There are a couple of former Atlanta Braves players who have been hoping for the Hall of Fame for some time now. One of those is two-time NL MVP Dale Murphy who has had quite the campaign in Braves Country to try and get him inducted into Cooperstow

Unfortunately, Murph has never gotten the votes needed to land himself in the Hall. Part of that struggle comes from his short-term window of success. That already made things tough for him to make it to the HOF. Now, he faces a new obstacle in what looks like a completely loaded Contemporary Era ballot vote.

Dale Murphy’s case for the Hall of Fame faces even more adversity against impressive class on Contemporary Era ballot

However, he has some impressive stats, especially from 1982 to 1985, when Murphy appeared in 162 games each year. He led the NL in home runs, RBI, and slugging percentage twice each and also won back-to-back NL MVP Awards in 1982 and 1983.

He is also the only player among 13 top position players during the 80s with a top bWAR to not make the Hall of Fame. Murph carried a 47.1 bWAR during the decade, and that was the 10th best during the 80s.

During his 18-year career with the Braves, Phillies, and Rockies, Murphy was a two-time MVP, a seven-time All-Star, a five-time Gold Glover, a four-time Silver Slugger, and he was awarded the Clemente Award in 1988.

While those are impressive numbers, he fell off towards the latter half of his career. However, Murphy’s stats aren’t really a glaring issue and should be impressive enough to give him a fighting chance. The main concern now is who he is up against on the Contemporary Era ballot. He is featured among some impressive players, including Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Gary Sheffield, Don Mattingly, Carlos Delgado, Jeff Kent, and Fernando Valenzuela.

Yes, Bonds and Clemens have their concerns with playing during the steroid era, but there’s no denying the caliber of players they were. They will no doubt receive support to be inducted into the HOF over more borderline cases like Murph.

Mattingly will also have supporters, and his time in baseball overlapped Murphy’s. That could lose Murph some voters, as Mattingly could be considered one of the best players in Yankees history to never win a World Series. He also set a few records during his time in the big leagues and his overall case for the Hall of Fame may actually be better than Murphy’s given his longevity and continued participation in the game.

There’s no denying Murph deserves a shot at the Hall of Fame. He had a great run during his time in Major League Baseball. Braves fans will find out on December 7th if enough voters agree that he is Hall of Fame worthy.