Things You Find While Researching Other Things...

If you look up Eddie Murray in Baseball-Reference.com, it will tell you that the silent slugger was nicknamed Steady Eddie. I never heard anyone ever call him that, but there could not have been a more apt nickname.

Consider Murray's home run totals from 1977 to 1990: 27, 27, 25, 32, 22 (strike-shortened season), 32, 33, 29, 31, 17 (missed 30 games due to injury), 30, 28, 20, 26. He averaged 27 home runs and was within two of that number seven times.

Twenty-six Major Leaguers have cleared the 500 home run bar and none other had a career high as low as 33. Murray joined the club with a steady drumbeat of slugging. Bonds slammed 73, McGwire 70, Sosa 68, Ruth 60, Foxx 58, Mays 52, Aaron 47 . . . even Frank Thomas, another steady eddie, pounded more than 33 homers eight times, with a high of 43.

It wasn't just long balls. Consider Murray's doubles totals through 1996: 29, 32, 30, 36, 21, 30, 30, 26, 37, 25, 28, 27, 29, 22, 23, 37, 28, 21, 21, 21

He hit better (by OPS) than league average 1978-1988: 40%, 30%, 38%, 56%, 56%, 56%, 57%, 49%, 36%, 20%, 36%.

So which was Eddie Murray's best season? In 1984, he led the league with 107 walks and a .410 OBP, en route to that 157 OPS+. He finished fourth in the MVP voting. The year before he finished second, powered by a higher OPS and a .306-33-111 season. Was it 1982, another 156 OPS+ season, another runner-up MVP showing, when he posted an OPS another 10 points higher and a .316-32-110 tally. Or 1990, when he hit .330 in Dodger Stadium or 1985's 31 homers, 37 doubles and a career high 124 RBI?

From his Rookie of the Year award through his age 34 season, Eddie Murray had his best year every year and continued to be a productive player until he turned 40.