Phillies: Great players you forgot played in Philadelphia

Dale Murphy (1990-92)

Dale Murphy is remembered as one of the great power hitters of the late 1980s and as an Atlanta Brave. Few remember his time in Philadelphia where he spent parts of three seasons.

Murphy was drafted fifth overall by Atlanta in 1974 and after two short seasons in the big leagues, Murphy became a full-time player for the Braves in 1978.

In two of his first three seasons Murphy led the league in strikeouts but put up impressive power numbers, hitting 33 home runs in 1980 and earning his first All-Star nod.

In 1982 Murphy began putting up the Hall of Fame-worthy numbers people remember him for with his first of four consecutive seasons hitting 36 home runs or more.

After an MVP season in ’82, Murphy became (at the time) the youngest player to win back-to-back MVP awards when he repeated in ’83 with another 36 home run season.

In 1984 and ’85 Murphy would again lead the big leagues in home runs and picked up more Gold Gloves and Silver Sluggers along the way.

After a career-high 44 home runs in 1987, Murphy’s career began to slow down. He would never hit 25 home runs or at least .260 in a season for the rest of his career or earn another accolade.

Midway through the 1990 season, Murphy was traded to Philadelphia with Tommy Greene and Jeff Parrett after 15 years in Atlanta. He’d have a decent season in 1991 with 18 home runs, but outside of that, he was unable to contribute much due to his knee.

Had he stayed healthy for just a couple more games, Murphy may have been able to hit his 400th home run as a Phillie. Instead, he fell just two home runs short.