BASEBALL / BILL PLASCHKE : In Trading Murphy to the Phillies, the Braves Also Lost Their Identity

While sitting in the Atlanta Braves’ dugout during the middle of a game in Houston on Aug. 3, third baseman Jim Presley was stunned to see a teammate step in front of him and stick out his hand.

It was Dale Murphy. He was saying goodby.

“Right there in the middle of the game, he shook my hand and said, ‘Hey, it’s been fun,’ ” Presley said. “I said, ‘What did they do, trade you?’ He said, ‘Yeah, I’m going to Philadelphia.’ ”

Nearly a week had passed, and Presley still talked Friday as if he didn’t believe it.

“Murphy was classy when he played here, and he left here the same way,” Presley said. “He was the organization.”

And so an era ended here when Murphy, after parts of 15 seasons with the Braves and 17 years in the organization, finally turned the team over to the next star.

But as anyone who looks at the Braves’ young roster knows, nobody is close to filling the role left by the player who, among National League players, had the longest consecutive service time with one team.

“Nobody can replace Murph,” said his right-field replacement, Dave Justice, a rookie of the year candidate who did a good imitation with five home runs in 10 at-bats after the trade. “It’s like taking over for Mickey Mantle or Willie Mays.”

Murphy, who was dealt with pitching prospect Tommy Greene to the Phillies for reliever Jeff Parrett, outfielder Jim Vatcher and a player to be named, had to be traded. He was going to become a free agent at the end of the season, and had already privately told Brave General Manager-Manager Bobby Cox that he felt out of place in the team’s youth movement and wanted to leave.

“News of the trade leaked three days before we did it, and those three days were some of the hardest I’ve been through,” Cox said. “All the letters, the phone calls, all the criticism. Trading him was hard as a manager, and as a person.”

One newspaper printed numerous critical letters, such as the one from Bill Summers of Suwanee, Ga., which read: “(Murphy) was such a wonderful person. I wish he had stayed and the Braves had left town.”

Other fans responded by avoiding Atlanta Fulton County Stadium. The first home series after the trade, against the San Diego Padres, drew 25,373 for four games on three nights.

But then, the Braves have not drawn more than 1 million fans since 1987. They have not finished higher than fifth place since 1984. They have not had a winning season since 1983.

They have the worst record in the National League this season, and they are on a pace to lose 100 games for the second time in three seasons. They were going to lose with or without Dale Murphy.

“We knew what direction we had to go, and Murph knew what direction we had to go,” Cox said. “And hey, even if you can’t tell it now, we are headed in that direction.”

The San Francisco Giants were stunned by the loss of Rick Leach, suspended for 60 days Monday after testing positive for drug use.

Leach was more than a platoon outfielder with a .293 average in 174 at-bats. The former Michigan quarterback had become one of the team’s vocal clubhouse leaders. With hard play and big talk, he fired up the Giants in the same way Kirk Gibson, another former Big Ten football player, fires up the Dodgers.

“To lose a leader and to lose a gamer, it’s a big blow to the team,” said first baseman Will Clark, Leach’s closest teammate. “He had the kind of personality that fit right in on this ballclub.”

Leach, a nine-year veteran who signed with the Giants on opening day after failing to make the Atlanta Braves as a free agent, was undergoing drug-testing three or four times a week since disappearing from the Texas Rangers for 36 hours early last season.

Officials said he tested positive in the period July 26-29, during the Giants’ four-game sweep of the Cincinnati Reds. He had five hits in 11 at-bats during that series, including his first two home runs, both of which helped the Giants score comeback victories.

Leach has long been noted for pulling surprises.

After the Giants broke a losing streak with a 7-2 victory at Dodger Stadium on July 25, Leach and Clark captivated the clubhouse by screaming playful insults at each other for 10 minutes.

A week later, rookie pitcher Rafael Novoa showed up to make his major league debut wearing a Michigan State sweat shirt. After Novoa pitched well, Leach held a ceremony during which he pulled out a sharp instrument and cut the shirt in half, pronouncing, “You’ve got a lot of guts wearing that shirt. You’re a Giant now.”

With one swing Wednesday, Carlton Fisk made enough history for a career.

His high fly ball down the left- field line and over the Royals Stadium fence was his 327th home run as a catcher, tying Johnny Bench’s record. It was his 348th overall homer, tying him with George Foster for 43rd on the all-time list.

It was also his 186th homer for the Chicago White Sox, tying him with Harold Baines for the franchise record.

The number that Fisk truly treasures, though, is the 72 on his back. Many have thought he wore the unusually high number because it was the reverse of 27, the number he wore with the Boston Red Sox. But Fisk recently admitted that he also wears it because his son, Casey, was born in 1972.

When the Dodgers talk about a recently traded player, a favorite expression is, “He didn’t know how good he had it here.”

This summer that saying has proven true, and not just for the Dodgers, but also the Angels.

Mike Marshall, whom the Dodgers traded last winter with Alejandro Pena to the New York Mets for Juan Samuel, is no longer a Met, and no longer even a starting player. After being traded to Boston July 27 because he complained about sitting on the Mets’ bench, Marshall, with a chronically sore back, has yet to play for the Red Sox.

He began a rehabilitation assignment this weekend at triple-A Pawtucket, but when he returns, there could no room in the lineup for him. After batting .239 with six home runs and 27 runs batted in for the Mets, Marshall was essentially acquired as insurance in case right fielder Tom Brunansky leaves the team as a free agent.

Pena is still with the Mets but has a 4.17 earned-run average and shares the right-handed setup role with rookie Julio Machado. After throwing 76 innings last season with a 2.13 ERA, he is complaining his 49 2/3 innings this season.

Willie Randolph, traded from the Dodgers to Oakland on May 13 for Stan Javier, also has a reduced role. Since returning from the disabled list on Aug. 3--after his recovery from a strained hamstring--he has platooned with Mike Gallego, even though both bat right-handed.

As if his .232 average isn’t upsetting enough, Randolph hit his hardest line drive of the season Wednesday against Baltimore--but it was caught by pitcher Jeff Ballard to begin a triple play, the first against Oakland since 1977.

The three Angels who were sent to the New York Yankees have also had problems.

Mike Witt, sidelined earlier with a sore elbow, has appeared in 16 games, starting six. He’s 1-4 with a 2.82 ERA. Claudell Washington is on the disabled list with a sprained right thumb after batting .167 in 33 games. Rich Monteleone, meanwhile, has yet to throw a pitch in a Yankee uniform. He is still at triple-A Columbus.