BRONX SCENE
WE’RE ON TV!
SCHNEPS MEDIA, THE BRONX TIMES REPORTER & BRONXNET PRESENTS
x ex res s
NEWS, ENTERTAINMENT, FOOD AND MUCH MORE
BRONX TIMES REPORTER,46 MARCH 27-APRIL 2, 2020 BTR
REPRINTED FROM 7-14-2011
Johnny Murphy played with the New York
Yankees; GM’ed with the New York Mets
Johnny Murphy lies in the
Oakwood Plot of Woodlawn
Cemetery not far from Mayor
Fiorello LaGuardia and the
legendary sculptor and artist,
Alexander Archipenko.
He was born and raised in
the Bronx so it was only fi tting
that the borough should
also harbor his fi nal resting
site.
The former relief pitcher
for the New York Yankees
and later General Manager
for the Mets, was born on
July 14, 1908 in the Bronx and
attended Our Lady of Mercy
Grammar School on Marion
Avenue and then Fordham
Prep where he would star on
their baseball team and one
day be named to their Hall
of Honor. He continued on
at Fordham College and his
last season with them was in
1929.
Johnny Murphy’s baseball career
as General Manager of the New
York Mets came to an abrupt end
when he suffered a fatal heart attack
in 1970. He was laid to rest in
Woodlawn Cemetery in his native
borough of the Bronx.
He signed with the Yankees
that year and played in
the minors with Albany, St.
Paul, and Newark. He then
served on the Yankee pitching
staff from 1934 to 1946
excepting his service to our
country. Between 1944 and
1946 he worked on the atomic
bomb project in Oak Ridge,
Tennessee. He donned his
pinstripes again in March
of 1946 but not for long. He
signed with the Boston Red
Sox on April 15, 1947. He garnered
a 2.80 ERA there having
pitched 54.7 innings.
The Red Sox released
him on October 20, 1947 and
shortly thereafter he was
hired as a team scout by Joe
Cronin, their new General
Manager. Eventually Murphy
would become vice president
and director of minor
league systems for Boston.
The next big date in
Johnny Murphy’s baseball
career was April 2, 1961. It
was then that he signed on
as scouting supervisor with
the New York Baseball Club
of the National League. That
club would soon become
known as the New York Mets.
One of Murphy’s hardest assignments
was to get Gil
Hodges from the Washington
Senators as manager. He
succeeded and when General
Manager Bing Devine moved
to St. Louis to be close to
home, Murphy was rewarded
with his position becoming
the third General Manager
of the Mets.
Murphy acquired a couple
of nicknames in baseball,
one of which was the Fireman
and the other Grandma.
He acquired the name Fireman
for his many saves and
Grandma because of his personal
habits. Some say that
the Grandma came from his
rocking back and forth on
the pitching mound but most
say it had to do with his fussy
habits with food and accommodations.
He enjoyed some
of the fi ner things in life, like
good food and fi ne wine and
rarely settled for second best.
His win-loss record was 93-53
with an earned run average
of 3.50 and he had 107 saves.
He passed away at age 61
from a heart attack on January
14, 1970 and the Mets lost
one of their great assets.
POSTPONED
Please join VISIONS Bronx-Westchester
Advisory Board for our Annual
Awards Dinner
Tuesday, June 2, 2020, 6:00PM – 9:30 PM
Frankie & Johnnie’s Pine Restaurant
1913 Bronxdale Ave, Bronx, NY 10462
Honorees:
Irene Amato
A.S.A.P. Mortgage Corp.
Dr. A.J. Contento
Eye Care Unlimited
Gene DiNapoli
Entertainer/Actor/Restaurateur
Michael Knobbe
BronxNet
Emcee:
Gary Axelbank
BronxTalk, thisistheBronX
To RSVP, Scan the QR Code or
Visit www.visionsvcb.org/events
WEDNESDAYS AT 8:00 PM ON BRONXNET
CHANNEL 67 OPTIMUM & 33 FIOS
/events
/events