who it would be. It’s a shame that same adoration does not exist among a select group of Cooperstown voters now. Mu

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