Joe Murphy

Born: January 5, 1950
Died:
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Joe Murphy was the son of Michael Murphy, the Harbor and Wharf Commissioner for the city of St. Louis from 1887 - 1891. He was a graduate of St. Louis University and an amateur sprinter and pitcher. As sprinter, he was pushing 10 seconds in the 100 yards and was considered one of the fastest runners in the west. He pitched for a St. Louis club called the Prickly Ash and was a member of the Missouri Amateur Athletic Club (MAAC). By 1888, Joe Murphy was a well-known sports figure in St. Louis and the midwest.

In April of 1886, the Cincinnati Red Stockings came to town for a series against the Browns. They had with them their star pitcher, Tony Mullane, but there was a court injunction against his playing baseball in St. Louis dating back to 1884, when he signed first with the St. Louis Maroons (then in the Union Association), and then jumped to Toledo in the American Association when they offered him more money. Cincinnati was negotiating with Henry Lucas, owner of the Maroons (in the National League in 1886), to have the injunction lifted, but no arrangement could be made. The Red Stockings found themselves in need of a pitcher for the final game of the series, and they turned to Joe Murphy. He pitched well, out-pitching Browns' star Bob Caruthers, but the Browns still won the game. However, the Reds were so impressed that they attempted to sign Murphy to a contract. He declined, wishing to preserve his amateur status. Despite not having a contract of any sort for 1886, however, Joe Murphy managed to pitch in five games total for the Red Stockings, one game for the St. Louis Browns, and four games for the St. Louis Maroons in the National League.

Prior to the start of the season in 1887, multiple teams attempted to sign him, be he still declined. He pitched one game in 1887, on August 19, for the St. Louis Browns as a fill-in when the Browns were short-handed due to injuries and absences. Going into the 1888 season, some reports indicated he would be pitching for the Browns that season. He appeared in one game for the Browns in Spring Training against the Whites under the name "Ashland" (March 29). He also pitched against the Whites in a spring training game for the Prickley Ash, for whom he continued to pitch during the summer of 1888. However, he still wanted to pitch without signing a formal contract so as to preserve his amateur status, and Von der Ahe balked at this plan, so he remained unsigned.

On May 27 the Whites played a double header against Omaha in St. Louis, with one of the two games having been moved up from May 28 so the teams could travel one day earlier. Nyce and Staley had been alternating starts and Nyce had pitched the day before. The Browns started a pitcher named "Hughes" in Game 1 of the double header, with Staley starting the second game. According to the local papers, Hughes was "a well-known local pitcher". The Chicago Tribune identified him as Joe Murphy, while the St. Paul Globe was even more specific, identifying him as the sporting editor for the Globe-Democrat. Given the relationship between Murphy and Von der Ahe, it is not surprising he was called on to make that start.

Just under a month later, the Whites limped home from their final, disastrous road trip with only Fred Nyce on the roster as a pitcher, Staley having been sold the day before. Nyce hadn't pitched in a few days, but he had pitched four of the last eight games and played in seven of them. In the first game back, on June 20, "Farquhar" started for the Whites. The Minneapolis Star Tribune and the Chicago Tribune both identified Farquhar as Joe Murphy. The Whites lost 8-7, with only two of the eight runs allowed by Murphy being earned. (Kenyon drooped three fly balls in the second, resulting in 4 runs.) The Whites left the bases loaded in the ninth as the last two batters striking out on six called strikes, five of which were reportedly outside the strike zone. This was the last professional game for Joe Murphy. He started a charity game on June 24 for the Missouri Amateur Athletic Club against the remains of the St. Louis Whites, the day after the club was formally disbanded, which the M.A.A.C. team lost 7-5.

Given that Murphy had played games in each of the two previous seasons under his own name, why was he listed under false names for those three games (including the spring game) in 1888? The answer most likely lies in his desire to remain an amateur. Even as early as 1886, there was an article in the Post-Dispatch questioning his amateur status if he was playing professional baseball. While he pitched in ten professional games in 1886, he only pitched in one the following season. It is possible that by 1888 he was being cautious about publicizing that he was pitching in professional games, even if he wasn't formally signed and they were minor league games.

Joe Murphy became a reporter for the St. Louis Globe Democrat in 1887 and became the sports editor by 1888. In the spring of 1889, he played in several spring training games for the M.A.A.C against the Browns. On April 14 he was hurt during an M.A.A.C game in Evansville, Indiana. The Globe-Democrat reported a couple of months later that the injury was forcing him to retire from all athletics. On September 16, 1889, a notice of his engagement to society belle Lizzie Van Phul was published in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Just days later, he was the referee for a prize match at a local saloon, the Daly Bros, when 18 year old Thomas Jackson was beaten to death during the match. The other fighter, Ed Ahearn, was ultimately charged with manslaughter in the second degree, and Murphy and several others involved in organizing and running the fight were charged as accessories. There were hearings in December of 1889, and Murphy was indicted in February of 1890, as were other participants. Both the Post-Dispatch and Globe-Democrat reported a trial date of January 22, 1891, but nothing was published about the outcome at that time. An article discussing another charge against Ahearn in 1899 indicates he (Ahearn) was acquitted of charges in the Jackson case, so one assumes Murphy (and the others) was acquitted as well.

Murphy was replaced as Sports Editor of the Globe-Democrat in February of 1890. He moved to Chicago in March of 1890 to become a sports reporter for the Tribune. Murphy's name turns up as playing for an "All-Star" club of college alumni, which was supposed to tour the country in 1893, along with Fred Tilden, but his later athletic accomplishments never matched those from before his injury. He became secretary of the Harlem Race Track while in Chicago. He returned to St. Louis in the mid 1890s and was elected to the same position for the St. Louis Fair Association in 1897. He was the presiding judge at the Fairground Track in St. Louis during the Worlds Fair in 1904. He and his wife Lizzie retired to Florida in the early 1940s. He died in Florida in 1951 at age 84, just a few months after her. He was the last surviving member of the St. Louis Whites.