Glenn Dale Murray, Sr.

Glenn Dale Murray, Sr. (July 21, 1915 in Rapid City, South Dakota – November 13, 1991 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana) was an American Minor League Baseball player. His professional playing career spanned the years 1935 to 1947, with a three-year hiatus from 1942 to 1945.

Glenn Murray’s family moved westward along the Missouri-Pacific Railroad (Murray's father’s employer). Murray was raised in Coos Bay, Oregon. A left-handed batting outfielder and right-handed pitcher, he began his career in organized baseball in 1934 with the Coquille Loggers, a semi-professional team in Coos County, Oregon.

Baseball scouts noticed Murray’s exceptional hitting, and he began his professional career in 1935 with the Tallahassee Capitals of the Georgia-Florida League. He would play outfield exclusively in his professional career.

Between 1936 and 1938, he played with the Scranton Miners of the New York – Penn League; the Peoria Reds of the Illinois-Indiana-Iowa league; and the Nashville Volunteers of the Southern Association. He played at the highest level of his career in 1936 and 1937 with Nashville, then the Class AA affiliate of the New York Giants.

Murray was purchased by the Chicago White Sox in 1938 and played for two of the team’s affiliates in 1938 and 1939: the Monroe (Louisiana) White Sox of the Cotton States League and the Dallas Rebels of the Texas League. He also played briefly during this period with the Longview Cannibals of the East Texas League.

From 1939 to 1942, Murray played for the Rayne (Louisiana) Rice Birds and Opelousas (Louisiana) Indians in the Class D Evangeline League, putting together some of his best seasons in professional baseball. In 1942, the Opelousas club sold Murray to the White Sox affiliate in Anniston, Alabama of the Southeastern League. He advanced to the Class A level later that season with the Shreveport Sports of the Texas League.

His career was interrupted – along with the operations of many professional sports leagues – by World War II. Murray returned to Oregon in 1942 and spent the following three years as a national defense worker, transporting heavy equipment and armaments along the pacific coast.

Murray resumed his baseball career in 1946 as a player / manager with the Baton Rouge Red Sticks of the Evangeline League. Murray retired as a player after the 1947 season, a year in which he led the league in doubles and total bases. His last season in professional baseball was 1950 when he managed the Evangeline League’s Abbeville (Louisiana) Athletics.

Murray’s clutch hitting and defensive skills made him a favorite among fans in Evangeline League towns, and he was voted to numerous all-star teams during his stint in the league. In the 1980s, history professor Paul Leslie of Nicholls State University in Thibodaux, Louisiana revived interest in the history of professional baseball in the state’s Acadiana region. He gathered artifacts from the league’s 21-year existence (1934-1942, 1946-1957) for a permanent exhibit at the university and hosted annual reunions for the league’s players. In 1989, Glenn Murray was selected for inclusion in the Evangeline League Hall of Fame.

External links

* [http://www.nicholls.edu/baseball Nicholls State University Evangeline Baseball League page]
* [http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com Minor League Baseball official website]