Honest Eddie Murphy Athletic Scholarship Fund

On July 30th, 2022, Hancock Partners announced the launch of a new community development initiative as part of its Hancock Economic Development Initiative. The program has begun working to fund new annual sporting activities and a scholarship fund to celebrate local hero and American Baseball Legend: Honest Eddie Murphy. This “Field of Dreams” event will honor Honest Eddie Murphy annually in Hancock, New York. This new development is intended to be a true family-friendly activity and is a vital part of the heart of this community. To achieve this highly anticipated and requested community activity Hancock Partners needs your support by donating to this event and volunteering time to help set it up. Bring a chair, spouses, teens and children of any age, who might be interested in learning more about the Baseball Hall of Fame, and sports legends like Honest Eddie Murphy.

Many may recall that the right fielder for the 1919 Chicago BlackSox was a native of Hancock, NY, named John Edward Murphy, born on October 2, 1891, and who died February 21, 1969. Murphy was famously nicknamed "Honest Eddie", when he was an American professional baseball right fielder. He played in Major League Baseball for the Philadelphia Athletics, Chicago White Sox and Pittsburgh Pirates. He appeared in three World Series. His first two were with the Athletics in the 1913 and 1914 World Series. Murphy appeared in the 1919 World Series as a member of the Chicago White Sox, a series best known for the Black Sox Scandal. Eddie Murphy was born on October 2, 1891, the youngest child of Charles and Theresa Murphy. Charles Murphy was a college-educated man, which afforded him the ability to stay out of the coal mines of Pennsylvania, which was considered dangerous work. Instead, he worked as a hotel manager which was located near a rail line. The education of his father also helped provide a future for young Eddie that kept him out of the coal mines.

Murphy began his professional baseball career with the Baltimore Orioles of the Eastern League, later named the International League. On August 24, 1912, the Orioles traded Murphy and Jimmy Walsh to the Philadelphia Athletics for Bris Lord, Claud Derrick, and cash. Murphy made his professional debut at the age of nineteen for the Scranton Miners of the New York State League in 1911. The team was managed by former MLB star Monte Cross. After getting 97 hits with a .300 batting average, Murphy moved on to the Baltimore Orioles. Before he made his pro debut, Murphy played as a ringer, more or less, for the Honesdale of the semi-pro Anthracite League. Murphy played in his first major league game on August 26, 1912. During his first season, he posted a batting average of .317 over 33 games. During the 1913 season, he became a "regular" in the outfield and participated in the A's World Series contest against the New York Giants.

In 1915, the Chicago White Sox purchased his contract. Murphy played the remainder of 1915 and the next six seasons for the White Sox. Murphy was a base-stealing threat in the early part of his career, finishing eighth in the American League in 1914 with 36 steals and ninth the following season with 33 stolen bases. He would go on to steal 111 bases throughout his career in the majors. Murphy had played for an A's team that was one of the best in the American League. However, after the underdog Boston Braves upset and swept the A's in the 1914 World Series, an angry Connie Mack sold off or outright released his best players. Murphy was one of the few holdovers on a depleted A's squad. However, his fortunes would change when Philadelphia went to Chicago to face the White Sox, and Murphy was informed by Mack that his contract had just been sold....to the White Sox.

Murphy was mainly a pinch hitter for most of his time in Chicago. In 1917, Murphy was on his third pennant-winning team in five seasons but did not appear in the World Series, as White Sox manager Clarence Rowland left Murphy off the play-off roster in favor of Shano Collins. With "Shoeless" Joe Jackson and Happy Felsch called up by the military to build ships in the shipyard, Murphy regained a starting role. The depleted White Sox fell to sixth place and Rowland was fired and replaced by Kid Gleason. In 1919, Murphy appeared in 30 games and hit a .486 batting average. That year, the White Sox made the World Series. It was an infamous series, and as a result of the Black Sox Scandal, six members of the White Sox were banned from Major League Baseball; Murphy was not one of those players. Consequently, he was given the nickname "Honest Eddie."[7] Unlike before, Murphy was on the roster and made a few pinch-hit appearances.

As the 1920 season rolled along, the White Sox were fighting with the Cleveland Indians and New York Yankees for the pennant. Rumors swirled around that the fix was in for that season just as it had been in the World Series. After seven players were implicated in the fix, Murphy replaced the now-suspended Buck Weaver at third base. The suspension took its toll on the White Sox, who quickly fell out of contention. White Sox owner Charles Comiskey issued $1,500 checks to the players like Murphy who did not partake in the fix, telling the players they were wronged out of money that should have been theirs under no fault of their own. The saga of the Black Sox scandal didn't end there for Murphy.

In 1926, Murphy was called to testify before the baseball Commissioner Landis. Swede Risberg and Chick Gandil claimed that in 1917, the Detroit Tigers threw a series and that the members of the White Sox paid them to do so. Eddie Collins admitted that a collection was taken up among the players of the White Sox, but it wasn't for the Tigers to throw the series, but it was as a "reward" for the Tigers beating the Red Sox. Murphy testified that he never gave money to the collection and that he had no clue of the reward money being collected. After a brief investigation, Landis cleared Murphy and the other white Sox players and dismissed the claims of Risberg and Gandil. On June 1, 1921, the Cleveland Indians placed a waiver claim on Murphy and purchased his contract from the White Sox.[8] From 1921 until 1925, Murphy played for the Columbus Senators of the International League. Through his stint with Columbus, Murphy continued to be an excellent hitter, hitting .397 in 1925 at the age of 33, which won him the league's batting title. In 1927, he played for the Rochester Tribe (who would later go on to be called the Rochester Red Wings ), playing for manager George Stallings and alongside former MLB star Rabbit Maranville.

At the age of 35, Murphy appeared in 83 games for the Tribe, again batting over three hundred, batting .341 for the season. Murphy ended his MLB career with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1926. In 11 years, he had 680 hits, scored 411 runs with 111 stolen bases, and a .287 lifetime batting average with 4 home runs and 195 RBI. In his final major league game, Murphy only had one at bat. Giants pitcher Jimmy Ring got Murphy to hit into a double play in the Pirates 9-5 loss to New York. After his brief return to the majors, Murphy split the 1927 season between the Montreal Royals and Jersey City Skeeters before he retired for good.

This year, nearly 100 years from when Honest Eddie Murphy retired, Hancock was again pleasantly surprised when their Hancock-Deposit Eagle ball teams both became state champions and are taking the opportunity to make their sporting achievements part of the celebration. In addition to the normal awards handed out at this event, Hancock Partners will be establishing an “Honest Eddie Murphy'' Scholarship Fund and inviting youth athletics to be part of this ground-breaking and exciting program. A special Sports Award Plaque will be presented to each school in both categories, and these athletes will all be eligible for the first Scholarship, which will likely take place in 2023-2024 after funding requirements have been met. The Hancock Partners, the entire Town and Village of Hancock, and the Hancock Fire Department and Rescue Squad welcome you to please join us on the Hancock Town Square to enjoy the celebration and the Field of Dreams Parade, activities, and Live Music courtesy of French Woods! Special thanks to the Hancock Fire Department for coordinating the Heroes Parade, arranging volunteers and food vending to help raise funds for the scholarship fund for the students. Special thanks also to Lori Rae Jewelry for providing free charms to the Championship Softball Team from her newest collection being sold at the Baseball Hall of Fame!

ABOUT HANCOCK PARTNERS

Hancock Partners is leading the front lines on economic and social growth development. Therefore, the Hancock Partners are proud to present HEDI, the Hancock Economic Development Initiative. HEDI was born out of direct facilitation and collaboration with local governments and key community stakeholders. A financial contribution by the George A. and Margaret Mee Charitable Foundation as well as the Hancock Town and Village secured a regional and economic development director to implement the HEDI plan.

To date, HEDI has secured more than 100k+ of local grants, spend, and in 2022 alone has accrued more than $40k in matching grants from Delaware County, with over $430k in outstanding grant applications, pending approval for FY 2022-2023. You can seek support and help from the Hancock Partners in applying for grant funding, planning future endeavors and supporting the community by emailing us at: [email redacted]