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Every season, both the AL and NL honor their league’s most outstanding player with the MVP award – as you might expect, legends like Barry Bonds (7x), Albert Pujols (3x), Mickey Mantle (3x), Joe DiMaggio (3x), and Stan Musial (3x), just to name a few, grace the all-time leaderboards for most career MVPs won. However, not every MVP winner is even a Hall of Famer, as some players are dominant for a relatively brief period of time – case in point, George Foster of the Cincinnati Reds and Dale Murphy of the Atlanta Braves were MVP winners and two of the elite players of the late 1970s and 1980s, respectively, though both have fallen short of Cooperstown. Nevertheless, the pair were both highly productive players in their primes with similar career trajectories and totals, thus prompting the question:
Who was better – George Foster or Dale Murphy?
The Beginning
Though they came from relatively disparate baseball pedigrees (Murphy was the more heralded prospect), both Foster and Murphy had somewhat slow starts to their major league careers.
Born in Alabama, Foster eventually ended up graduating from high school in California; after attending El Camino College for a year, he was drafted in the third round of the 1968 MLB Draft by the in-state San Francisco Giants and spent a couple of years in the minors before making his major league debut in 1969 at age 20. However, Foster only played 54 games and had less than 150 total at-bats across two plus seasons with the Giants before being traded to the Reds in 1971 for Frank Duffy and Vern Geishert – in his first extended MLB action, he hit .241 across San Francisco and Cincinnati with 13 home runs, 58 runs batted in, 50 runs scored, a .292 on-base percentage, and a .389 slugging percentage, good for a 95 OPS+ (which measures on-base percentage plus slugging vs. a league-wide average set at 100).
As for Murphy, he was a star baseball player growing up in Oregon, earning a slew of honors as a high school senior and parlaying that into being the fifth overall pick in the first round of the 1974 MLB Draft to the Braves straight out of high school. First a catcher and then a first basemen, he eventually moved to the outfield; following cups of coffee at the big league level in both 1976 and 1977 (less than 20 games played and 100 total at-bats each year), he earned a full-time spot in 1978, though only hit .226 (with a league-high 145 strikeouts) with 23 home runs, 79 runs batted in, 66 runs scored, a .284 on-base percentage, and a .394 slugging percentage (80 OPS+).
Career Comparison
In their respective primes, Foster and Murphy were elite middle-of-the-lineup offensive forces and perennial All-Star outfielders who each won an MVP award; however, following their dominant stretches, both saw their production fall off precipitously and have ultimately fallen shy of the Hall of Fame.
On a loaded “Big Red Machine” team that included Hall of Famers like Johnny Bench, Joe Morgan, and Pete Rose, playing time was at first hard to come by for Foster. A platoon/role player for a number of years, he finally earned a starting outfield job in 1975 and responded by hitting .300 with 23 home runs, 78 runs batted in, 71 runs scored, a .356 on-base percentage, and a .518 slugging percentage (139 OPS+). From there, Foster became one of the best middle-of-the-lineup sluggers in baseball, leading the league in runs batted in for three straight years and home runs in back-to-back seasons from 1976 to 1978:
- 1976: .306 batting average with 29 home runs, 121 runs batted in, 86 runs scored, a .364 on-base percentage, and a .530 slugging percentage (150 OPS+); first of five All-Star selections and finished as NL MVP runner-up to teammate Morgan
- 1977: set career-highs across the board and led the league in numerous offensive categories by hitting .320 with 52 home runs (just the 10th player in MLB history to slug 50 long balls in a season), 149 runs batted in, 124 runs scored, a .382 on-base percentage, and a .631 slugging percentage (165 OPS+); again an All-Star and won NL MVP
- 1978: .281 batting average with 40 home runs, 120 runs batted in, 97 runs scored, a .360 on-base percentage, and a .547 slugging percentage (151 OPS+); third straight All-Star selection and sixth for MVP
With the rest of Cincinnati’s stars aging, Foster remained one of the league’s top offensive forces, earning a fourth consecutive All-Star selection in 1979 on the strength of a .302 batting average, 30 home runs, 98 runs batted in, 68 runs scored, a .386 on-base percentage, and a .561 slugging percentage, good for a 155 OPS+. This in turn was followed by consecutive years with 20+ home runs and 90+ runs batted in, including a final All-Star campaign during the shortened 1981 season in which he finished top-three for MVP (behind Mike Schmidt and Andre Dawson) and won his only Silver Slugger: .295 batting average with 22 home runs, 90 runs batted in, 64 runs scored, a .373 on-base percentage, and a .519 slugging percentage (150 OPS+). However, with demands for a new contract, Foster was traded after the season to the New York Mets for Greg Harris, Jim Kern, and Alex Trevino.
As a member of the Mets, Foster’s batting average declined significantly, though he remained a productive slugger. Despite never hitting above .270 in New York, he did hit 20+ home runs in three straight years, with highs of 28 home runs and 90 runs batted in during the 1983 season, albeit with just a .241 batting average. Midway through the 1986 season, a struggling Foster was released by the Mets and claimed by the Chicago White Sox, though played just 15 games in a White Sox uniform. Following the season, Foster did not latch on with another team, thus playing his last MLB game at age 37; however, he did play a couple of seasons in the Senior Professional Baseball Association from 1989 to 1990.
Meanwhile, after a slightly above-average 1979 season, Murphy would emerge as a superstar in the 1980s, leading the NL in games played, at-bats, runs, hits, runs batted in, and total bases for the decade. In 1980, he earned the first of seven All-Star selections during the decade on a .281 batting average with 33 home runs, 89 runs batted in, 98 runs scored, a .349 on-base percentage, and a .510 slugging percentage, good for a 135 OPS+ despite again pacing the league in strikeouts. Following a so-so shortened 1981 season, he then strung together six consecutive All-Star seasons with five straight Gold Gloves and four consecutive Silver Sluggers. Notably, Murphy won back-to-back NL MVP awards in 1982 and 1983, which at the time, made him the youngest player in baseball history to achieve the feat:
- 1982: .281 batting average with 36 home runs, a league-high 109 runs batted in, 113 runs scored, a .378 on-base percentage, and a .507 slugging percentage (142 OPS+)
- 1983: career-high .302 batting average with 36 home runs, a career-best and league-leading 121 runs batted in, a a career-high 131 runs scored, 30 stolen bases, a .393 on-base percentage, and a league-best .540 slugging percentage (149 OPS+); in addition to winning MVP, he became just the sixth player with a 30-30 season, i.e. 30 home runs and 30 stolen bases
Post his MVP years, Murphy continued to be one of the league’s elite hitters, as he then led the league in home runs in back-to-back seasons. First, he hit .290 with 36 home runs and 100 runs batted in during the 1984 season, followed by a .300 batting average with 37 home runs, 111 runs batted in, and a league-high 118 runs scored in 1985, also placing top-10 for MVP in both years (ninth and seventh, respectively). Though his numbers dipped slightly the following year (.265 batting average with 29 home runs and 83 runs batted in), Murphy quickly bounced back with a final All-Star season in 1987: .295 batting average with a career-high 44 home runs, 105 runs batted in, 115 runs scored, and career-bests of a .417 on-base percentage and a .580 slugging percentage (157 OPS+).
At the age of 32, Murphy seemed to have a number of productive years ahead of him, but inexplicably began a steep decline. While he still had enough power to hit 20+ home runs a season, his batting average dropped below .230 in both 1988 (.226) and 1989 (.228). As a result, Murphy was dealt midway through the 1990 season to the Philadelphia Phillies, but an arthritic left knee continued to hamper his production. The high point of his two-and-a-half seasons in Philadelphia was 1991 (.252 batting average with 18 home runs and 81 runs batted in), but he was released at the end of spring training in 1993 by Philadelphia and latched on with the Colorado Rockies. However, Murphy ultimately played just 26 games with Colorado before retiring at age 37.
Overall, Foster and Murphy each played 18 MLB seasons, with the latter playing more games with more at-bats; as a result, Murphy holds the statistical advantage in essentially every major offensive counting category. However, the ratio categories are mixed – Foster had a better career batting average, slugging percentage, and OPS+, while Murphy owns a higher on-base percentage. Looking at each player’s peak, the duo are also split in terms of “great” seasons – on one hand, Foster hit .300+ more frequently (4x vs. 2x), but Murphy hit 30+ home runs on more occasions (6 to 3, though Foster has a 2-to-1 advantage in 40-home run campaigns, including a 50-home run season), drove in 100+ runs more (5x to 3x), and scored 100+ runs more often (4 to 1). This also translated into more awards and accolades for the Braves great: more All-Star seasons (7 to 5), MVP awards (2 to 1), Silver Sluggers (4 to 1), and Gold Gloves (5 to 0). All that being said, the advanced metrics say that the two were highly comparable, as Murphy holds a slight edge in career Wins Above Replacement (WAR) at 46.5 to 44.2. Despite their peaks, neither Foster nor Murphy came close to making the Hall of Fame during their time on the ballot – the former never reached 7% of total votes (vs. the 75% needed for enshrinement), while the latter topped out at less than 25%.
Regular Season Statistics
| George Foster | Player | Dale Murphy |
| 18 (1969-1986) | Seasons | 18 (1976-1993) |
| 1,977 | Games Played | 2,180 |
| 7,023 | At-Bats | 7,960 |
| 1,925 | Hits | 2,111 |
| 986 | Runs | 1,197 |
| 348 | Home Runs | 398 |
| 1,239 | Runs Batted In | 1,266 |
| 666 | Walks | 986 |
| 51 | Stolen Bases | 161 |
| .274 | Batting Average | .265 |
| .338 | On-Base Percentage | .346 |
| .480 | Slugging Percentage | .469 |
| 126 | OPS+ | 121 |
| 44.2 | Wins Above Replacement | 46.5 |
| 5x | All-Star Games | 7x |
| 1x | MVP | 2x |
| 2x | World Series Titles | – |
| 1x Silver Slugger | Other Awards | 5x Gold Glove, 4x Silver Slugger |
| – | Hall of Fame Induction | – |
Source: Baseball-Reference.com
Despite similar regular season success, Foster and Murphy diverged significantly when it comes to the postseason. In fact, during his career, Murphy only made the playoffs once, hitting .273 (3 hits in 11 at-bats) in a three-game sweep to the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1982 NLCS.
In contrast, after playing sparingly in the Reds’ 1972 World Series loss to the Oakland Athletics, Foster was a key cog in his prime for back-to-back championship teams in 1975 and 1976:
- 1975: hit .364 in the NLCS and then .276 (8 hits in 29 at-bats) in the World Series as the Reds beat the Boston Red Sox in seven games
- 1976: only hit .167 in the NLCS (though with 2 home runs and 4 runs batted in) before batting a sterling .429 (6 hits in 14 at-bats) with 4 runs batted in and 6 runs scored in a sweep of the New York Yankees
Additionally, though he was not on the postseason roster (and had been released earlier in the season), Foster also received a ring when the Mets won the World Series in 1986.
Playoff Statistics
| George Foster | Player | Dale Murphy |
| 23 | Games Played | 3 |
| 76 | At-Bats | 11 |
| 22 | Hits | 3 |
| 11 | Runs | 1 |
| 3 | Home Runs | – |
| 12 | Runs Batted In | – |
| 8 | Walks | – |
| 2 | Stolen Bases | 1 |
| .289 | Batting Average | .273 |
| .353 | On-Base Percentage | .273 |
| .434 | Slugging Percentage | .273 |
Source: Baseball-Reference.com
Every athlete goes through a natural career lifecycle, from starting off as a rookie to reaching peak years of performance and finally, declining into the inevitable retirement due to a combination of age and/or injury; while elite players at their respective peaks, Foster and Murphy had relatively brief periods of dominance and declined precipitously towards the tail ends of their careers. For Hall of Fame caliber players across sports, I like to look at a concept I call a “decade of dominance.” The thinking behind this is that for most Hall of Fame type careers, there are roughly 10 great seasons that define an athlete (this idea is embodied in a sense by the NFL’s All-Decade teams), though due to injury or other factors, they might not be 10 consecutive years.
Decade of Dominance
| George Foster | Player | Dale Murphy |
| 1975-1981, 1983-1985 | Decade of Dominance | 1980-1989 |
| 1,399 | Games Played | 1,537 |
| 5,232 | At-Bats | 5,694 |
| 1,490 | Hits | 1,553 |
| 787 | Runs | 938 |
| 294 | Home Runs | 308 |
| 1,002 | Runs Batted In | 929 |
| 522 | Walks | 784 |
| 37 | Stolen Bases | 134 |
| .285 | Batting Average | .273 |
| .351 | On-Base Percentage | .361 |
| .511 | Slugging Percentage | .491 |
| 41.7 | Wins Above Replacement | 47.1 |
Source: Baseball-Reference.com
Again, looking at their decades of dominance (which accounts for essentially each player’s total career WAR), the pair are quite evenly matched: Murphy played more and thus had better counting numbers (with the exception of runs batted in) and a higher on-base percentage, but Foster hit for a higher average with a better slugging percentage.
My Thoughts
The careers of George Foster and Dale Murphy raise an interesting question of how many MVP awards (or equivalent) ensure “guaranteed” Hall of Fame status – the magic number seems to be three. Every MLB player with at least three MVPs is either in the Hall of Fame, is a future lock (Mike Trout), or would be except for steroids (Bonds or Alex Rodriguez); on the other hand, Murphy, Juan Gonzalez, and Roger Maris each have a pair of awards, yet are not members of Cooperstown. Similarly, when it comes to Cy Young Awards, every pitcher will at least three in in the Hall, will be (Clayton Kershaw and Max Scherzer) or should be (Roger Clemens), while numerous pitchers with a pair of Cy Youngs remain on the outside looking in (Tim Lincecum, Denny McLain, Bret Saberhagen, Johan Santana, and Corey Kluber; TBD on Jacob DeGrom). Between Foster and Murphy specifically, I think the latter clearly outshines the former – while the Reds great had the most dominant individual season, the longtime Braves star was excellent for a longer period of time and was also a better all-around player when you factor in his defense and speed. As to the Hall of Fame, while I believe Foster deservedly falls short, I actually think Murphy is deserving – while his numbers may no longer look “great” post the explosion of offense in the 1990s, he truly was among the elite players in MLB for nearly a decade (save for his historically steep decline) – after all, if someone like Jim Rice is a Hall of Famer, why not Murphy?
Thus, after weighing their careers against each other in terms of statistics, achievements, and impact, the winner of this faceoff is:
Dale Murphy
As always, vote for your choice and leave your thoughts and comments below.
Further Reading
More Good Stuff
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