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

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 ...

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 c ...

. He played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL) ...

(MLB) for the Chicago Cubs,

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (often referred to as the A's) are an American professional baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The t ...

, and Colorado Rockies. Murton also played in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) for the Hanshin Tigers.

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 operate ...

for the Wareham Gatemen 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 one thous ...

(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) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eig ...

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

Sarasota Red Sox Sarasota () is a city in Sarasota County on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The area is renowned for its cultural and environmental amenities, beaches, resorts, and the Sarasota School of Architecture. The city is located in the sout ...

Chicago Cubs

Murton was acquired at the trading deadline by the Chicago Cubs along with Red Sox star shortstop and fellow former Georgia Tech Yellow Jacket Nomar Garciaparra as part of a four-team blockbuster deal. He spent the rest of the year with the Class A-Advanced Daytona Cubs. He started with the Double-A West Tenn Diamond Jaxx, 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 Donald Corey Patterson (born August 13, 1979) is an American former professional baseball center fielder. Currently, he is the manager of the Brookhaven Bucks in the Sunbelt Baseball League. He is the older brother of infielder Eric Patterson, a ...

and

Jason Dubois Jason Bradford Dubois (born March 26, 1979) is a former Major League Baseball outfielder who played for the Chicago Cubs and the Cleveland Indians. Dubois attended Virginia Commonwealth University, and in 1999 he played collegiate summer baseba ...

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

of .386 in 51 games in 2005. In , 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. 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 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 In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("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, who attempts to e ...

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 Eric Patterson may refer to: * Eric Patterson (baseball), American baseball player * Eric Patterson (American football), American football cornerback * Eric D. Patterson, American political scientist * L. Eric Patterson, United States Air Force g ...

, and Sean Gallagher to the

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, the song "

Strong Tower ''Strong Tower'' is a worship album released by the Christian rock group, Kutless and is also their third studio album. An enhanced deluxe edition of this album was released on March 20, 2007, with additional tracks and the "Strong Tower" live ...

" 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 Hanshin Tigers of Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball. 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 is a Japanese professional baseball outfielder for the Hiroshima Toyo Carp of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). He previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cincinnati Reds and in Nippon Professional Baseball for the Saitama Se ...

of the Seibu Lions, who recorded 216 hits in 143 games. Murton played six seasons for the Hanshin Tigers, 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 Chicago Cubs. After 76 games with the minor league Iowa Cubs, Murton was released on November 7, 2016.

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 of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

. The Tigers released him on April 18, 2017.

Post-playing career

On March 9, 2018, Murton retired and became an assistant in the Chicago Cubs front office.

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 People from McDonough, Georgia Sacramento River Cats players Sarasota Red Sox players West Tennessee Diamond Jaxx players Wareham Gatemen players