Eugene Converse Murdock (April 30, 1921 – July 23, 1992) was an historian and author best known for his research into

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding ...

Early life and education

Eugene C. Murdock was born in

Lakewood, Ohio Lakewood is a city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States, on the southern shore of Lake Erie. Established in 1889, it is one of Cleveland's historical streetcar suburbs and part of the Greater Cleveland Metropolitan Area. The population was 5 ...

, on April 30, 1921, and attended school there. His father, Stanely H. Murdock, worked for the city of Cleveland, Ohio, in the division of engineering and construction. Stanley and his wife Elizabeth had three sons, Donald L., Stanley H., Jr., Eugene C., and one daughter, Marjorie C. Murdock saw his first major league baseball game on August 10, 1929, at

League Park League Park was a baseball park located in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It was situated at the northeast corner of Dunham Street (now known as East 66th Street) and Lexington Avenue in the Hough neighborhood. It was built in 1891 as a wood ...

in Cleveland, Ohio where the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one o ...

played the

Indians Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

. As he grew older, Murdock would serve as sports editor of his high school newspaper. Baseball and writing would be lifelong passions of Murdock's, and he would go on to become a major researcher into the history of the sport. Murdock was a student at Wooster College in September 1939, completed his bachelor's degree by December 1942, and then joined the Army. After serving in the Army, Murdock entered

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manha ...

in 1946. Working with

Allan Nevins Joseph Allan Nevins (May 20, 1890 – March 5, 1971) was an American historian and journalist, known for his extensive work on the history of the Civil War and his biographies of such figures as Grover Cleveland, Hamilton Fish, Henry Ford, ...

at Columbia, Murdock learned to appreciate the significance of oral history research. Murdock graduated with his MA in 1948 and Ph.D. in 1951.

Career

Murdock's first teaching assignment was at Rio Grande College in southern Ohio beginning in 1952. Murdock then moved to

Marietta College Marietta College (MC) is a private liberal arts college in Marietta, Ohio. It offers more than 50 undergraduate majors across the arts, sciences, and engineering, as well as Physician Assistant, Psychology, Clinical Mental Health Counseling, a ...

in 1956 where he was an assistant professor in history, being promoted to full professor in 1963. Murdock became Chair of the department in 1972, holding that position until his retirement in 1986. After his retirement, Murdock was named Historian of the College. In 1991, Murdock received the Distinguished Service Award from the Ohio Academy of History.

Society for American Baseball Research

Since 1973, Murdock was a frequent contributor to the SABR Baseball Research Journal. His first article looked at players in the 19th century
The Pre-1900 Batting Stars
Murdock served as president of SABR from 1976 to 1978, but served in various positions both before and after. Prior to serving as president, Murdock was chair of the SABR Hall of Fame Committee. He also was head of the SABR Nominating Committee (1981–1982) when he proposed two-year terms for the operating officers. This proposal would later be adopted by SABR.

Baseball oral history research

Traveling across the United States between 1973 and 1987, Murdock interviewed 76 former baseball players. His time with Prof. Nevins at Columbia impressed on Murdock the importance of interviewing older persons as well as those not as well known as some. The interviews range from 30 minutes to multiple hours, and the audio is now available on Cleveland Public Library'
Digital Gallery
The interviews are also featured in Murdock's boo
Baseball Players and Their Times, Oral Histories of the Game: 1920-40
The oral history collection is part of Murdock's voluminous baseball research papers. Initially offered to

but declined, the collection was "promptly and eagerly" accepted by Cleveland Public Library in 1992. In addition to the oral histories, the overall collection also includes "major league biographies, annuals, and scrapbooks, covering the years 1910-1976."

Other research

Murdock also wrote two books on the draft during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by state ...

: ''Patriotism Limited: 1862-1865'' (1967) and ''One Million Men: The Civil War Draft in the North'' (1971) Murdock's research interests also included World War II.

References

External links

Murdock Oral History Baseball Interviews
available on Cleveland Public Library Digital Gallery
SABR Salute: Eugene Murdock

Eugene C. Murdock Baseball Collection Finding Aid
for materials held by Cleveland Public Library {{DEFAULTSORT:Murdock, Eugene 1921 births 1992 deaths Marietta College faculty Columbia University alumni History of baseball Oral historians University of Rio Grande people College of Wooster alumni People from Lakewood, Ohio Historians from Ohio 20th-century American historians 20th-century American male writers Sports historians United States Army personnel of World War II