Daniel Murphy: 'Sometimes the blessings just flow'

My apologies for writing about press-accused “homophobe” Daniel Murphy again, but the energizer infielder just keeps going and going. Never before to my knowledge, in baseball’s long history, has a player so pilloried in March set an extraordinary all-time record in October.

That’s what the New York Mets second baseman did last night when he hit a home run in his sixth straight postseason game, breaking Carlos Beltran’s record of five. (The Mets defeated the Chicago Cubs 8-3 Wednesday night to win the National League Championship Series in a four-game sweep.) Fox Sports cameras cut to a bar in New York after Murphy’s homer, where rapturous fans cheered and hugged. Many of them last spring probably scorned the player known as a devout Christian as he responded to a reporter’s question about homosexuality by saying, “I do disagree with the lifestyle, 100 percent.”

Mets management silenced Murphy after he spoke frankly. But he’s likely to be a free agent this winter and we’ll see where he ends up next season.

In last night’s postgame show, former Mets player Gary Sheffield called Murphy a good, “always positive” teammate, and Murphy showed the right stuff when he received the NLCS MVP award. Instead of bragging, he praised his teammates and coaches, saying, “I’m really excited to share this with them.” Asked why he had become a surprise record-setter, Murphy said, “I wish I could explain it. Sometimes the blessings just flow.”

Evangelicals should not assume players will emerge unscathed when thrown into fiery furnaces or lions’ dens, so it’s a pleasure to see a bold but soft-spoken Christian surviving. Now it’s on to the World Series for the Mets and a matchup against either the Kansas City Royals or the Toronto Blue Jays (the Royals lead the American League Championship Series 3-2 going into tomorrow’s Game 6 in Kansas City). As for the defeated Cubs, I offer no new Back to the Future II prophecy as to when they’ll win, but fans should take solace in the young team’s prospects.