Murray made his debut with the Cleveland Indians in 1948 during their championship run, but his 4 games were not in the playoffs and he did not earn a ring. He spent the next 5 years working his way toward Baltimore, garnering a reputation for a strong arm behind the plate and stronger personality.
He was dubbed "Deacon" becuase of how he would preach to umpires about calls that didn't go his way. He even went so far as to remove all of his gear on the field, kneel behind home plate and pray for the umpire to to regain his sight and no longer be blind. He was promptly ejected from the game. Well deserved, but quite original.
His last season in baseball was the Orioles first in Baltimore, 1954. Murray hit a modest .246 but threw out over 45% of would be base stealers. His final game came on September 25, 1954, exactly 57 years ago. Ray went 2-4 with a double in the 11-0 loss to the Chicago White Sox. He was the lone bright spot in an otherwise dreadful game.
Ray died April 9, 2003 at the age of 85.
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