May 4, 2006

Check Out Tommy Murphy's Sliding Catch Against Detriot On May 4th
Courtesy of angels.mlb.com

Tommy Murphy became the Florida Atlantic University's fourth baseball player to play in the major leagues when he debuted with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim Thursday afternoon. Murphy played at FAU from 1998-2000 before being drafted by the Angels in the third round in 2000.

The outfielder started the 2006 season with the AA Salt Lakes Bees and was hitting .352 with two home runs and 14 RBI in 24 games before being called up on Thursday morning.

In Thursday's game against the Tigers, the Punta Gorda, FL native started in centerfield and went 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored. After a fly ball to centerfield in his first at bat, Murphy singled to left field in the fifth inning to score Howie Kendrick from third giving the Angels a 3-1 lead. In the seventh inning, he singled to centerfield to finish the day at .500. The Angels won the game 7-2 to improve to 13-16 on the year.

A former FAU shortstop, Murphy was moved to the outfield prior to the 2004 season. He joins Tim Harikkala, Carmen Cali and Jeff Fiorentino as former Owls to play in the major leagues. Harikkala is currently playing for the Samsung Lions in the Korean Leagues, Cali is the AAA Memphis Redbirds and Fiorentino is with the AA Bowie Baysox.