Batting Clean

Considered by many to be the most dominant player of the 80's, Dale Murphy still remains outside of the hallowed halls of baseball's Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. Compiling numbers that are still among the best in Milwaukee/Atlanta Braves history, Dale Murphy came up short his 15 years on the Hall of Fame ballot. Today, Murphy's name appears once every two years on the Modern Era Committee ballot. Consisting of former players, managers, general managers, sportswriters, etc., the Modern Era Committee, a panel of 16 members chosen every two years, now holds the fate of Dale Murphy with respect to induction into baseball immortality. With several players currently on baseball's regular Hall of Fame ballot being passed on every year due to implications of steroid abuse, and, as a result, infractions of the Hall of Fame's "character clause," baseball writers and voters alike are expressing their protest against the induction of players whose careers have been tainted. Dale Murphy, who never once touched any banned substance during his career, checks off all the boxes with respect to the "character clause." With integrity and character being such a large part of baseball in today's society, Dale Murphy presents as good of a case as any when it comes to ambassadorship and everything that comes with representing the game both past and present. Batting Clean: Why Dale Murphy Belongs in Baseball's Hall of Fame urges the importance of inducting a player of Dale Murphy's pedigree into the Hall of Fame because he has not only earned it, but it also sends the message to aspiring and current players they can achieve baseball immortality through clean and honest training. As Bobby Cox and several others interviewed for this book have said, "The Hall of Fame really needs guys like Dale Murphy."

Considered by many to be the most dominant player of the 80's, Dale Murphy still remains outside of the hallowed halls of baseball's Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. Compiling numbers that are still among the best in Milwaukee/Atlanta Braves history, Dale Murphy came up short his 15 years on the Hall of Fame ballot. Today, Murphy's name appears once every two years on the Modern Era Committee ballot. Consisting of former players, managers, general managers, sportswriters, etc., the Modern Era Committee, a panel of 16 members chosen every two years, now holds the fate of Dale Murphy with respect to induction into baseball immortality. With several players currently on baseball's regular Hall of Fame ballot being passed on every year due to implications of steroid abuse, and, as a result, infractions of the Hall of Fame's "character clause," baseball writers and voters alike are expressing their protest against the induction of players whose careers have been tainted. Dale Murphy, who never once touched any banned substance during his career, checks off all the boxes with respect to the "character clause." With integrity and character being such a large part of baseball in today's society, Dale Murphy presents as good of a case as any when it comes to ambassadorship and everything that comes with representing the game both past and present. Comprised of extensive material taken from articles, books, and interviews conducted with Murphy supporters including Hall of Fame manager Bobby Cox, lead Major League Baseball on TBS broadcaster, Ernie Johnson, Jr., and former Atlanta Braves T.V./current New York Yankees radio voice, John Sterling, Batting Clean: Why Dale Murphy Belongs in Baseball's Hall of Fame urges the importance of inducting a player of Dale Murphy's pedigree into the Hall of Fame because he has not only earned it, but it sends the message to aspiring and current players they can achieve baseball immortality through clean and honest training. As Bobby Cox and several others interviewed for this book have said, "The Hall of Fame really needs guys like Dale Murphy."

Kirk McKnight is an American author specializing in interview-based sports books ranging from the diamonds of baseball to the Zamboni-swept ice of hockey. Kirk has interviewed over 80 professional play-by-play broadcasters for his books, including 18 hall of famers like Vin Scully, Dick Enberg, Jon Miller, Marty Brennaman, Mike "Doc" Emrick, and Marv Albert. A 2002 graduate of Brigham Young University's Marriott School of Business Management, Kirk studied screenwriting as a post graduate at the University of Nevada Las Vegas but subsequently molded his writing from fiction to non fiction with an emphasis on collegiate and professional sports. Kirk currently resides in Las Vegas, Nevada, with his wife Collette and daughter Adaira. Kirk's other books, The Voices of Baseball: The Game's Greatest Broadcasters Reflect on America's Pastime and The Voices of Hockey: Broadcasters Reflect on The Fastest Game on Earth, are published by Rowman & Littlefield and are available in stores across the United States and Canada, as well as online anywhere books are sold.