With the millions of dollars that baseball players get paid, you’d think there would be a good sizable list of players who contribute to their presidential candidate of choice. There’s not. In fact, there are only two current major league players who contributed to a presidential candidate this year. Derek Lee and John Smoltz. Here’s the full list of current and former players that gave money this year.
Barack Obama:
- Derek Lee (Chicago Cubs first baseman): $4,600
- Charles Steiner (Los Angeles Dodgers broadcaster): $2,300
Mitt Romney:
- Dale Murphy (former Atlanta Brave outfielder, future Hall of Famer): $2,100
- John Smoltz (Atlanta Brave pitcher, future Hall of Famer): $2,300
Chris Dodd:
- Bud Selig (MLB commissioner): $2,000
Source: I searched every major league team in the “employer” section of campaignmoney.com.
Dale Murphy a future Hall of Famer? Hmmmm… That’s about as unlikely as Mitt Romney being elected president.
Murphy is regarded by many as one of the premier players during the 1980s. His best years were with the Atlanta Braves, appearing in the All-Star Game seven times, and leading the National League in home runs and RBI twice; he also led the major leagues in home runs and runs batted in over the 10-year span from 1981 to 1990. He led the National League in games, at bats, runs, hits, extra base hits, RBI, runs created, total bases, and plate appearances in the 1980s. He also accomplished a 30-30 season in 1983, at the time only the 6th player since 1922 to do so. His 1983 MVP year is the only time in major-league history a player has compiled a .300 batting average, 30 home runs, 120 runs batted in, 130 runs scored, 90 bases on balls, and 30 stolen bases with fewer than 10 times caught stealing. source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dale_Murphy