Pro Baseball Player Sean Murphy, Fishtown Native, Dead at 27
Sean Murphy. Photo | MLB
The Oakland Athletics announced today that Sean Murphy, a 27-year-old minor leaguer with the franchise, was found dead yesterday in Arizona. Murphy, a native of Philadelphia, was 27.
“The A’s are deeply saddened by the tragic loss of Sean Murphy,” A’s executive vice president of baseball operations Billy Beane said in a release. “Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends.”
According to Philadelphia Baseball Review, Murphy was a native of Thompson Street in Fishtown. Like his older brother Pat, Murphy was a sports star at Northeast Catholic High School. The Spirit profiled the family just last week.
Our hearts are broken with the passing of one of our own today. RIP Sean Murphy #22. Gone too soon! pic.twitter.com/s5Be7bQJnl
— 𝐊𝐞𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝓖𝓲𝓪𝓷𝓽𝓼 𝐁𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐥 (@KeystoneBase) April 26, 2016
Murphy jumped around in college, going to a junior college and then High Point University in North Carolina before finishing his career at Keystone College in Lackawanna County in Northeastern Pennsylvania.
He was drafted in the 33rd round by the Athletics in 2010. “This is all so awesome,” he told the Daily News when he was drafted. “I’ve been waiting for this my whole life. It finally happened. I’m filled with emotion.”
Murphy spent six years in the Athletics’ minor league system. But he last pitched in 2014, and missed all of last year while recovering from Tommy John surgery. He hadn’t pitched this year after being suspended in February for a “drug of abuse” under the Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program of Major League Baseball.
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