Matthew Henry Murton (born October 3, 1981) is an American former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to catch ...

. He played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB) for the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (frequently referred to as the Oakland A's) were an American Major League Baseball (MLB) team based in Oakland, California from 1968 to 2024. The Athletics were a member club of the American League (AL) American League We ...

, and

Colorado Rockies The Colorado Rockies are an American professional baseball team based in Denver. The Rockies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Division. Th ...

. Murton also played in

Nippon Professional Baseball is a professional baseball league and the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning simply ''Professional Baseball''; outside of Japan, NPB is often referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league ...

(NPB) for the

Hanshin Tigers The are a Nippon Professional Baseball team playing in the Central League. The team is based in Nishinomiya, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, next to their main stadium, Hanshin Koshien Stadium. The Tigers are owned by Hanshin Electric Railway Co., ...

Baseball career

Amateur

In 2001 and 2002, Murton played

collegiate summer baseball Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operat ...

for the

Wareham Gatemen The Wareham Gatemen are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Wareham, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in the league's West Division. The Gatemen play their home games at Clem Spillane Fie ...

of the

Cape Cod Baseball League The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over 1,000 forme ...

(CCBL). Murton led the Gatemen to the league title in both seasons, being named the league's MVP in 2001, and in 2002 batting .400 and winning the league's all-star home run derby. He was inducted into the CCBL Hall of Fame in 2008.

Boston Red Sox

Murton was drafted out of Georgia Tech baseball in the supplemental first round of the 2003 MLB draft by the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...

. Murton played a total of 155 games in the Red Sox organization for the

Lowell Spinners The Lowell Spinners were a baseball team based in Lowell, Massachusetts. From 1996 to 2020, they were members of Minor League Baseball's New York–Penn League (NYPL) as the Class A Short Season affiliate of the Boston Red Sox. With Major Leagu ...

and the Sarasota Red Sox.

Chicago Cubs

Murton was acquired at the trading deadline by the

along with Red Sox star shortstop and fellow former Georgia Tech Yellow Jacket

Nomar Garciaparra Anthony Nomar Garciaparra (; born July 23, 1973) is an American former Major League Baseball player and current SportsNet LA analyst. After playing parts of nine seasons as an All-Star shortstop for the Boston Red Sox, he played shortstop, Third ...

as part of a four-team blockbuster deal. He spent the rest of the year with the

Class A-Advanced High-A, officially Class High-A, formerly known as Class A-Advanced, and sometimes abbreviated "A+" in writing, is the third-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States and Canada, below Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A and D ...

Daytona Cubs. He started with the Double-A

West Tenn Diamond Jaxx The Jackson Generals were a professional baseball team located in Jackson, Tennessee. From 1998 to 2020, they were a part of Minor League Baseball's Southern League (SL) as the Double-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs (1998–2006), Seattle Marin ...

, but was called up to the major leagues for the first time on July 8, along with Adam Greenberg, to replace the struggling Corey Patterson and Jason Dubois. On the same day, he went 2-for-2 with a

walk Walking (also known as ambulation) is one of the main gaits of terrestrial locomotion among legged animals. Walking is typically slower than running and other gaits. Walking is defined as an "inverted pendulum" gait in which the body vaults over ...

and a sacrifice fly against the

Florida Marlins The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. The team plays its home games at LoanDepot Park. The ...

in his major league debut. He continued his success in the majors over the rest of the season, hitting .321 with two

stolen base In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base unaided by other actions and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe or out ...

s, seven home runs, and an

on-base percentage In baseball statistics, on-base percentage (OBP) measures how frequently a batting (baseball), batter reaches base (baseball), base. An official Major League Baseball (MLB) statistic since 1984, it is sometimes referred to as on-base average (OBA ...

of .386 in 51 games in 2005. In , Murton became the Cubs' starting

left fielder In baseball, a left fielder, abbreviated LF, is an outfielder who plays defense in left field. Left field is the area of the outfield to the left of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the numbering system ...

. 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 The Arizona Diamondbacks are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West Division. The franchise was established ...

, matching a major league record for doubles in a single game. 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. For , Murton saw his playing time reduced when the Cubs signed Cliff Floyd to play in left field. When

center fielder A center fielder, abbreviated CF, is the outfielder in baseball who plays defense in center field – the baseball and softball fielding position between left field and right field. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the ...

Alfonso Soriano switched back to left field in April, Murton switched to

right field A right fielder, abbreviated RF, is the outfielder in baseball or softball who plays defense in right field. Right field is the area of the outfield to the right of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In t ...

. 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 In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

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. In , 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. In those 42 plate appearances, he managed only two hits, and spent most of the first half of the season in the minors.

Oakland Athletics

On July 8, 2008, Murton was traded along with Cubs prospects Josh Donaldson, Eric Patterson, and Sean Gallagher to the

for pitchers Rich Harden and Chad Gaudin.

Colorado Rockies

On February 4, 2009, Murton was traded to the

for infielder Corey Wimberly. When stepping to the plate at Rockies home games, the song " Strong Tower" by Kutless was played over the speaker system.

Hanshin Tigers

On December 4, 2009, Murton was released by the Rockies, who sold his contract to the

of Japan's

. 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. On October 5, 2010, Murton broke the NPB single- season hit record of 210, set by Ichiro Suzuki in 1994 (in 130 games), getting his 211th hit in game #142. He finished his first season in Japan with 214 hits, a .349 batting average, 17 home runs and 91 RBIs. Murton's single-season hits record was eclipsed in 2015 by Shogo Akiyama of the

Seibu Lions The are a professional baseball team in Japan's Pacific League based north of Tokyo in Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture. Before 1979, they were based in Fukuoka, Fukuoka Prefecture, in Kyushu. The team is owned by a subsidiary of Seibu Railway, ...

, who recorded 216 hits in 143 games. Murton played six seasons for the

, with a .310 career batting average and 1,020 hits. In 2015, Murton became the 16th foreign player to achieve 1,000 career hits in NPB.

Chicago Cubs

On February 16, 2016, Murton returned to MLB and signed a minor league contract with the

organization. In 76 games for the Triple–A

Iowa Cubs The Iowa Cubs are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. They are located in Des Moines, Iowa, and are named for their Major League Baseball (MLB) affiliate. T ...

, he batted .314/.349/.398 with two home runs and 37 RBI. Murton elected free agency following the season on November 7.

Detroit Tigers

On February 20, 2017, Murton signed a minor league contract with the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. One of the AL's eight chart ...

. The Tigers released him on April 18, 2017.

Post-playing career

On March 9, 2018, Murton retired and became an assistant in the

front office. On February 5, 2024, the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. The Phillies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has ...

announced Murton would serve as a minor league hitting advisor.

References

External links

, o
NPB
(in Japanese)
ESPN The Magazine – Matt Murton thrives in Japanese setting, by Anna Katherine Clemmons
{{DEFAULTSORT:Murton, Matt 1981 births Living people American expatriate baseball players in Japan Baseball players from Fort Lauderdale, Florida Chicago Cubs players Colorado Rockies players Colorado Springs Sky Sox players Daytona Cubs players Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets baseball players Hanshin Tigers players Iowa Cubs players Leones del Caracas players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Lowell Spinners players Major League Baseball left fielders Mesa Solar Sox players Nippon Professional Baseball outfielders Oakland Athletics players Sportspeople from McDonough, Georgia Sacramento River Cats players Sarasota Red Sox players West Tennessee Diamond Jaxx players Wareham Gatemen players