A Talkative Murray Wants to Return

Eddie Murray, who seldom talks publicly to reporters, did after Game 5 of the American League championship series Sunday.

The Baltimore Oriole designated hitter homered in the eighth inning of a 6-4 loss to the New York Yankees and said he hoped it wasn’t his last at-bat as an Oriole or his last at-bat, period.

Reacquired in a mid-July trade that sent pitcher Kent Mercker to the Cleveland Indians, Murray said:

“It’d be good to come back. It’s been a nice couple months for me. If they keep the team together I’d like to be part of it.”

Murray, 40, batted .257 with 10 home runs in 230 at-bats as an Oriole and is expected to be re-signed for 1997. He complimented the Yankees, who wrapped up the American League pennant.

“They’ve got a little bit of everything,” he said. “They even got some help from their bench, and that’s what it’s all about. You’ve got to give Andy Pettitte [who gave up three hits and two runs in eighth innings] credit. He got ahead and kept people off base. When you do that, the home runs don’t do as much damage.”

The victory by Pettitte gave Yankee left-handers a 13-0 record against the Orioles this year.