Hearing Bronx cheers OK with catcher Murphy
NEW YORK — Getting called up to the big leagues for the first time is always special. Having that happen at Yankee Stadium is even a little glitzier. And for
Sean Murphy, there was even more significance to the location: His father, Mike, is from New York.
“I’m as excited as you’d imagine with my family being from here and my dad being born in the Bronx,” said the catcher, who had 16 family members at Sunday’s game.
So is everyone Yankees fans, then?
“Mets fans, believe it or not,” Murphy said with a laugh. “The story behind that is Yankees tickets were way too expensive, but the Mets had a deal where if you drank a certain amount of milk cartons and turned them in, you’d get, like, two free Mets tickets, so they’d take the train to Shea” Stadium.
Pitcher Paul Blackburn, also promoted from TripleA Las Vegas on Sunday, enjoyed seeing his frequent batterymate called up in such a storied venue. “It’s awesome, especially here. He’s all smiles,” Blackburn said.
Murphy, 24, was born in Peekskill, N.Y., but grew up in Dayton, Ohio. He’s a strong twoway catcher, but he dealt with knee injuries this year, needing arthroscopic surgery on his left knee and then incurring some scartissue tears later in the season.
“It’s a frustrating season with the injuries,” he said. “Knee injuries suck as a catcher. But the training staff was topnotch and got me back on my feet.”
Manager Bob Melvin said the righthanded hitter will get some starts, especially with some lefthanded starters in the offing. That means he might be in the
lineup Wednesday or Thursday against the Angels, who are throwing lefties Patrick Sando
val and Jose Suarez those days. The A’s called up Murphy, infielder Franklin Barreto and Blackburn on Sunday. As expected, lefthander Sean Manaea also came off the 60day injured list. Additionally, designated hitter Khris Davis came off the paternity list following the birth of his second child, a son named Phoenix.
Melvin said that with six starters for five rotation spots with Manaea’s return, Blackburn will be used as a long reliever.
Blackburn, who is from Brentwood, wasn’t too thrilled to be sent back to Las Vegas on July 5, when he was with Oakland for one day and wasn’t used.
“I wasn’t that happy to be sent down last time,” he said. “I kind of took it upon myself to get better and attack guys, get back to where I felt I was a couple of years ago . ... When my stuff was going well, I was able to bear down and get back on track. I’m happy with where I am.”
To make room for Manaea and Murphy, who was not on the 40man roster, infielder Corban Joseph and righthander Tan
ner Anderson were designated for assignment by the A’s. Briefly: Chris Bassitt, scheduled to start Thursday, flew home to North Carolina for Monday’s off day with his wife, Jessi
ca, who is expecting their first child any day. Bassitt said if the baby isn’t born in the next day, he’ll fly back to Oakland and labor might be induced after his next start . ... Matt Harvey, now working in relief at Las Vegas, threw a scoreless inning with two strikeouts Saturday.