Matt Murton
Oakland Athletics — No. 26
Outfielder
Born: October 3, 1981 (1981-10-03) (age 27) Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Bats: Right	Throws: Right
Major League Baseball debut
July 8, 2005 for the Chicago Cubs
Selected MLB statistics (through 2008)
Batting average	.288
Home runs	28
Runs batted in	106
Teams
Chicago Cubs (2005-2008) Oakland Athletics (2008-present)

Matthew Henry Murton (born October 3, 1981 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida) is a Major League Baseball outfielder for the Oakland Athletics. Murton played baseball for Eagles Landing High School in McDonough, Georgia and later for the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets.

Boston Red Sox

2003

In 2003, Murton was a first-round selection for the Boston Red Sox, batting .286 with 2 home runs and 29 RBI for Class A Lowell.

Chicago Cubs

2004

Murton was acquired (in 2004) by the Chicago Cubs along with Nomar Garciaparra in a four-team deal. He spent the rest of the year with the Single-A Daytona Cubs.

2005

He started 2005 with the Double-A West Tenn Diamond Jaxx and on July 8, he was called up along with Adam Greenberg, replacing the struggling Corey Patterson, and Jason Dubois. On the same day, he went 2-for-2 with a walk and a sacrifice fly against the Florida Marlins in his major league debut. He continued his success in the majors, hitting .321 with two stolen bases, seven home runs, and an on base percentage of .386 in 51 games in 2005.

2006

In 2006, Murton became the Cubs' starting left fielder. On August 3, 2006, Murton went 4-for-4 with 4 doubles and 5 RBI in game 2 of a doubleheader against the Arizona Diamondbacks, matching a major league record for doubles in a single game. He finished the year leading the Cubs in batting average, at .297, with 13 home runs and 62 runs batted in.

2007

For 2007, Murton saw his playing time reduced when the Cubs signed Cliff Floyd to spend time in left field. When center fielder Alfonso Soriano switched back to left field in April, Murton switched to right field. On June 13, after hitting only one home run with eight RBI in limited playing time, Murton was optioned to Triple-A to make room for left-handed pitcher Clay Rapada.

On July 27, Murton was called back up to the major leagues, along with pitcher Rocky Cherry, with his first start coming on July 30.

2008

Murton appeared in eight more games with the Cubs, mostly off the bench, after the April injury of Alfonso Soriano. He played most of the spring with the Cubs' Triple-A affiliate, the Iowa Cubs, and was called back up in late June to the big league club.

On July 8, Murton was traded along with three other Cubs prospects to the Oakland Athletics for pitchers Rich Harden and Chad Gaudin.

Statistics

External links

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube