I find it amazing that on the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's website, a story about Dale Murphy's son taking batting practice is more popular than stories about Chik-Fil-A changing their menu or Jason Giambi's gold thong. Okay, maybe not the last one, but still, it shows just how much of a heroic cult figure Dale is in Atlanta baseball lore.So when the younger Murphy showed up for a tryout with the Braves and took cuts in the batting cage, you better believe that the greater Atlanta area got pretty excited about the prospect of him becoming a Brave -- even if it's a few years away.
Jake Murphy, 6-foot-4, 220 pound high school senior, signed a letter of intent to play football at Brigham Young but is still holding out hope he'll get drafted to play professional baseball like his father, perhaps by the same organization.Murphy, Jr., is a Braves fan and said it would be a "dream come true" if he got to play for the organization in a professional capacity. Terry Pendleton said that he had a "lot of potential" but quickly calmed down anyone that wanted to directly compare him to his father, someone that Pendleton repeatedly mentioned as "special".
[...]He plays shortstop and third base, wide receiver and defensive back in football. He took a few turns in the cage and played some catch with his dad, who at 52, in jeans and an oxford, still looks like he would be at home in a baseball uniform.
Braves fans probably shouldn't get their hopes up, as Murphy Junes has said that the only way he's turning down football is if he's assured an early round pick, and based on what Pendleton said versus his guarantee at BYU, that seems pretty unlikely. Still exciting though.
