Joe Craig McMurtry (born November 5, 1959) is an American former Major League Baseball pitcher for the
Atlanta Braves
The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The Braves were founded in Bos ...
(1983–86),
Texas Rangers (1988–90) and
Houston Astros (1995).
He was named the
athletic director
An athletic director (commonly "athletics director" or "AD") is an administrator at many American clubs or institutions, such as colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches an ...
at
Temple College
Temple College is a public community college in Temple, Texas, with regional branch campuses at other locations in Central Texas.
History
Temple Junior College was founded in 1926 to serve post-secondary students in eastern Bell County, Texa ...
in 2013.
Career
In 1982, McMurtry was Pitcher of the Year for the
International League's
Richmond Braves. In 1983, he finished seventh in voting for the National League Cy Young Award and second in voting for National League Rookie of the Year, to
Darryl Strawberry, for having a 15–9 record with a 3.08 ERA in 36 games, 35 of them started. He also completed six games and shutout three.
In eight seasons, he had a 28–42 win–loss record, 212 games, 79 games started, six complete games, three shutouts, 36 games finished, four saves, innings pitched, 650 hits allowed, 341 runs allowed, 303 earned runs allowed, 54 home runs allowed, 336 walks allowed, 349 strikeouts, 10 hit batsmen, 18 wild pitches, 2,921 batters faced, 17 intentional walks, eight balks and a 4.08 ERA.
On June 4, 1986, McMurtry gave up
Barry Bonds's first career home run. Looking back on the play twenty years later he said "It was a
fastball
The fastball is the most common type of pitch thrown by pitchers in baseball and softball. " Power pitchers," such as former American major leaguers Nolan Ryan and Roger Clemens, rely on speed to prevent the ball from being hit, and have thr ...
, down and away. He took it the other way. I don't know how he hit it."
On February 2, 1987, McMurtry was traded by the Braves to the
Toronto Blue Jays
The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...
for
Damaso Garcia and
Luis Leal.
However, McMurtry never played a game for the Blue Jays. Also, Leal never played for the Braves, while Garcia played only 21 games for them, batting .117 before being released.
After the conclusion of his playing career, McMurtry coached the baseball team at
Temple College
Temple College is a public community college in Temple, Texas, with regional branch campuses at other locations in Central Texas.
History
Temple Junior College was founded in 1926 to serve post-secondary students in eastern Bell County, Texa ...
.
References
External links
, o
Retrosheet
1959 births
Living people
American expatriate baseball players in Mexico
Atlanta Braves players
Baseball players from Texas
Diablos Rojos del México players
Greenville Braves players
Gulf Coast Rangers players
Houston Astros players
Knoxville Blue Jays players
Major League Baseball pitchers
McLennan Highlanders baseball players
Mexican League baseball pitchers
Oklahoma City 89ers players
People from Bell County, Texas
Phoenix Firebirds players
Richmond Braves players
Savannah Braves players
Syracuse Chiefs players
Texas Rangers players
Tiburones de La Guaira players
American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela
Tucson Toros players
Temple Leopards coaches
Junior college baseball coaches in the United States
Junior college athletic directors in the United States
Minor league baseball coaches
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