T.W.I.B. September 13, 1977: "Rookies With Power" (Eddie Murray)

[caesarod]

Actually, Charboneau did win the A.L Rookie of the Year for the Indians in 1980 ...... 3 years after Murray won it in 1977.

Well...nuts. I guess I got the wrong guy. I'm still certain the 3WE commentator pushed for someone other than Murray in '77, but I don't trust my memory beyond that.

It was a long time ago!!!

[BarclaySouthway]

All the 50 year olds here are loving this. That theme music gives me chills. I always think of that Ellis Valentine throw in slow-mo.

[Frobby]

Well...nuts. I guess I got the wrong guy. I'm still certain the 3WE commentator pushed for someone other than Murray in '77, but I don't trust my memory beyond that.

It was a long time ago!!!

Hard to say...BB-ref lists the top four, none of whom were Indians. The other three all had a much higher rWAR than Eddie, by the way.

[Moose Milligan]

I'd never heard of Mitchell Page.

Looking at the stat lines, he probably should have won the ROY that year. I know OPS wasn't a thing then, but he beat Murray by a good bit. I'm assuming Murray won because he played for a winner?

[murph]

All the 50 year olds here are loving this. That theme music gives me chills. I always think of that Ellis Valentine throw in slow-mo.

Come on now, mid 40s still qualifies too! Twib notes. Absolutely loved the twib notes. Thanks for posting this OFFNY!

[Frobby]

I'd never heard of Mitchell Page.

Looking at the stat lines, he probably should have won the ROY that year. I know OPS wasn't a thing then, but he beat Murray by a good bit. I'm assuming Murray won because he played for a winner?

Eddie won because, as a rookie, he nearly carried the O's to an upset division title in Seltember, hitting .364/.393/.651 with 9 homers and 26 RBI as the team went 22-9. It was very, very impressive, and in hindsight, a harbinger of things to come.

[OFFNY]

OFFNY said:

o

 

I just came across this on youtube.

It's a This Week In Baseball episode from September of 1977.

At the beginning (which includes that great introductory song), Mel Allen narrates a couple of lines:

"Rookies with power," followed by a clip of a 21 year-old Eddie Murray going deep for the Orioles, who were locked in a 3-way pennant race with the Yankees and the Red Sox at the time.

Immediately following, Allen chimes in with "Rookies With Speed," and then show a clip of Murray's R.O.Y. rival, the late Mitchell Page, stealing a base for the Athletics:

 

 

There is a 2 and-a-half segment on the Orioles at the 3:30 mark, which features Jim Palmer, Rudy May, Ken Singleton, Eddie Murray, and Terry Crowley.

At the 12-minute mark, they talk about Murray again, followed by one-time Oriole prospect Bob Bailor, who was having an excellent rookie season for the expansion Toronto Blue Jays.

Like Moose Milligan, I was bored, and was hoping that the mods would let this have some air time on the main board before transferring it to the "ORIOLES HISTORY" section. 

Again, the introductory song at the beginning of those "T.W.I.B." episodes alone is worth a click on the video.  ) 

 

o

o

 

Happy belated birthday, Eddie.

o

[Frobby]

Eddie’s eligible for Medicare today — not that he needs it.   

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

Happy birthday to my favorite Oriole of all time.