A few minutes with Eddie Murray
By Roch Kubatko
The contingent of former Orioles inside the warehouse this afternoon for the 60th anniversary luncheon included franchise legends Eddie Murray, Frank Robinson and Brooks Robinson.
They sat together afterward and fielded questions from reporters, with Murray sliding down a seat after spotting all the microphones aimed at the middle one.
"That's Frank's seat," he said.
This was a rare opportunity to chat with Murray, and he didn't disappoint.
Here's a sampling:
On being a young leader upon his arrival in the majors
"We had people like Lee May on the club and stuff of that nature. You start hearing little rumblings about the way the kid plays the game. You win people over by going out there every day. When they know that you're hurt and you're out there fighting with them the next day, that does more than jumping up and saying anything in the locker room. But I was kind of amazed because I'm 21, 22, and you've got guys that were 30 looking up to you, just because you went out there every day. You've got to go to war every day."
On being traded back to the Orioles in 1996
"That was a great moment, really, because I was done in Cleveland. Some things had occurred. It was nice to come back, and when I came back, you start to take a survey in the locker room. We had some good ballplayers, but they were really underachieving. Once I got here, I just thought there were some little cliques and we had to break that crap up. You've got to play together. I walked in Davey (Johnson's) office, I think on Day 4, and I just went, 'Wow.' And I told him that I'd get it. You had to break them up. You've got to play this game together. They were just not playing together. It was a good ballclub. Guys can go out there and do things individually and still not have a good year. I think when I got here, we were 11 games behind the Yankees and we should have overtaken them. But we got on a roll and we actually should have beaten them in the playoffs."
On similarities between past Orioles teams and this one
"I don't think these guys are hitting the way they're capable of. Let's put it this way, I think they can be a lot better than what they're doing at this particular time. The little I see of the Orioles in California, I think they're pitching quite well. It's just a matter of trying to do it all at once. They start scoring runs and then the pitching lets you down for a minute. But they seem to be winning the close games and that's what it really takes. It's nice to see those one-run victories come on your side."
On whether he knew after the 1982 season that the Orioles would win the '83 World Series: "Absolutely. Earl (Weaver) left one little statement for Joe (Altobelli). He basically told him 'Don't (screw) it up. These guys are going to win.' And it was just that simple. We knew that we were going to win. Late in the season we were in Detroit. Sparky Anderson had his whole team out there watching us. We clowned around during infield practice. We had a lot of fun. Our pitchers would watch us take fielding practice. Sometimes, we'd barehand the ball. It was just crazy stuff we were doing, but we had fun playing, and Sparky was trying to teach his squad how to do that. Well, the next year, they ran out to 25-5. They did learn something, I always say. That's what they were doing that last series, just to watch us."
On hitting his 500th home run exactly one year after 2,131:
"The first thing I told Cal (Ripken) was, 'I'm going to do it tonight.' He goes, 'What?' I said, 'I'm going to do it tonight.' So we get ready to run sprints before the game, and I run the first one and they've got Rip up on the board. It says September 6th. I'm like, 'Oh hell no.' And he goes, 'Yep, you already said it.' Then it was raining, so we had a little delay, but I got it under the 12 o'clock hour. They were wanting me to really do it."
Steve Melewski posted quotes from Brooks and Frank on his blog. I asked Brooks for his opinion of Manny Machado, and he said the following:
"He's terrific. He's got a great arm. It usually takes a guy who comes over from shortstop a few days to get acclimated to the position. But he's done a great job. And he swings the bat well. He seems like a nice kid. I've only met him once. I presented him with a Gold Glove last year in New York, along with J.J. (Hardy), and I got to talk to him for a little while. I really like him. He's a good kid and he's a terrific fielder."
On being traded back to the Orioles in 1996
"That was a great moment, really, because I was done in Cleveland. Some things had occurred. It was nice to come back, and when I came back, you start to take a survey in the locker room. We had some good ballplayers, but they were really underachieving. Once I got here, I just thought there were some little cliques and we had to break that crap up. You've got to play together. I walked in Davey (Johnson's) office, I think on Day 4, and I just went, 'Wow.' And I told him that I'd get it. You had to break them up. You've got to play this game together. They were just not playing together. It was a good ballclub. Guys can go out there and do things individually and still not have a good year. I think when I got here, we were 11 games behind the Yankees and we should have overtaken them. But we got on a roll and we actually should have beaten them in the playoffs."
On similarities between past Orioles teams and this one
"I don't think these guys are hitting the way they're capable of. Let's put it this way, I think they can be a lot better than what they're doing at this particular time. The little I see of the Orioles in California, I think they're pitching quite well. It's just a matter of trying to do it all at once. They start scoring runs and then the pitching lets you down for a minute. But they seem to be winning the close games and that's what it really takes. It's nice to see those one-run victories come on your side."
On whether he knew after the 1982 season that the Orioles would win the '83 World Series: "Absolutely. Earl (Weaver) left one little statement for Joe (Altobelli). He basically told him 'Don't (screw) it up. These guys are going to win.' And it was just that simple. We knew that we were going to win. Late in the season we were in Detroit. Sparky Anderson had his whole team out there watching us. We clowned around during infield practice. We had a lot of fun. Our pitchers would watch us take fielding practice. Sometimes, we'd barehand the ball. It was just crazy stuff we were doing, but we had fun playing, and Sparky was trying to teach his squad how to do that. Well, the next year, they ran out to 25-5. They did learn something, I always say. That's what they were doing that last series, just to watch us."
On hitting his 500th home run exactly one year after 2,131:
"The first thing I told Cal (Ripken) was, 'I'm going to do it tonight.' He goes, 'What?' I said, 'I'm going to do it tonight.' So we get ready to run sprints before the game, and I run the first one and they've got Rip up on the board. It says September 6th. I'm like, 'Oh hell no.' And he goes, 'Yep, you already said it.' Then it was raining, so we had a little delay, but I got it under the 12 o'clock hour. They were wanting me to really do it."
Steve Melewski posted quotes from Brooks and Frank on his blog. I asked Brooks for his opinion of Manny Machado, and he said the following:
"He's terrific. He's got a great arm. It usually takes a guy who comes over from shortstop a few days to get acclimated to the position. But he's done a great job. And he swings the bat well. He seems like a nice kid. I've only met him once. I presented him with a Gold Glove last year in New York, along with J.J. (Hardy), and I got to talk to him for a little while. I really like him. He's a good kid and he's a terrific fielder."
LATEST ORIOLES NEWS
LATEST NATIONALS NEWS
About the author
By accepting you will be accessing a service provided by a third-party external to https://www.masnsports.com/