Matt Murton

Matt Murton
Hanshin Tigers — No. 9
Outfielder
Born: October 3, 1981 (1981-10-03) (age 30) Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Bats: Right	Throws: Right
Professional debut
MLB: July 8, 2005 for the Chicago Cubs
NPB: March 26, 2010 for the Hanshin Tigers
MLB statistics
Batting average	.286
Home runs	29
Runs batted in	112
Teams
Chicago Cubs (2005–2008) Oakland Athletics (2008) Colorado Rockies (2009) Hanshin Tigers (2010–present) (NPB)

Matthew Henry Murton (born October 3, 1981, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida) is an outfielder for the Hanshin Tigers of Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. He previously played five years in Major League Baseball for the Chicago Cubs, Oakland Athletics, and Colorado Rockies.

Baseball career

Boston Red Sox

Murton was drafted out of Georgia Tech in the supplemental first round of the 2003 MLB Draft by the Boston Red Sox.^[1] Murton played just 155 games in the Red Sox organization, with the Lowell Spinners and the Sarasota Red Sox, hitting for a high on-base percentage and average power.

Chicago Cubs

Murton was acquired at the 2004 trading deadline by the Chicago Cubs along with Red Sox star shortstop Nomar Garciaparra as part of a four-team blockbuster deal.^[2] He spent the rest of the year with the Single-A Daytona Cubs.

He started 2005 with the Double-A West Tenn Diamond Jaxx and on July 8, he was called up along with Adam Greenberg, replacing the struggling Corey Patterson, and Jason Dubois.^[3] On the same day, he went 2-for-2 with a walk and a sacrifice fly against the Florida Marlins in his major league debut.^[4] He continued his success in the majors over the rest of the season, hitting .321 with two stolen bases, seven home runs, and an on-base percentage of .386 in 51 games in 2005.

In 2006, Murton became the Cubs' starting left fielder. On August 3, 2006, Murton went 4-for-4 with 4 doubles and 5 RBIs in game 2 of a doubleheader against the Arizona Diamondbacks, matching a major league record for doubles in a single game.^[5] He finished the year with the second-highest mark on the team in batting average, at .297, with 13 home runs and 62 runs batted in.^[6] He became a fan favorite in Chicago and was given the nickname "Thunder Matt" by some of the Cub faithful.

For 2007, Murton saw his playing time reduced when the Cubs signed Cliff Floyd to spend time in left field. When center fielder Alfonso Soriano switched back to left field in April, Murton switched to right field. On June 13, after hitting only one home run with eight RBIs in limited playing time, Murton was optioned to Triple-A to make room for left-handed pitcher Clay Rapada.

On July 27, 2007, Murton was called back up to the major leagues, along with pitcher Rocky Cherry, with his first start coming on July 30.^[7]

In 2008, Murton saw his playing time diminish even further, playing in just nineteen games, and recording only 42 plate appearances in the first three months of the season for the Cubs.

Oakland Athletics

On July 8, 2008, Murton was traded along with three other Cubs prospects to the Oakland Athletics for pitchers Rich Harden and Chad Gaudin.

Colorado Rockies

On February 4, 2009, Murton was traded to the Colorado Rockies for infielder Corey Wimberly. When stepping to the plate at Rockies home games, "Strong Tower" by Kutless plays over the speaker system.

Hanshin Tigers

On December 4, 2009, Murton was released by the Rockies,^[8] who sold his contract to the Hanshin Tigers of Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball.^[9] In Murton's rookie season with the Hanshin Tigers he became only the fourth player in Nippon Professional Baseball history to have a 200-hit season. [1] On October 5, 2010, Murton broke the single season hit record, set by Ichiro Suzuki, hitting his 211th hit (in 130 games). He successfully finished his first regular season in Japan with 214 hits (in 144 games), .349 batting average, 17 home runs and 91 RBIs.

• Entrance music: "Strong Tower" by Kutless

Personal life

Murton is married to Stephanie Murton and has homes in Georgia, Florida, and Colorado. Murton played baseball for Eagles Landing High School in McDonough, Georgia, and later for the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. Matt's younger brother, Luke, also played for Georgia Tech and is currently in the New York Yankees farm system.

Others

Tigers fans cheering for Murton use handmade goods painted with corporate colors of the convenience store chain FamilyMart Co., Ltd. and letters "Family Murton". An employee for the chain saw the goods, and FamilyMart have been selling 5 collaboration products with the Tigers to cheer for Murton and the team since September 21, 2010 only in the Kansai region; "Family MurTonkatsu Omusubi (ファミリーマートンカツおむすび^?)", "Family MurTonkatsu Bento (ファミリーマートンカツ弁当^?)", "Kachi-Tigers!! Tora-yaki Custard (勝ちタイガース!!とら焼きカスタード^?)", "Kachi-Tigers!! Fruit au Lait (勝ちタイガース!!フルーツオレ^?)" and "Kachi-Tigers!! Crepe with Chocolate and Banana (勝ちタイガース!!チョコとバナナのクレープ^?)". [2]

References

1. ^ http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/draftday/search.jsp?sc=team&sp=bos 2003 First-Year Player Drat Tracker | MLB.com
2. ^ http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2004/baseball/mlb/07/31/trade.deadline/ SI.com - MLB - Red Sox trade Nomar to Cubs in deadline deal
3. ^ http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2103231 Patterson recently lost starting job - MLB - ESPN
4. ^ http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/FLO/FLO200507080.shtml July 8, 2008 Chicago Cubs at Florida Marlins - BaseballReference.com
5. ^ http://mlb.mlb.com/chc/history/single_game_records.jsp Cubs Single Game Records | cubs.com History
6. ^ http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/CHC/2006.shtml 2006 Chicago Cubs Batting, Pitching, & Fielding Statistics - BaseballReference.com
7. ^ http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/news/press_releases/press_release.jsp?ymd=20070727&content_id=2112908&vkey=pr_chc&fext=.jsp&c_id=chc Cubs recall outfielder Matt Murton and right-hander Rocky Cherry from Triple-A Iowa | cubs.com Press Release
8. ^ Ringolsby, Tracy. Rockies release Murton to pursue career in Japan, FOX Sports. Published December 7, 2009. Retrieved December 7, 2009.
9. ^ Harding, Thomas. Rockies clear space for Spilborghs, MLB.com. Published December 7, 2009. Retrieved December 8, 2009.

External links

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)
• ESPN The Magazine - Matt Murton thrives in Japanese setting, by Anna Katherine Clemmons

Persondata
Name	Murton, Matt
Alternative names	Murton, Matthew Henry (real name)
Short description	Baseball player
Date of birth	October 3, 1981
Place of birth	Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Date of death
Place of death