Charles Murray

Charles Henry Murray Jr.

• Bats Left, Throws Right
• Height 6' 0", Weight 175 lb.

• Born September 8, 1943

The brother of Eddie Murray, Rich Murray, Venice Murray and Leon Murray, outfielder Charles Murray was clearly in the middle of the pack in terms of talent, not reaching the majors like Eddie or Rich, but having a much better minor league career than Venice or Leon. He smacked 121 homers in a career that lasted 7 years and saw him reach AAA.

Murray debuted in 1962 with the Modesto Colts, hitting .180 with 16 HR and 46 RBI. He only batted .194 for the 1963 Moultrie Colt .22s but led the Georgia-Florida League with 15 homers. Returning to Modesto in 1964, Charles improved to .263 and had career bests with 37 HR and 119 RBI. He was second behind Ollie Brown in homers (three off of the California League lead) and RBI.

Charles hit another 18 home runs in 1965, split between the Durham Bulls (.234, 11 HR, 30 RBI) and the Amarillo Sonics (.304, 7 HR, 22 RBI). In 1966, Murray played for the same two clubs. He hit .208/~.219/.333 in 22 games for Amarillo and .269/~.350/.451 with 13 homers and 100 strikeouts in 105 games for Durham.

Murray did not apparently play in 1967 and 1968, perhaps due to military service. In 1969, he returned with the Peninsula Astros (.219/~.305/.400 in 48 games) and the Reading Phillies (.263/~.345/.489 in 51 games). He hit 17 homers, 11 of them with Reading. He did not play in 1970. In 1971, Murray finished his career with the Tampico Lightermen, only going 10 for 52 with two homers (no other extra-base hits), five walks, one time hit by pitch and 15 strikeouts in 16 games.

Primary Sources: 1967, 1970 and 1972 Baseball Guides, Pat Doyle's Professional Baseball Player Database