Stay focused, Murphy tells Scouts

Dale Murphy isn't remembered for being the Atlanta Braves' all-time strikeout leader or for striking out four times in a game more than once.

And few fans would be aware of the time he struck out so miserably he walked to the dugout and joked to his teammates, "If that ball hadn't taken a bad hop, I would've hit it."There were plenty of lowlights in the 18-year Major League Baseball career of the former Brigham Young University student and current resident of Alpine. But through it all, Murphy stayed focused on his goals, used humor to soften the rough edges and never lost his courage.

What many fans remember about Murphy are his two National League Most Valuable Player awards (1982 and 1983) and five Gold Gloves (1982-1986). Perhaps they recall Murphy hit at least 20 home runs for nine consecutive seasons and is one of only four Braves players to have his jersey number retired.

As hundreds of Salt Lake area Eagle Scouts, their parents and Scoutmasters learned Saturday morning, Murphy's career was not without its ups and downs. Life, too, will offer its challenges to the 2,252 young men in the Great Salt Lake Council who achieved the status of Eagle Scout in the past year. At the council's 9th annual Breakfast for Champions to honor those youngsters, Murphy told them they should be well prepared to succeed in whatever they choose to do.

"I would counsel you to stay focused on what's important - your faith, your family and your friends," said Murphy, the guest speaker for the event, which attracted about 1,200 to the Little America Hotel in Salt Lake City. "Having courage at all times is one of the greatest assets you can have. . . . Never, ever lack courage.

"Be happy, be thankful. Have a good sense of humor. . . . Humor will help you through some challenging times."

Murphy, who began his baseball career as a catcher, shared many comical anecdotes from his playing days. On one particularly bad day, Murphy kept throwing the ball into centerfield while trying to throw out runners at second base. A reporter then asked Murphy's father what he thought of his son's throws.

"Great," Murphy said his father replied. "If somebody was trying to steal centerfield."

To illustrate the value of focus, Murphy told a story about how one opposing catcher tried to distract home run king Hank Aaron. The catcher noticed Aaron was holding his bat with the label facing down and pointed it out to the great slugger. Aaron, Murphy said, turned to the catcher and told him, "I didn't come up here to read."

"Hank Aaron knew why he was up at the plate," Murphy said. "He was going to hit the ball. He was not going to let anything distract him."