Morgan Murphy (baseball)

Morgan Murphy
Morgan Murphy
	Catcher
	Born: February 14, 1867; East Providence, Rhode Island, U.S.
	Died: October 3, 1938 (aged 71); Providence, Rhode Island, U.S.
	Batted: Right Threw: Right
MLB debut
	April 22, 1890, for the Boston Reds
Last MLB appearance
	May 31, 1901, for the Philadelphia Athletics
MLB statistics
Batting average	.225
Games	566
Runs scored	247
Teams
	Boston Reds (PL/AA) (1890–1891); Cincinnati Reds (1892–1895); St. Louis Browns (1896–1897); Pittsburgh Pirates (1898); Philadelphia Phillies (1898), (1900); Philadelphia Athletics (AL) (1901);

Morgan Edward Murphy (February 14, 1867 – October 3, 1938) was an American Major League Baseball player who played 11 seasons as a catcher, most notably with the two time league champions Boston Reds.^[1]

Sign stealing

Murphy is mostly known today for his complicated, but innovative sign stealing techniques. When he was playing for the Philadelphia Phillies in 1898, he is credited as the inventor of a scheme where he positioned himself, along with a pair of field glasses, behind a whiskey advertisement on the outfield wall. There was a specific letter "O" that he would open or close to signal to the batter what pitch was going to be delivered.^[2] Later, in 1900, he devised another scheme where he was still placed behind the outfield wall, but instead would relay the catcher's signs by wire to a buzzer box inside the third base coach's box. The third base coach would then signal to the batter the sign.^[2]^[3] This latest scheme was discovered, however, when Tommy Corcoran of the Cincinnati Reds, tripped over he thought to be a vine coming out from under the ground, as he was rounding third base. Upon further inspection, the vine turned out to be a telegraph wire, and he proceeded to pull up out of the ground until it reach the spot where Murphy relayed his signals.^[4]

Post-career

Murphy died at the age of 71 in Providence, Rhode Island, and is interred at St. Francis Cemetery in Pawtucket, Rhode Island.^[1]

References

^ ^a ^b "Morgan Murphy's career statistics". retrosheet.org. Retrieved September 9, 2008.
^ ^a ^b Stout, Glenn; Richard A. Johnson (2002). Yankees Century: 100 Years of New York Yankees Baseball. Houghton Mifflin Books. p. 53. ISBN 0-618-08527-0. Retrieved September 10, 2008.
^ Cook, Bob (September 13, 2007). "Cheating an old story, but Pats crossed the line". nbcsports.msnbc.com. Archived from the original on May 13, 2008. Retrieved September 9, 2008.
^ Okrent, Daniel; Steve Wulf (1989). Baseball Anecdotes. United States: Oxford University Press. p. 33. ISBN 0-19-504396-0. Retrieved September 10, 2008.

External links

Career statistics and player information from Baseball Reference, or Baseball Reference (Minors)

[retrosheet-1] "Morgan Murphy's career statistics". retrosheet.org. Retrieved September 9, 2008.

[yankees-2] Stout, Glenn; Richard A. Johnson (2002). Yankees Century: 100 Years of New York Yankees Baseball. Houghton Mifflin Books. p. 53. ISBN 0-618-08527-0. Retrieved September 10, 2008.

[nbcsports.com-3] Cook, Bob (September 13, 2007). "Cheating an old story, but Pats crossed the line". nbcsports.msnbc.com. Archived from the original on May 13, 2008. Retrieved September 9, 2008.

[anecdotes-4] Okrent, Daniel; Steve Wulf (1989). Baseball Anecdotes. United States: Oxford University Press. p. 33. ISBN 0-19-504396-0. Retrieved September 10, 2008.

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