In the last few years, I have not hidden my love for Matt Murton.  It dawned on me tonight that I hadn’t checked up on him since the end of last season.  From April – October, “Matt Murton” may be my most Google’d term on this computer.  I start at his Wikipedia page and plan to continue to Baseball-Reference to swoon over his average production.

I was stunned to read this:

Matthew Henry Murton (born October 3, 1981, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida) is an outfielder for the Hanshin Tigers of Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan.

This happened in December and because I was not in the mood to read about the Cubs, I missed on Thunder Matt’s Saloon.  I looked over the Tigers’ roster and the only name I recognized was Kenji Johjima.

I feel bad for my fellow red-head.  Remember how sorry we felt for Fukudome when he first came over?  He was a stranger in a foreign land unable to communicate.  Murton’s in the same spot and he needs my support.  So I decide to buy a Hanshin Tigers hat.  Maybe somehow the word would get to Matt that someone in Illinois bought a Hanshin hat, clearly to show their support.  It wasn’t difficult to find a Hanshin hat.  Nor was it difficult to decide not to spend $77 for a baseball hat.

Filed under: Former Cubs, General Baseball