Unfortunately, Murtaugh is yet another player who was called away to military service at the the peak of his playing career. Serving with the 36th Infantry Division, he holds the distinction of being one of the very few major leaguers who served with the U.S. Army in both the European and Pacific Theaters. Here is my tribute to the great Danny Murtaugh - infielder, manager and combat veteran.
Daniel E. Murtaugh was born in Chester, Pennsylvania on October 8, 1917, and attended Chester High School. Only in one year did the school have a varsity baseball team and he made the club, also starring on the basketball squad. He was playing in the Chester Twilight League, aged 16, in 1934. Starring with Felton Hose and Chemical, Murtaugh was already the talk of the southeast Pennsylvania town. “Young Danny Murtaugh is just a little fellow,” reported the Chester Times on February 15, 1934, “but he is one of the best all around athletes in the city. If the half-pint . . . adds a little beef, brawn and height, he will be noticed among the big boys in baseball.”
In 1935 and 1936, he starred with Chester Boys’ Club in the Twilight League. Under the tutelage of George Noblitt – a turn-of-the-century minor leaguer - he developed into a smooth-fielding, consistent hitting infielder, with plenty of speed. He was also with the Chester American Legion juniors as they battled their way to the state finals at Reading in 1936.
Murtaugh began 1937 with the Sun Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company in the Delaware River Industrial League, but in June, he was one of six Chester boys that headed to Cambridge, Massachusetts, to tryout with the Cambridge Cardinals in the newly formed Class D Eastern Shore League. “At least six prominent young athletes from this city will roll out of here tomorrow morning for the sunny surroundings of the Eastern Shore,” announced the Chester Times on May 4. “The sextet that is definitely on its way to fame and fortune includes Danny Murtaugh, Eddie Ryan, Jackie Turner, Jimmy Turk, Jimmy Ettner and Vinnie Vinlasz.”
More than 100 boys attended the camp and both Murtaugh and Ettner, an outfielder, were signed by the Cardinals. Playing mainly second base, Murtaugh batted .297 his rookie year and was back with Cambridge in 1938 as the team’s starting shortstop, batting .312 with 52 RBIs and 38 stolen bases. The youngster was impressing just about everyone that saw him play, even the mayor of Cambridge. “He gave us every ounce of his skill and strength,” declared Mayor Wesley Matthews, “and was in there playing every minute of the game, and playing to win, but by clean sportsmanship.”
It must be assumed, therefore, that Mayor Matthews didn’t attend a game against the Salisbury Indians in which Murtaugh was ejected. Catcher Fred Thomas of the Indians took exception to the jeers he was receiving from the Cambridge bench and made a personal sortie into their dugout, where he was met with the fists of Murtaugh. The umpires ejected Thomas and Murtaugh, which was too bad for the young shortstop as he had a double and two singles in four trips to the plate, had scored three runs and handled six chances in the field.In 1939, Murtaugh made the huge jump from Class D to Class AA ball – one level below the majors – when he joined the Rochester Red Wings of the International League for spring training at Winter Haven, Florida. And he quickly proved he deserved to be playing at that level when, in his debut for the Red Wings on April 20, he drove home the winning run in the 10th inning. “Danny Murtaugh made his debut in Class AA ball a sensational one yesterday afternoon,” announced the Chester Times the following day, “when the Chester athlete doubled off the right field wall in the tenth inning to drive home the only run of the ball game as Rochester downed the defending champions of the International League, 1 to 0, at Newark. Murtaugh’s swat was a line drive that came within a foot of clearing the right field barrier, 320 feet from the plate.”
Murtaugh continued to play well with Rochester. Through May he had appeared in 22 games and was batting .326. He failed to hit in only one game and connected safely in the last 14 contests. Furthermore, he committed only one error in the field. On May 19, he was traded to the Columbus Red Birds of the Class AA American Association – also a Cardinals farm club. In 111 games he batted an uncharacteristic .255 but played solid defense at second base.
In 1940, Murtaugh joined the Houston Buffs of the Class A1 Texas League where, moving to third base, he got off to a flying start. “The St. Louis Cardinals are moaning for an infielder to fill a gap that has developed so early in the season,” protested the Chester Times on May 3, 1940. “The Cards could do worse than take a look at their farm hand down in Houston named Danny Murtaugh. In his first fourteen games Danny has been up to the plate 54 times and has delivered 21 hits, including four doubles and two triples. In the lead-off role he has scored 17 runs and batted in seven more. He has hit safely in his last five games and in his last four has collected ten hits in 17 times at bat. His average to date is .389.”Whilst his bat cooled down somewhat, Murtaugh still had an impressive season, hitting .299 in 155 games with 57 RBIs and 19 stolen bases. Murtaugh was back with Houston in 1941. “The dapper second sacker,” announced the Chester Times on March 7, 1941, “is slightly disappointed in not moving up for a training trip with the parent St. Louis Cardinals. All he did last year was to lead the Texas League in run-scoring, finish second in number of hits, third in stolen bases, and third on his team's roster in batting average. In addition his fielding was dazzling.”
Sadly, Murtaugh had to return to Chester in mid-March, following the death of his father, also Daniel, but this did not seem to affect his stride and he wasted no time in showing the Cardinals he was worth a look in the big leagues. In 69 games he batted .317 and stole 15 bases. On June 28, 1941, Murtaugh finally got that look but not with the Cardinals. He was purchased by the Philadelphia Phillies.
“In securing Murtaugh,” said the Chester Times on June 30, 1941, “the Phillies get an infielder rated as the best in the minor leagues by every major league scout who has watched him. All of them agree that he is ready for the majors and a cinch to make good. In a poll of managers; owners and umpires made last week by a Texas newspaper to pick two teams for an all-star game, Murtaugh was rated as the Texas League's number one player.”
The 23-year-old infielder reported to the Phillies in Boston on July 3. “I never expected it this season," he told reporters. "I was having a pretty good year, but I thought my opportunity would have to come on a sale at the end of the season, or in the draft.”Murtaugh had been on a 17-day road trip when he received word to report to the Phillies, and just had time to dash to his Houston home to pack his bags and grab the first flight out of town. He made his major league debut for the Phillies in a double-header against the Braves on July 4. He collected one hit - a double - in four official trips in the first game, and went hitless for four in the second. Two days later, he made his debut at Shibe Park in front of hundreds of fans who had made the journey from Chester. Despite miserable weather his hometown followers saw Murtaugh get a hit off Carl Hubbell.
It had taken Murtaugh six years to get to the major leagues, and in 1942 he was looking forward to his first full season at the highest level of baseball, and he didn’t disappoint Phillies fans. In 114 games playing shortstop, third base and second base, he batted .241 (22 points better than the previous year). His 21 sacrifice hits was second best in the league and his 13 stolen bases was sixth best.
And Murtaugh continued to get better. In 1943, his average climbed to .273 as he established himself as the Phillies starting second baseman. But his season came to an end on August 19 in Philadelphia. After going hitless in five at-bats against the Cardinals, Murtaugh headed off for his Army induction at New Cumberland Army Reception Center, Pennsylvania.
It wasn’t long before Murtaugh was playing service baseball. In fact, it was less than a week. On August 26, 1943, he played for the New Cumberland soldiers before 35,000 fans, helping raise $800 million in War Bonds at the Polo Grounds, New York. Organized by the New York Journal-American, the New Cumberland team, with Hank Greenberg, Johnny Beazley, Billy Hitchcock and Enos Slaughter in the line-up, were defeated the Giant-Yankee-Dodger all-stars, 5 to 2.
From New Cumberland, Murtaugh joined the Army Air Force and trained at Miami Beach, Florida. He then transferred to Buckley Field, Colorado - a technical training school on the outskirts of Denver that would train over 50,000 airmen in initial basic training. In charge of base athletics at Buckley, Murtaugh together with Porter Vaughan of the Philadelphia Athletics helped the base team in the local Victory League.
In January 1945, as every able-bodied servicemen was needed for combat duty, Private Murtaugh was assigned to the infantry and sent to Europe. He saw action with Company B, 386th Infantry Regiment of the 97th Infantry Division in the Ruhr pocket and in Czechoslovakia, serving in a mortar squad.
By June 1945, with Nazi Germany defeated, Murtaugh was back in the United States. “The player the cellar-bogged Phillies need more than any other to bolster their erratic infield - Chester's Danny Murtaugh - is home on furlough after serving four months in the European war,” announced the Chester Times on June 29, 1945. “Evidence of the high regard in which the stocky second sacker is held by the Blue Jays [the nickname the Phillies used between 1943 and 1945] is shown by the fact that as soon as Pennock [Herb Pennock, Phillies GM] heard that Danny was home, he asked him to play for the club while on furlough.”
But for Murtaugh, baseball was not a priority at the time. “Danny, who will head for the South Pacific after a period of training at Fort Bragg, turned down the offer . . . he wants to enjoy his 30 days' home just resting.”
Nevertheless, by July he was playing for Chester’s Lloyd Athletic Club. His time at home, however, was brief. He was later re-deployed to the Pacific and ended his military days serving in Japan.
As spring training rolled around in 1946, Murtaugh was among the many returning servicemen looking to regain his old job. Reflecting on the years Murtaugh had lost to military service, Phillies scout Jocko Collins said in June 1945: “The Phils lost their key man when Danny left, and they've never got over it. He not only held the infield together but supplied the spark for the whole team.”Murtaugh had a promising spring training and on opening day at New York, on April 16, he hit a two-run homer against the Giants, only the second of his major league career. Nevertheless, the Phillies sold the 28-year-old infielder to the Rochester Red Wings of the International League on May 2, to make room for Emil Verban, second baseman obtained from the St. Louis Cardinals.
Undoubtedly disappointed to be back in the minors, Murtaugh set out to prove he was still a big leaguer, batting .322, more than enough for the Boston Braves to take notice and obtain his services in the annual draft meeting of November 1, 1946. Yet, Murtaugh was still unable to earn a spot on the major league roster and spent 1947 with the Milwaukee Brewers of the American Association, batting.302 and hitting a career-high seven home runs.
In November 1947, Murtaugh was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates, marking the beginning of his major league career revival. As the Pirates starting second baseman he played 146 games and batted .290 with 71 RBIs in 1948, leading National League second basemen in putouts and assists.
In 1949, his average slumped to .203, but he bounced back in 1950, hitting .294 in 118 games. In 1951, his last year in the majors, Murtaugh, now 33, batted just .199 in 77 games.
Murtaugh began his managing career the following year. He managed the New Orleans Pelicans of the Southern Association from 1952 to 1954, piloted the Charleston Senators of the American Association in 1955, and joined the Pirates as a coach in 1956.
On August 4, 1957, Murtaugh succeeded Bobby Bragan as manager of the Pirates. He guided the team to the 1960 World Series before retiring following the 1964 season, due to health problems. He took a front office job with the Pirates until being pressed into service as an interim manager when Harry Walker was fired during 1967. In 1970, he was back as manager of the Pirates and led the team to the Eastern Division title that year and the World Championship the following year before stepping down.When Bill Virdon was fired as Pirates manager in September 1973, Murtaugh reluctantly came back to managing, leading the team to Eastern Division titles in 1974 and 1975. Aged 58, he retired at the end of the 1976 season. "I think I've been around long enough," Murtaugh said. "In my younger years, I don't think I spent enough time with my children. I'm going to kind of make it up with my grandchildren."
Danny Murtaugh suffered a stroke two months later on November 30. He was hospitalized at Crozer-Chester Medical Center in Upland, Pennsylvania, where he died on December 2, 1976. He was 59 years old and is buried at SS. Peter and Paul Cemetery in Springfield, Pennsylvania.
His number 40 was retired by the Pirates in 1977.
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