The 100 Greatest in 100 Days: #92 Eddie Murray

Coming in at #92 is Eddie Murray. Murray earned the nickname Steady Eddie for being one of the most consistent hitters in baseball history.  Murray’s career is notable in that he didn’t have a peak. It was steady production for 20 straight seasons. Murray is the only player in history with 20 consecutive seasons of at least 70 RBIs and 20 doubles. He’s 11th all-time in total bases and RBIs, and 13th all-time in hits. He joins Hank Aaron, Alex Rodriguez, Albert Pujols, and Willie Mays as the only five players in history with at least 3,000 hits, 500 home runs, and 1900 RBIs. Ever the tradesman with the bat in his hands, Murray produced an excellent 11.8 strikeout percentage and is the all-time leader in sacrifice flies. Murray led the American League in OPS+ in 1984 and finished in the top-10 nine times, including three second-place finishes. He led the American League in RBIs in 1981 and finished in the top-10 11 times. He finished in the top-5 in MVP voting six times including back-to-back runner-up finishes in 1982 and 1983. He produced a .825 career postseason OPS in 186 career plate appearances while leading the Orioles to a World Series title in 1981.

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Hi (hopefully) awesome reader! I welcome your comments. However, please be aware that I make all of my arguments using facts, statistics, and logic. Unfortunately, the average comment on a top-100 list goes something like this:

"UR StooPid. (Insert player) is trash. I've watched (pick a sport) for (pick a number of years) and (pick a player) is better than everyone. UR DUMB. HAHA6969."

–Some Jabroni

As cognitively stimulating as this species of comment is, it ends up being a missed opportunity to share a nuanced perspective. I reply to all comments that show even the most basic levels of thought and humility. The people who make the comments like the example above are under the assumption that the three seconds of thought that popped into their brains after reading the list is more than the 1000s of hours that I put into creating and maintaining the lists. I would be happy to defend any placement, or make an adjustment if one is warranted. If you are a jabroni, like the one above, then your comment will die in the lonely void of the unpublished comments section.

For everyone else, I look forward to your comments!

P.S. The theme of this site and the top-100 lists is that athletes from previous generations have historically been grossly overrated by sports publications in a way that is statistically improbable. Click on the "About" dropdown menu to see just how badly the average top-100 list disproportionately favors athletes from older generations when leagues were smaller, race quotas existed, and globalization wasn't a thing. Also, please consider reading "The History" section of the sport you are commenting on.

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