It is always refreshing when someone you have always considered to be an icon is a genuinely nice person.

I was reminded of that this past week when I attended a dinner in Manchester in which former Atlanta Braves star Dale Murphy was the guest speaker.  Due to some connections I was lucky enough to be able to spend a little more than an hour with “Murph” before he went to the event. Sometimes former players become grumpy after their playing  days are  over,  but Murphy is still the same nice  guy he has always been.

During my time as a sportswriter with the now defunct Nashville Banner I was sometimes assigned to go to Braves games. Back in the day when clubhouse restrictions weren’t so rigid players could spend some pregame time in conversations with reporters.

Murphy was always a congenial interview. But the thing I remember about him the most was one afternoon before a game he was sitting in front of his locker autographing what looked like a stack of 50 photos featuring him with kids at an event.

“Who else but Dale Murphy would do this?,” observed the man who was making the request to have the photos signed.

Who else indeed. No matter how many honors he received Murphy was and still is a humble person.

Murphy was the National League Most Valuable Player in 1982 and ’83. He was a seven-time All-Star in 1980 and from 1982-87.

The Braves have retired his No. 3 jersey number.  He is also a member of the Braves Hall of Fame as well as the Oregon Hall of Fame, his native state; the  Georgia Sports  Hall of Fame and the World Sports Humanitarian Hall of  Fame. He has a charity which provides baseball equipment for children in need throughout the world.

One hall of fame has eluded him. He retired with 398 home runs, 1,266 runs batted in, 2,111 hits and a .265 batting average. The Baseball Writers Association of America has yet to vote to enshrine him in the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. He will not be eligible for consideration again for three more years.

He closed out his career with the Philadelphia Phillies and the Colorado Rockies,  ending an 18-year Major League career that extended from 1976-93 in which he was a catcher, first baseman and outfielder.

Off the field he and Nancy, his wife of 40 years, have raised eight children. He is in demand as a speaker and also is involved in the restaurant business with Murph’s having opened near the Braves stadium.

He left his audience with memories of his career and his philosophy of life. One statement rang true for everyone who was listening.

“We are all members of a team whether we are athletes or not,” Murphy said. “We are part of a team with our families, in our businesses and in our communities. We all need to work to be good teammates.”

For Murphy that was not idle talk. He was, and still is, one of the best people you would want on your team.