For the love of the game, send Dale Murphy to Cooperstown

The time has come.

Dale Murphy deserves to be enshrined in bronze in the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame. The Braves legend, who tore up the National League in the 1980s, has been waiting to get the call since his name first appeared on the ballot in 1999.

The case against him has always been flimsy; his peak didn’t last long enough, he didn’t reach 3,000 hits or 500 home runs. He never won a World Series. What he accomplished was dominance over National League pitchers for the better part of a decade, putting up consistently monstrous numbers from 1980-1987. At the height of his powers, Murphy was, simply put, one of the best players in baseball. He also played during an era when Ted Turner launched TBS, turning the Braves into a national team and Murphy into a national hero.

Braves center fielder Dale Murphy leaps high against the wall to catch a fly ball at Dodger Stadium in 1983. (AP)

Atlanta’s beloved No. 3 took home back-to-back MVP honors in 1982 and 1983, leading the Braves to their first postseason appearance since 1969. Murphy finished near the top of the National League in home runs and RBI throughout the 80s, winning the NL home run crown in ’82 and ’83 and the RBI title both years. He hit more than 20 home runs for 12 of his 18 years in the league, during an era when 20 home runs in a season was a benchmark for a power hitter. Murphy had five seasons with more than 100 RBI. For good measure, he won four Silver Slugger and five Gold Glove awards.

He put up these numbers year after year through gritty play and natural talent. There was nothing artificial about Dale Murphy. His greatness on the field was matched by his commitment to the community and the city of Atlanta.

Murphy’s career stats should speak for themselves, but if that’s not good enough for voters, then one of the strongest cases Murphy has in his Hall of Fame push is how he stacks up against his peers.

Boston Red Sox slugger Jim Rice, who was inducted in 2009, put up numbers that mirrored Murphy’s. Like Murphy, he had a white hot peak, but it was comparatively short-lived. Also like Murphy, he didn’t reach the 3000/500 plateau. Rice had one MVP year to Murphy’s two. And yet, there he sits in Cooperstown.

Outfielder Andre Dawson, who was inducted the year after Rice (and later resigned from further participation in Baseball Hall of Fame events), put up marginally higher stats (438 career home runs to Murphy’s 398) over a longer period of time. And while he enjoyed a period of stardom in the late ’70s and ’80s, his peak never came close to Murphy’s.

Finally, while nobody would challenge Kirby Puckett’s Cooperstown bona fides, the beloved Minnesota Twin had only half as many home runs and only 200 more hits over a shorter career span. Puckett, like Murphy, was one of the most beloved players of his era. He was enshrined in the Hall in 2001, on his first ballot.

And yet, Dale Murphy, despite all his accomplishments, has never come close to induction. His name appeared on the standard ballot until 2013, maxing out his 15 years of eligibility. During that time he never achieved 25% of the votes. Since then, he has appeared four times on the Contemporary Era Committee Ballot. Murphy needs to secure 12 of the 16 votes (75%) to secure his place in the Hall.

This time, it’s different. Murphy’s quest has been backed by fans across the country and here at home. His vocal supporters have included Braves great Chipper Jones, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, broadcasters Ernie Johnson and Bob Costas, musicians like Killer Mike and Jason Aldean, and ABC News Washington Bureau Chief Rick Klein, who launched a social media lobbying effort.