Murff entered the majors in 1956 with the Braves as a 35-year-old rookie, having been signed by Milwaukee scout Earle W. Halstead. In a story chronicled in Murff's biography "The Scout", Halstead negotiated with Dick Burnett, owner of the Dallas Eagles in the Texas League, where Murff played. The two sides reached an impasse until Halstead proposed a game of gin rummy with the winner setting the terms of the trade. Halstead won and the Braves paid Burnett $40,000 and three players from the 40 man roster to obtain Murff's contract. In part of two seasons, he posted a 2–2 record with a 4.65 ERA and three saves in 26 appearances, including two starts, giving up 26 earned runs on 56 hits and 18 walks while striking out 31 in 50+1⁄3 innings of work.
In the early 1970s, Murff helped start the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor baseball program, and retired to Tyler, Texas, in 1991 after serving 34 years as a scout. He was inducted into the Texas Baseball Hall of Fame in 1989 and the Texas Scouts Association Hall of Fame in 1999, and in 1994 the UMHB's ballpark was named in his honour, Red Murff Field.
Murff died in a Tyler nursing home at the age of 87.
murff, john, robert, murff, april, 1921, november, 2008, american, relief, pitcher, major, league, baseball, played, from, 1956, through, 1957, milwaukee, braves, listed, murff, batted, threw, right, handed, attended, gettysburg, college, topps, baseball, card. John Robert Murff April 1 1921 November 28 2008 was an American relief pitcher in Major League Baseball who played from 1956 through 1957 for the Milwaukee Braves Listed at 6 ft 3 in 1 91 m 195 lb Murff batted and threw right handed He attended Gettysburg College Red MurffTopps baseball card 1957 series 321 Relief pitcherBorn 1921 04 01 April 1 1921Burlington Texas U S Died November 28 2008 2008 11 28 aged 87 Tyler Texas U S Batted RightThrew RightMLB debutApril 21 1956 for the Milwaukee BravesLast MLB appearanceMay 30 1957 for the Milwaukee BravesMLB statisticsWin loss record2 2Earned run average4 65Saves2TeamsMilwaukee Braves 1956 1957 A native of Burlington Texas Murff started his professional baseball career in A and AA ball On June 8 1951 while pitching for the Texas City Texans he threw a no hitter against the Harlingen Capitals A year later he pitched 19 2 3 innings of a 20 inning game in a lost cause against the Texarkana Bears who defeated the Texans 3 2 Then in 1955 he won The Sporting News Minor League Player of the Year Award and was named Texas League Pitcher of the Year after going 27 11 for the Dallas Eagles Murff entered the majors in 1956 with the Braves as a 35 year old rookie having been signed by Milwaukee scout Earle W Halstead In a story chronicled in Murff s biography The Scout Halstead negotiated with Dick Burnett owner of the Dallas Eagles in the Texas League where Murff played The two sides reached an impasse until Halstead proposed a game of gin rummy with the winner setting the terms of the trade Halstead won and the Braves paid Burnett 40 000 and three players from the 40 man roster to obtain Murff s contract In part of two seasons he posted a 2 2 record with a 4 65 ERA and three saves in 26 appearances including two starts giving up 26 earned runs on 56 hits and 18 walks while striking out 31 in 50 1 3 innings of work Following his majors career Murff coached in the minors and managed the 1960 Jacksonville Braves of the South Atlantic League As a scout for the New York Mets he discovered and signed future Hall of Famer pitcher Nolan Ryan and All Star catcher Jerry Grote Ryan later named president of the Texas Rangers noted his friendship with Murff in his 1999 Hall of Fame induction speech In the early 1970s Murff helped start the University of Mary Hardin Baylor baseball program and retired to Tyler Texas in 1991 after serving 34 years as a scout He was inducted into the Texas Baseball Hall of Fame in 1989 and the Texas Scouts Association Hall of Fame in 1999 and in 1994 the UMHB s ballpark was named in his honour Red Murff Field Murff died in a Tyler nursing home at the age of 87 In the 2023 film The Hill Murff is portrayed by actor Scott Glenn Further reading editSABR BioProject Burlington Texas Irish Settlement Archived from the original on February 13 2005 Retrieved November 29 2008 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint bot original URL status unknown link External links editCareer statistics and player information from Baseball Reference or Baseball Reference Minors or Retrosheet or Baseball Almanac Red Murff at Find a Grave Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Red Murff amp oldid 1217817220, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
