American baseball player (born 1981)
Baseball player
Matt Murton
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![](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1f/Matt_Murton_20120817.jpg/220px-Matt_Murton_20120817.jpg) Murton with the Hanshin Tigers in 2012
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Outfielder
|
Born:
(
1981-10-03
)
October 3, 1981
(age 42)
Fort Lauderdale, Florida
, U.S.
|
Batted:
Right
Threw:
Right
|
|
MLB:
July 8, 2005, for the Chicago Cubs
|
NPB:
March 26, 2010, for the Hanshin Tigers
|
|
MLB:
October 4, 2009, for the Colorado Rockies
|
NPB:
October 4, 2015, for the Hanshin Tigers
|
|
Batting average
| .286
|
---|
Home runs
| 29
|
---|
Runs batted in
| 112
|
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|
Batting average
| .310
|
---|
Home runs
| 77
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Runs batted in
| 417
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|
|
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Matthew Henry Murton
(born October 3, 1981) is an American former professional
baseball
outfielder
. He played in
Major League Baseball
(MLB) for the
Chicago Cubs
,
Oakland Athletics
, and
Colorado Rockies
. Murton also played in
Nippon Professional Baseball
(NPB) for the
Hanshin Tigers
.
Baseball career
[
edit
]
Amateur
[
edit
]
In 2001 and 2002, Murton played
collegiate summer baseball
for the
Wareham Gatemen
of the
Cape Cod Baseball League
(CCBL). Murton led the Gatemen to the league title in both seasons, being named the league's MVP in 2001, and in 2002 batting .400 and winning the league's all-star home run derby. He was inducted into the
CCBL Hall of Fame
in 2008.
[1]
[2]
[3]
Boston Red Sox
[
edit
]
Murton was drafted out of
Georgia Tech baseball
in the supplemental first round of the
2003 MLB draft
by the
Boston Red Sox
.
[4]
Murton played a total of 155 games in the Red Sox organization for the
Lowell Spinners
and the
Sarasota Red Sox
.
Chicago Cubs
[
edit
]
Murton with the Cubs
Murton was acquired at the
2004
trading deadline by the
Chicago Cubs
along with Red Sox star shortstop and fellow former Georgia Tech Yellow Jacket
Nomar Garciaparra
as part of a four-team blockbuster deal.
[5]
He spent the rest of the year with the
Class A-Advanced
Daytona Cubs
.
He started
2005
with the
Double-A
West Tenn Diamond Jaxx
, but was called up to the major leagues for the first time on July 8, along with
Adam Greenberg
, to replace the struggling
Corey Patterson
and
Jason Dubois
.
[6]
On the same day, he went 2-for-2 with a
walk
and a
sacrifice fly
against the
Florida Marlins
in his major league debut.
[7]
He continued his success in the majors over the rest of the season, hitting .321 with two
stolen bases
, seven home runs, and an
on-base percentage
of .386 in 51 games in 2005.
In
2006
, Murton became the Cubs' starting
left fielder
. On August 3, 2006, Murton went 4-for-4 with 4
doubles
and 5 RBIs in game 2 of a
doubleheader
against the
Arizona Diamondbacks
, matching a major league record for doubles in a single game.
[8]
He finished the year with the second-highest mark on the team in batting average, at .297, with 13 home runs and 62 runs batted in.
[9]
For
2007
, Murton saw his playing time reduced when the Cubs signed
Cliff Floyd
to play in left field. When
center fielder
Alfonso Soriano
switched back to left field in April, Murton switched to
right field
. On June 13, after hitting only one home run with eight RBIs in limited playing time, Murton was optioned to
Triple-A
to make room for left-handed
pitcher
Clay Rapada
.
On July 27, 2007, Murton was called back up to the major leagues, along with pitcher
Rocky Cherry
, with his first start coming on July 30.
[10]
In
2008
, Murton saw his playing time diminish even further, playing in just nineteen games, and recording only 42 plate appearances in the first three months of the season for the Cubs. In those 42 plate appearances, he managed only two hits, and spent most of the first half of the season in the minors.
Oakland Athletics
[
edit
]
On July 8, 2008, Murton was traded along with Cubs prospects
Josh Donaldson
,
Eric Patterson
, and
Sean Gallagher
to the
Oakland Athletics
for pitchers
Rich Harden
and
Chad Gaudin
.
[11]
Colorado Rockies
[
edit
]
On February 4, 2009, Murton was traded to the
Colorado Rockies
for infielder
Corey Wimberly
. When stepping to the plate at Rockies home games, the song "
Strong Tower
" by
Kutless
was played over the speaker system.
Hanshin Tigers
[
edit
]
Murton with the Hanshin Tigers
On December 4, 2009, Murton was released by the Rockies,
[12]
who sold his contract to the
Hanshin Tigers
of Japan's
Nippon Professional Baseball
.
[13]
In Murton's rookie season with the Hanshin Tigers he became only the fourth player in Nippon Professional Baseball history to have a 200-hit season.
[14]
On October 5, 2010, Murton broke the NPB single- season hit record of 210, set by
Ichiro Suzuki
in 1994 (in 130 games), getting his 211th hit in game #142.
[15]
He finished his first season in Japan with 214 hits, a .349 batting average, 17 home runs and 91 RBIs.
Murton's single-season hits record was eclipsed in 2015 by
Shogo Akiyama
of the
Seibu Lions
, who recorded 216 hits in 143 games.
[16]
Murton played six seasons for the
Hanshin Tigers
, with a .310 career batting average and 1,020 hits. In 2015, Murton became the 16th foreign player to achieve 1,000 career hits in NPB.
Chicago Cubs
[
edit
]
On February 16, 2016, Murton returned to MLB and signed a minor league contract with the
Chicago Cubs
. After 76 games with the minor league
Iowa Cubs
, Murton was released on November 7, 2016.
[17]
Detroit Tigers
[
edit
]
On February 20, 2017, Murton signed a minor league contract with the
Detroit Tigers
.
[18]
The Tigers released him on April 18, 2017.
[19]
Post-playing career
[
edit
]
On March 9, 2018, Murton retired and became an assistant in the
Chicago Cubs
front office.
[20]
On February 5, 2024, the
Philadelphia Phillies
announced Murton would serve as a minor league hitting advisor.
[21]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"2001 Wareham Gatemen"
. thebaseballcube.com
. Retrieved
July 20,
2021
.
- ^
"2002 Wareham Gatemen"
. thebaseballcube.com
. Retrieved
July 20,
2021
.
- ^
"Cape Cod Baseball League Hall of Fame 2008 Tickets Still Available"
. capecodbaseball.org
. Retrieved
September 1,
2019
.
- ^
http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/draftday/search.jsp?sc=team&sp=bos
2003 First-Year Player Draft Tracker | MLB.com
- ^
https://web.archive.org/web/20040814132413/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2004/baseball/mlb/07/31/trade.deadline/
- ^
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2103231
Patterson recently lost starting job ? MLB ? ESPN
- ^
https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/FLO/FLO200507080.shtml
July 8, 2008 Chicago Cubs at Florida Marlins ? BaseballReference.com
- ^
http://mlb.mlb.com/chc/history/single_game_records.jsp
Cubs Single Game Records | cubs.com History
- ^
https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/CHC/2006.shtml
2006 Chicago Cubs Batting, Pitching, & Fielding Statistics ? BaseballReference.com
- ^
http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/news/press_releases/press_release.jsp?ymd=20070727&content_id=2112908&vkey=pr_chc&fext=.jsp&c_id=chc
Cubs recall outfielder Matt Murton and right-hander Rocky Cherry from Triple-A Iowa | cubs.com Press Release
- ^
"Cubs acquire right-handed pitchers Rich Harden and Chad Gaudin from Oakland"
. cubs.mlb.com. Associated Press. July 8, 2008
. Retrieved
February 17,
2016
.
- ^
Ringolsby, Tracy.
Rockies release Murton to pursue career in Japan
Archived
2009-12-12 at the
Wayback Machine
,
FOX Sports
. Published December 7, 2009. Retrieved December 7, 2009.
- ^
Harding, Thomas.
Rockies clear space for Spilborghs
,
MLB.com
. Published December 7, 2009. Retrieved December 8, 2009.
- ^
Clemmons, Anna (2011-01-07).
"Matt Murton thrives in Japanese setting"
. Retrieved
July 16,
2015
.
- ^
"Matt Murton breaks Ichiro Suzuki's Japan season hits record"
.
ESPN.com
. 2010-10-05
. Retrieved
2015-08-23
.
- ^
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/sports/2015/10/01/baseball/japanese-baseball/lions-akiyama-sets-single-season-hit-record/
Japan Times ? Lions' Akiyama Sets Single Season Hits Mark. Retrieved February 10, 2016
- ^
"Matt Murton Baseball-Reference.com"
.
Baseball-Reference.com
. Retrieved
2017-02-20
.
- ^
"Transactions"
.
Detroit Tigers
. Retrieved
2017-02-20
.
- ^
"Matt Murton: Released by Tigers"
.
CBSSports.com
. Retrieved
2017-04-18
.
- ^
"Chris Denorfia, Matt Murton return to Cubs' organization in front office roles"
.
Chicago Tribune
.
- ^
"Phillies news and rumors 2/6: Phil Gosselin, Brock Stassi return to organization"
.
philliesnation.com
. Retrieved
March 3,
2024
.
External links
[
edit
]
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