John Joseph Murray was born March 4, 1884, in a central Pennsylvania town of Arnot. After attending Arnot public schools, John, already known as "Red" for the color of his hair, played semi-pro baseball for the Father Mathew team in Elmira, New York. In 1904, Murray moved on to the University of Notre Dame. For two years, Red was the catcher and batting star of the Irish baseball team that also included his friend Dode Birmingham. When the 1906 school year ended, Murray signed his first professional contract with the St. Louis Cardinals, for whom he batted .257 in seven games as a catcher and 34 in the outfield. The next year the Cardinals made him their regular left fielder and he began to display his trademark combination of power and speed. In December of 1908. the Cardinals traded him to the New York Giants in the deal for Roger Bresnahan, giving Bresnahan a chance to manage and Murray a chance to play for a winning team. During the 1914 season, Murray slumped to a .223 batting average and lost his regular position in the Giants outfield, and the following year he was sent to the Chicago Cubs. In 1916 he was coaxed out of retirement to play for Toronto of the International League, managed by his childhood friend Dode Birmingham. Red ended his major league career in 1917 and returned to the Elmira, NY area. In 1950 Murray was voted Elmira's greatest baseball player of the half-century, and he and Birmingham were among the first group inducted into the Elmira Baseball Hall of Fame in a 1961. Red died of leukemia on December 4, 1958.
From the description of Red Murray Collection : papers ephemera 1938-1967. (National Baseball Hall of Fame). WorldCat record id: 654853459
