Johnny Murphy

John Joseph Murphy (July 14, 1908 – January 14, 1970) was an All-Star American right-handed relief pitcher in Major League Baseball (1932, 1934–43, 1946–47) who later became a front office executive in the game. Yankees' relief ace After attending Fordham University in his native New York City, the , Murphy signed a professional contract with the New York Yankees in 1929. In 1934, his first full season with the Yankees, Murphy started 20 games (completing 10); for the remaining 11 years of his major league career, he would start only 20 games more, as he became one of the top bullpen specialists of his day. Moreover, his Yankees were one of the most powerful teams of all time, winning consecutive World Series championships from 1936 to 1939, and again in 1941 and 1943. Murphy's teammates included Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, Bill Dickey, Red Ruffing, Lefty Gomez—and, through 1934, Babe Ruth. Murphy spent his final year in the American League with the 1947 Boston Red Sox. Overall, he appeared in 415 games, 383 as a Yankee, winning 93, losing 53 (for a winning percentage of .637) with an earned run average of 3.50. He led the AL in wins for a relief pitcher seven times. While the save was not then an official statistic, Murphy four times led the AL in that category, and he was the first pitcher to reach 100 career saves, finishing with 107. In 1,045 career innings pitched, he allowed more bases on balls (444) than strikeouts (378), and 985 hits. His career WHIP was 1.367. In eight World Series games and innings (spread over six different Series), Murphy won two games, lost none, saved four, and posted an ERA of 1.10. Nicknamed "Fordham Johnny", "Fireman" and "Grandma" (either for his rocking-chair pitching motion, or his fastidious nature), Murphy was on seven World Series winning teams, the most of any pitcher in history.