The Main Event

On August 3, 1990, the Atlanta Braves ended a 13-year relationship with the only star player many fans there had ever known, sending two-time National League MVP Dale Murphy to the Philadelphia Phillies. The deal closed one of the most celebrated individual careers of the 1980s and opened a quieter, veteran-leadership chapter that would ripple forward into the Phillies’ 1993 pennant run — and, decades later, into a very different kind of pennant chase: the push to bring Major League Baseball to Utah.

Before he ever put on Phillies red, Dale Murphy was one of baseball’s signature players. Originally drafted as a catcher, he converted to the outfield and blossomed into the game’s premier power-and-speed threat through the early-to-mid 1980s. He won the NL MVP award in both 1982 and 1983, leading the league with 109 RBI in the first of those seasons and following it up by batting .302 with 121 RBI and 30 stolen bases the next year — a rare 30-30 season that made him just the sixth player in history to reach that combination. Over a six-year stretch from 1982 to 1987, Murphy led all of baseball in home runs, made seven All-Star teams, won five straight Gold Gloves and four Silver Slugger awards. By the time the 1990 trade came, he was Atlanta’s all-time home run leader and one of the most respected, cleanest-cut stars the sport had.

The Deal That Sent Him to Philadelphia

By 1990, though, the Braves were rebuilding, and Murphy’s production had slipped from his MVP peak. Atlanta shipped him to Philadelphia in exchange for pitcher Jeff Parrett and two players to be named later, who were later identified as outfielder Jim Vatcher and infielder Victor Rosario. The trade also cleared the path for a young David Justice to take over in right field for Atlanta, a move that helped Justice win NL Rookie of the Year that season. For his part, Murphy agreed to a two-year contract extension with the Phillies through the 1992 season, signaling that both sides expected him to be a middle-of-the-order presence in Philadelphia, not just a rental. The Phillies also received pitcher Tommy Greene as a player to be named later from Atlanta.

Murphy’s on-field production in Philadelphia never approached his Atlanta peak, but his value went beyond the stat line. The 1991 season was the only one in which he played a full slate for the Phillies, hitting 18 home runs with 81 RBI — good for second on the team. A chronic left knee injury derailed his 1992 season after May 18, and he was let go before the year was out. Even so, Murphy was a fan favorite throughout his Phillies tenure, prized as much for his professionalism and community-mindedness as for his bat. He arrived in a Phillies clubhouse that was assembling the core — Lenny Dykstra, John Kruk, Darren Daulton, Dave Hollins — that would go on to win the 1993 NL pennant, and while Murphy himself was gone before that run, teammates and observers pointed to his steady, drug-free, high-character example as part of the culture that helped a talented but rowdy young roster mature into a contender. His reputation as one of the game’s genuine good guys, cemented over 13 years in Atlanta, only grew during his time in Philadelphia.

Released by the Phillies, Murphy signed with the expansion Colorado Rockies for the 1993 season, hoping for one more chance to contribute. It didn’t work out: in 26 games and 42 at-bats, he failed to hit a home run, and he retired shortly after, closing out an 18-year major league career.

Life After the Diamond

Murphy’s post-playing life has been defined almost as much by service as his career was by production. A devout member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he stepped away from public life for three years, from 1997 to 2000, to serve as president of the church’s Massachusetts Boston Mission, overseeing roughly 200 young missionaries. He later returned to baseball in a broadcasting capacity, joining the Atlanta Braves’ television booth for the 2012 season. In 2005, he founded the “I Won’t Cheat” Foundation, aimed at promoting honesty in youth sports and warning young athletes about the dangers of performance-enhancing drugs — a natural extension of the clean reputation he built as a player. That work continues today through the Dale Murphy Foundation, which has been recognized with the Roberto Clemente Award and induction into the World Humanitarian Hall of Fame.

Despite his MVP resume, Murphy has never been elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. He spent all 15 years of eligibility on the BBWAA writers’ ballot without reaching induction and has since appeared repeatedly on Era Committee ballots, including in 2018, 2020, 2022 and most recently 2025, when the Contemporary Baseball Era Committee gave him just six of the 12 votes needed for enshrinement. The debate over his candidacy — dominant peak versus a career that tailed off after the Phillies trade — remains one of the more spirited ones among Hall of Fame voters.

Championing Baseball’s Return to Utah

In retirement, Murphy settled in Utah, and in April 2023 he became the public face of Big League Utah, a coalition pushing to land a Major League Baseball expansion franchise in Salt Lake City. The group includes former Utah Jazz owner Gail Miller’s Larry H. Miller Company, fellow former big leaguer Jeremy Guthrie, and more than a dozen other former MLB players. Though Murphy was born and raised in Portland, Oregon, and had once supported that city’s own expansion bid, he shifted his allegiance to Utah after putting down roots there following retirement, calling it the community he wants to help bring baseball to.

Other Notable Phillies Trade Deadline Deals of the Past Decade

The Murphy deal is a reminder that the Phillies have shaped their rosters at the trade deadline for decades, and the recent past has been no exception.

Philadelphia Baseball Events for August 3

  • August 3, 1919 – Fred Luderus plays in his 479th consecutive game, breaking the previous major league record. His streak eventually reached 533 games.
  • August 3, 1930 – Chuck Klein completes his second hitting streak of the season with a hit in 26 straight games — 2-for-5 in the first game of a doubleheader against Boston, hitless in the nightcap.
  • August 3, 1931 – The A’s swept a doubleheader from the Washington Senators at Shibe Park before a crowd of 40,000. Lefty Grove won the opener 3-2 to improve to 22-2 in his legendary MVP season (he’d finish 31-4); George Earnshaw took the nightcap, 6-5.
  • August 3, 1960 – Tony Taylor stole home against the Giants in San Francisco — the first of five times he would do it in his career, a club record.
  • August 3, 1976 – The Phillies and Cubs completed a doubleheader at Wrigley Field in just 3 hours, 51 minutes. Rick Reuschel beat Jim Kaat 4-0 in Game 1 (1:32), then Steve Carlton led Philadelphia to an 8-5 win over Steve Stone in Game 2.
  • August 3, 1980 – Chuck Klein was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, represented at the ceremony by a grand-nephew.
  • August 3, 2000 – Lost Rico Brogna on waivers to Boston.
  • August 3, 2012 – Traded Joe Blanton to the Dodgers for cash.

ICYMI

Philadelphia Baseball Birthdays for August 3

  • Ed McFarland (born 1873) – Catcher who spent parts of five seasons (1897-1901) with the Phillies during his 12-year big-league career; he later helped the White Sox win the 1906 World Series.
  • Doug Taitt (born 1902) – Outfielder who played for the Phillies in 1931-1932, part of a four-season MLB career that also included stints with the Red Sox and White Sox.
  • Vernon “Whitey” Wilshere (born 1912) – Left-handed pitcher who spent all three of his big-league seasons (1934-1936) with the Philadelphia Athletics, going 10-12 after starring collegiately at Indiana.
  • Milo Candini (born 1917) – Right-handed pitcher acquired by the Phillies via the 1949 Rule 5 draft; he pitched for the club in 1950-1951 to close out an eight-season MLB career.
  • Jim Hegan (born 1920) – Five-time All-Star catcher best known for his years in Cleveland, who played for the Phillies in 1958-1959 near the end of his 17-season career and later spent two decades as a big-league coach.
  • Kevin Elster (born 1964) – Shortstop who joined the Phillies in mid-1995 after being released by Kansas City, hitting .208 in 26 games for the club.
  • Wendell Magee (born 1972) – Outfielder drafted by the Phillies in 1994 who made his major-league debut with them in 1996 and played in the organization into the early 2000s.
  • Sergio Escalona (born 1984) – Left-handed reliever signed by the Phillies as an international free agent in 2004; he made his MLB debut with the club in 2009, earning a win in relief.
  • Matt Joyce (born 1984) – Veteran outfielder who signed with the Phillies for the 2021 season, his 14th and final year in the majors, serving as a bench bat and outfield depth.
  • Alec Bohm (born 1996) – Third baseman drafted third overall by the Phillies in 2018; the runner-up for 2020 NL Rookie of the Year, he made his first All-Star team in 2024, the first Phillies third baseman elected since Placido Polanco in 2011.

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