Murphy made his first appearance in a baseball broadcast booth with the
minor league Muskogee Reds. His first major league job was with the
Boston Red Sox in , working alongside
Curt Gowdy. In , he moved to the
Baltimore Orioles for two seasons, replacing
Ernie Harwell.
New York Mets Murphy's call of
Roger Maris' record-tying 60th
home run of the season became an audition tape that landed him a job with the
expansion New York Mets in . Murphy, despite his long association with the Mets, never openly rooted for the team from the booth. Listeners knew that he was happier when the Mets won, as evidenced by his mention of a "happy recap" after a Mets win and a "recap" after a Mets loss, but he never referred to the Mets as "we" and, reflecting his love of the game, he would sound equally excited when a good play was made against the Mets as he would when the Mets made a similar play. Murphy was well known for his sunny outlook. He opened games saying "the sun is shining, the sky is blue, it's a beautiful day for baseball.” Because of this, an unprecedented display of crankiness on his part received much attention. On July 25, 1990, in
Philadelphia, the Mets took a 10–3 lead into the ninth inning. But the
rival Phillies opened the inning with seven consecutive
singles, followed by a
walk, and scored six runs to narrow the Mets lead to one run before the Mets were able to turn a
double-play and get a
line drive out. Murphy's patience was apparently worn thin by the long
inning. When the game finally ended, he famously exclaimed, "A line drive caught. The game is over. The Mets win it. A line drive to
Mario Díaz. And the Mets win the ballgame! They win the damn thing by a score of 10 to 9!" Murphy also broadcast several Orange Bowl games in the 1980s on network radio. In addition, from September 17, 1973, through April 5, 1974, Murphy hosted the New York City edition of
Bowling for Dollars, on
WOR-TV. ==Retirement==