ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, August 21, 1996 TAG: 9608210043
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: BALTIMORE
SOURCE: Associated Press
THE ORIOLES SLUGGER is ordering up 500 homers to go with his 3,000 hits.
Eddie Murray has spent the last 20 years trying to make some sense out of the crazy game of baseball.
Sometimes he'll be stunned by a trade, such as the one that brought him back to the Baltimore Orioles last month. The deal came after the Cleveland Indians, for reasons still unclear to Murray, decided to make him a part-time player.
Murray's main source of astonishment, however, is usually himself.
The 40-year-old star is on the brink of joining Hank Aaron and Willie Mays as the only players in baseball history to have 3,000 hits and 500 home runs. Murray reached the 3,000-hit plateau last season and has 498 career homers. He will be the first switch-hitter to pull off the feat.
To say Murray is honored to be mentioned in the same breath as those two Hall of Famers is an understatement. Heck, he's surprised he's still in the game at this stage of his life.
``I never figured to be playing past 35,'' said Murray, now the Orioles' everyday designated hitter.
Murray is poised to become the first player in baseball history to drive in at least 75 runs in 20 straight seasons (he has 63), although that accomplishment likely will be listed well below his 3,000-500 feat.
``It would mean a lot if I got there,'' Murray said. ``There are only two guys that did that. Realistically, I never thought about it until last winter.''
There's a good chance Murray will hit No.500 during the nine-game homestand that began Tuesday.
Murray would become only the 16th player to hit 500 homers. Not bad for a guy who rarely goes to the plate with the idea of driving the ball over the fence.
``Believe it or not, I never considered myself a home run hitter,'' he said. ``It's not like I'm going out there and trying to do it. I've had decent success with the approach of hitting the ball hard.''
Murray hit his first 333 homers with the Orioles, but his relationship with the team soured after then-owner Edward Bennett Williams criticized the first baseman's leadership. Murray was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers, where he hit 65 homers in three seasons, then played two years with the New York Mets before signing as a free agent with the Indians in 1994.
He returned to the Orioles in a trade for pitcher Kent Mercker on July 21.
``I didn't really think it would be possible - me coming back to Baltimore - but I guess things like that are just part of the game,'' he said.
Murray has six homers since the trade and has been a key force in a 14-6 surge that has lifted Baltimore back into the pennant race. He's also been hailed, ironically, as a wonderful influence in the clubhouse.
``Funny, no one thought I was such a great leader the last time I was here,'' he said after a home game last week.
He is now.
``Eddie has meant a lot to me and everybody,'' Orioles second baseman Roberto Alomar said. ``I wish him the best that he gets 500, but I think what's on his mind is playing his best and helping this team win.''
``It's hard for me to think about hitting that 500th homer now. We're trying to win a pennant,'' Murray said. ``I do know, though, that there will be a day when I'll be able to sit back and be proud of what I did.''
LENGTH: Medium: 70 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. Eddie Murray soon may join Hank Aaron and Willieby CNBMays as the only baseball players in history to have 3,000 hits and
500 homers in their careers. color.