Yankees History: The unlikeliest hero

Yankees History: The unlikeliest hero

If you look at the list of Yankees players who recorded exactly one hit while playing for the team, it’s not a roll call populated by iconic names. There are a couple pitchers from the post-DH era on there who you’ll recognize, as well as some notable — and in some cases, even legitimately great — position players from other teams who had a brief stop with the Yankees. However, the majority of the list is a rundown of guys who had mere cups of coffee with the team, and maybe in the majors in general.

Furthermore, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that most of those hits then aren’t that notable. If someone plays on a team for a short enough time that they only get one hit, the odds are that the team is not exactly sending them up in crucial situations.

In one 1976 game, a player recorded his first and only Yankee hit in a key situation, and then did something even crazier.

Larry Murray was a fifth-round draft pick of the Yankees back in 1971 out of a Chicago high school. In the minors, he showcased some impressive speed, as he put up stolen base total of 63, 29, and 62 in his first full three seasons in the Yankees’ organization. It also led to him getting a call-up by the big league team towards the end of the 1974 season. In his six games there, he was mostly used as a Herb Washington-esque pinch-runner or occasional defensive replacement, never starting and only getting one at-bat.

The next year was a similar story, although Murray’s call-up came in May/June this time around. Again, he never started and only got one chance at the plate. As he racked up another 59 steals at Double-A West Haven in 1976, the Yankees called up Murray again near the end of the season. This time he was given a few more at-bats, and then on October 2nd with the AL East already clinched, Billy Martin gave Murray a start in one of the final games of the season as the Yankees took on Cleveland.

Murray’s first couple at-bats went by without much notable happening, although he did steal second in the third inning, having gotten on after grounding into a force out at second base.

With the Yankees trailing 2-0, Murray stepped to the plate with two on and two out in the sixth inning. Facing off against then-starter Dennis Eckersley, Murray came up big against the future Hall of Famer. His single to center kept the inning alive and got the Yankees on the board. His inning wasn’t over though.

Sandy Alomar followed Murray with a single of his own. That scored another run to tie the game, with Murray using his speed to go all the way to third. That speed would then be showcased again. In they very next at-bat, Murray and Alomar combined for a double steal, with Murray scampering home to give the Yankees a lead. While Cleveland went on to tie the game, a Carlos May bunt single in the seventh proved the deciding factor in a 4-3 Yankees’ win.

Murray wouldn’t appear again that season, with the Yankees eventually losing to the “Big Red Machine” Reds in the World Series. He was still with the organization to start 1977, but in late April, he was included in a trade with the Athletics that brought Dock Ellis — of LSD no-hitter fame — and Marty Perez to New York.

Murray would get more of a chance with the A’s, playing in 206 games from 1977-79 before getting supplanted by a certain superior basestealer of note. He did record 48 steals across those years, but his bat never impressed at the major league level.

Murray returned to the minors in 1980, but that would be the end of his professional baseball career. For his MLB career, he had an OPS of .521 and an OPS+ of 46. Specifically with the Yankees, those numbers were .237 and -29. Yet, his one hit ended up being a fairly important one in the game it came in.

Resources

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/NYA/NYA197610022.shtml

https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/murrala01.shtml