The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Longhorn legends: Baseball Hall of Honor inductee Calvin Murray
11.05.2007 | Baseball
Despite being selected in the first round by the Cleveland Indians straight out of high school in 1989, Calvin Murray opted to play baseball for Texas where he became one of the Longhorns' most outstanding players.
Murray had a prolific career for the Horns as he finished with a .311 batting average, 197 runs, 14 triples and a school-record 139 stolen bases, and for this reason, Murray will be one of seven members of the 2007 class being inducted into the Longhorn Hall of Honor.
As a young man recently graduated from high school, Calvin had a tough decision to face, but Murray noted, "I just wasn't ready to start that chapter of my life. When I was coming out of high school I had dreams of winning a national championships. I knew I wanted to come to college."
The Big Leagues and dreams of big dollars were not quite enough to tempt Calvin away from his family and time to develop in one of the country's best collegiate baseball programs - and Texas coaches were glad to hear it.
"I didn't want to have to be a `grown man' going to work when I was only 18," Murray said. "I wanted to enjoy myself in a college atmosphere and I would also have the freedom to drive home and see my family wanted to."
"Calvin was one of the first first-round picks to choose to come to school, so he was a trendsetter in that respect," Texas associate head oach Tommy Harmon added. "It turned out well for him and we were very fortunate it happened."
"C" would roam the Texas outfield and menace opposing pitchers on the bases for the next three seasons. As a freshman, Murray played in 67 of Texas' 68 games and to no time in living up to expectations. The Longhorns began the 1990 season with a doubleheader versus Hardin-Simmons and, by the end of the day, Murray was 6-for-10 with five steals.
The speedy freshman set school and Southwest Conference single season records for stolen bases (49) which still stand today. In fact, he owns the top three single season stolen base records for the Horns - one for each year he played for Texas.
In 1992 Calvin Murray led the team in a multitude of categories including games played, at bats, runs, hits, batting average and of course, steals. He would also lead the Longhorns to the College World Series and was recognized in doing so by being named a first-team All-American and Most Outstanding Player at the NCAA Regional that year.
"Making it to Omaha was probably my biggest accomplishment as a Longhorn because we had a lot of pressure on us, since we got eliminated my freshman and sophomore year," Murray said. "I was MVP of the regional at Omaha and that was a really special moment because I felt I came up big at a tough moment. Unfortunately we didn't win a national championship, but making it to Omaha and playing well there was really special for me."
Murray was selected to be a member of the U.S. National Team and played in the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games. The year was capped off by the San Francisco Giants selecting Murray as the seventh overall pick in the draft for a much more lucrative contract than was offered three years before.
"He had great talent all around, but his speed was number one," Harmon noted. "He is probably the fastest player to ever play here. His speed created havoc for the other team and he played centerfield like no one else, and those are the things that got him to the major leagues, too."
He played 13 years of profession ball, including five seasons in the Major Leagues with the Giants, Texas Rangers and Chicago Cubs.
For all the honors Murray has received and records he has broken, he is recognized as being a genuine person as well.
"Calvin is an exciting player, very personable and a great leader," Coach Harmon remarked. "Everybody respects him, coaches and players - he was just born that way."
When asked about what being inducted to the Longhorn Hall of Honor meant to him, Murray remembered one of his first encounters on the 40 acres.
"When I first walked into Bellmont as a freshman and saw those pictures on the wall, it was pretty cool even though I didn't know exactly what it meant at the time," Murray said. "I knew enough to realize that those men had done something pretty special at this university, and I always had it in the back of my mind that I wanted to be up there someday. For that to actually happen is pretty awesome."
