[3] The A's made the playoffs in 1981, where they lost to the New York Yankees in the American League Championship Series.

[2] Murphy's biggest offensive year came in 1984, where he batted .256, hit 33 home runs and recorded 88 RBI in 153 games.

[2] Murphy also drew many walks which led to a very high on-base percentage, and had excellent speed on the base paths.

During his nine years with the Athletics, he played under managers Billy Martin and Tony La Russa.

[2] In 1990, he joined the Yakult Swallows of Nippon Professional Baseball's Central League in Japan.

In 2005, he was hired by the Toronto Blue Jays as a hitting coach, first for the Blue Jays' triple-A affiliate, the Syracuse SkyChiefs, and then later as a "roving" instructor, visiting all the team's minor league clubs to help players with hitting.

Murphy held that position when he was named the team's first base coach on June 20, 2008, in the wake of Cito Gaston's nomination to replace the fired John Gibbons as Blue Jay manager.

[7] Along with Cito Gaston, Murphy was credited with helping José Bautista's transformation into a superstar by changing his swing.

[10] However, on January 13, 2015, he was hired by the Texas Rangers to be their new minor league assistant hitting coach and outfield coordinator.

[12] He helped fund MC Hammer's first label "Bust It Records" and first album Feel My Power.

[13] His brother, Rod Murphy, played minor league baseball for the Victoria Mussels, Utica Blue Sox and Modesto A’s.