Jim Murphy took the field for the independent Surrey Glaciers in 1995 and hardly seemed to miss a step as he resumed his pro baseball career, according to The Langley Advance.
He did so as he went 3 for 4 with a home run in the team's first pre-season game, The Advance wrote.
Murphy's play at Surrey came as he attended graduate school at the University of British Columbia. It was there that he started his new career, one as an author and motivational speaking.
Murphy's baseball career began in 1988, taken by the Cubs in the 13th round of the draft out of Portland State University.
Murphy started with the Cubs at short-season Geneva. He hit .229 in 67 games there with four home runs. Murphy tried a bit of a trick play that June, according to The Chicago Tribune, by pretending to catch a ball over the fence.
Murphy moved to single-A Charleston for 1989. He hit .225 over 113 games. For 1990, he played between single-A Peoria and high-A Winston Salem. He hit .257 on the year, his final season in affiliated ball.
He then went back to school, at British Columbia. He even continued playing sports, but not baseball, football.
In 1995, he returned to baseball at nearby Surrey. In 85 games there, he hit .307. He also made the league all-star game and was mentioned as a bright spot in Surrey's only season in pro ball.
He then played one more season in independent ball at Tri-City in 1996. He hit .295 over 78 games to end his career.
Along the way, though, he studied. At British Columbia, he wrote his master's paper off interviews with 38 baseball people, including major league managers and GMs, he wrote later.
Those interviews then turned into a book, "Dugout Wisdom: The Ten Principles of Championship Teams." He then wrote "Inner Excellence: Achieve Extraordinary Business Success through Mental Toughness" and went into motivational speaking. More on his career can be found at his website: InnerExcellence.com.
- Chicago Tribune, July 1, 1988: Geneva GM trying not to lose sleep over class A Cubs' losses
- Langley Advance, May 12, 1995: Glaciers take first
- InnerExcellence.com: My Story
Players/Coaches Featured:3,266
Made the Majors:1,177-36.0%
Never Made Majors:2,089-64.0%
5+ Seasons in the Majors: 486
10+ Seasons in the Minors:286
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