![]() ![]() ![]() The Dodgers were Eddie’s true hometown team. Within a few days, however, against all odds, and probably good sense, the Los Angeles Dodgers signed Eddie to a contract. I presumed that it was the ignominious conclusion to an otherwise glorious journey. Mid-season, the Angels finally did the decent thing - they released him. But, in middle age, he was clearly a liability. ![]() For two decades, he’d produced 120-160 OPS and positive WAR. He was put on the disabled list, but, when he returned, not much changed. The batting average remained mired around. But, in 1997, he started lukewarm and just increasingly cooled off, day after day. Eddie was always a slow starter, he normally sizzled in the summer and then found a new gear in September. From the very start of the season, however, it was clear that something was not right. The story was that he was there for his bat, but also would contribute like a player coach in the clubhouse. Eddie was forty one when the season started and looked to be in surprisingly good shape. In the offseason, he’d signed with the Anaheim Angels, a middling team, not far from his home, that could benefit from the learned designated hitter. I mean, I knew it couldn’t go on forever, but I sure hoped it would.īut then, 1997 happened. Even in 1996, when the Indians traded him back to the Orioles, Eddie managed twenty two home runs and hit. 330 for the Dodgers or in 1995, at the age of 39, when he hit. But then Eddie would lean on his wisdom and find a new gear - like in 1990, when he hit. There were sub-par, “adjustment” seasons wherein writers predicted it might be the beginning of the end. He then signed with the Mets in 1992 and the Indians in ‘94. The Orioles traded him to the Dodgers in 1989. He was a prestige bat for hire - a venerable presence in the locker room and out on the field. After a stellar first ten years in Baltimore, Eddie Murray became something of a journeyman in the sunset of his career. ![]()
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