Rick Ankiel, 60's Chicago Style

You're all familiar with the story of Rick Ankiel. Fireballing star in the making pitcher who loses his control, reinvents himself as an outfielder and makes it back to the major leagues.

Topps 2001 Rick Ankiel, pitcher



Topps 2007 Update, Rick Ankiel, outfielder



Well, a similar story happened in Chicago 40 years earlier with a player named Danny Murphy. Murphy was a "can't-miss" prospect from Massachusetts who the Cubs signed right out of high school for a $125,000 bonus. He came to the big leagues after graduation, making his major league debut on June 18, 1960. He was only 17 years old, the youngest player in Cubs history. He shuttled between Chicago and San Antonio, getting into 31 games for the Cubs and hitting only .120. He clearly was not ready for the big leagues.

Topps 1961 Danny Murphy




Topps 1962 Danny Murphy - same picture as the year before, and it is never a good sign for a player to be on a rookie card two years in a row.



Topps 1963 Danny Murphy



In 1961 he spent most of the year in the minors, playing in only 4 big league games. It was more of the same in 1962, with an appearance in 14 games with the Cubs. His three year MLB average was .171. It was back to the minors for good, unless he could learn to hit.

He couldn't. In 1963 he bounced around the minors in three different organizatons, the Cubs, Astros, and finally over to the south side of Chicago with the White Sox. Unfortunately, his hitting never improved. And so in 1966 he did what Rick Ankiel did, he did a flip flop and tried his hand at pitching He went a respectable 11-12 with a 3.80 ERA. In 1967 he improved to 10-2 with an ERA of 1.97. He found his ticket back to the majors. He was called up to the bigs by the White Sox in August of 1969. He made 17 appearances and had a 2-1 record. The 1970 season was his best, making 51 appearances for a very bad White Sox team. And that was the end of the line for Danny Murphy. He was traded to the Red Sox at the end of spring training in 1971 and never surfaced in the major leagues again.

Topps 1970 Danny Murphy - as a pitcher



Clearly, he didn't live up to the bonus baby promise as an outfielder. But for a year and a half, he, like Ankiel, was able to prove himself as a real major leaguer, a pitcher.