American baseball player (born 1981)
Baseball player
William R.W. Murphy
(born May 9, 1981) is an American professional baseball left-handed
pitcher
. He has played in
Major League Baseball
(MLB) for the
Arizona Diamondbacks
and
Toronto Blue Jays
, with an 0?0 record in the Major Leagues. He has also played in
Nippon Professional Baseball
(NPB) for the
Chiba Lotte Marines
being one of the most highly known pitchers in Japan during the 2010 season. Murphy and
Yu Darvish
were both the top leading Aces in Japan for the 2010 season, yet Murphy being the dominant force for his team, the
Chiba Lotte Marines
to win the
2010 Japan Series
. He has also played in the
Chinese Professional Baseball League
(CPBL) for the
Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions
. Bill Murphy is the only player in Major League Baseball history to be traded three times in less than a 24-hour time period, in the Paul Lo Duca, Brad Penny, Hee-seop Choi, Juan Encarnacion and Guillermo Mota trade.
Murphy attended
Arlington High School
in
Riverside, California
. After graduating from high school, Murphy was granted a baseball scholarship to
CSU Northridge
. Before attending college, he was drafted by the
San Francisco Giants
in the 24th round (738th overall) in the
1999 Major League Baseball draft
, but did not sign with them.
After attending
California State University, Northridge
for three years, Murphy was selected as the 98th overall pick in the third-round of the 2002 famous
Moneyball
draft.
Career
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Oakland Athletics
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He was drafted again by the
Oakland Athletics
in the third round (98th overall) of the
2002
"
Moneyball
" draft. He spent two seasons in the Athletics organization, pitching for the
Vancouver Canadians
(2002),
Kane County Cougars
(2003) and
Midland RockHounds
(2003). On June 10, 2003, Bill pitched a no-hitter for the
Kane County Cougars
.
Florida Marlins
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On December 23, 2003, he was sent to the
Florida Marlins
as the player to be named later that had sent
Mark Redman
to the Athletics and
Mike Neu
to the Marlins in a trade on December 16, 2003.
Murphy began the 2004 season with the
Carolina Mudcats
, the Marlins Double-A affiliate. In 20 starts with the Mudcats, he was 6?4 with a 4.08 ERA.
Arizona Diamondbacks
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On July 30, 2004, Murphy was traded along with
Hee-Seop Choi
and
Brad Penny
to the
Los Angeles Dodgers
for
Paul Lo Duca
,
Juan Encarnacion
, and
Guillermo Mota
. The next day, on July 31, 2004, he was traded once again, this time to the
Arizona Diamondbacks
along with
Koyie Hill
and
Reggie Abercrombie
for
Steve Finley
and
Brent Mayne
. He finished the season with the Double-A
El Paso Diablos
.
Murphy spent the whole 2005 season with the Triple-A
Tucson Sidewinders
but performed poorly as he had a 5.65
ERA
in 23 games (21 starts). He began the 2006 season back in Double-A with the
Tennessee Smokies
. He was later promoted back up to Triple-A.
In 2007, Murphy once again began the year in Triple-A. He started nine games in which he went 2?2 with a 4.05 ERA. He was mainly a relief pitcher however as he pitched 45 games out of the bullpen. He went 1?1 with a 3.35 ERA with 1 save out of the bullpen. His good performance earned him a September 1 call-up by the big league club.
He made his Major League debut against the
San Diego Padres
on September 3, working 1.2 innings in relief and allowing three earned runs on 3 hits and 3 walks. In 10 games for the Diamondbacks in 2007, he had a 5.68 ERA.
In
2008
, during spring training, the Diamondbacks designated Murphy for assignment and placed him on waivers.
Toronto Blue Jays
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The
Toronto Blue Jays
claimed him off waivers on March 17.
[1]
Murphy did not make the 25-man Toronto 2009 roster out of spring training, and was assigned to Triple-A
Las Vegas 51s
. On April 14, 2009, Murphy was called up to the Toronto Blue Jays to replace the injured
Jesse Litsch
.
[2]
Murphy made his Toronto debut on April 15 in relief, in a win over the
Minnesota Twins
. On November 3, 2009, he was designated for assignment to make room for
Jarrett Hoffpauir
. In 8 games with the Blue Jays, he worked in 11.1 innings with a 3.18 ERA.
Chiba Lotte Marines
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On November 15, 2009, it was announced that Murphy would take a tryout for the Japanese team
Chiba Lotte Marines
. In 2010 Murphy led the Chiba Lotte Marines to the Japan World Series helping the team to win the championship along with being one of the top pitchers starting off the year undefeated 6-0 until his first loss against Yu Darvish. In 2010 Murphy eventually held one of the best records finishing with 12 wins and 6 losses, with a better record than most in Japan including pitchers like Yu Darvish, with a 3.75ERA on the season. He played with the Marines in 2010 and 2011, appearing in 48 games, with 30 starts. In both seasons with the Chiba Lotte Marines he finished with a combined 14?11 record and an overall 3.81 ERA. He made history in 2010 by winning 6 consecutive games in Japan without a loss.
Return to the Blue Jays
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He returned to the Blue Jays on a minor league contract on January 17, 2012, and was assigned to the Triple-A Las Vegas 51s. Murphy spent the entire 2012 season with the Las Vegas 51's with another winning record of 8-5 and an overall 4.38 ERA. Being one of the top pitchers with innings pitched in the PCL that season, Murphy was not granted a September call-up though his performance as starter/reliever is difficult in itself in the Pacific Coast League Triple-A, leaving many second guessing the Major League Affiliated Club of the Toronto Blue Jays.
Long Island Ducks/Camden Riversharks/7-Eleven Lions
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Murphy played the 2013 season for the
Long Island Ducks
of the
Atlantic League of Professional Baseball
, helping lead them to yet another championship. In August 2014, it was announced that Murphy signed with the Camden Riversharks of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball. In 2 starts of the 2014 season, Murphy has started 2 games, pitched 10 innings with 0 runs, 0.00 ERA and is 1?0 on the year in the 2014 Atlantic League.
After performing 2 scoreless starts with the Riversharks, going 1?0 with 10 scoreless innings, the
Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions
of Taiwan purchased his contract for the remainder of the 2014 season in hopes of obtaining another championship.
References
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External links
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