40 in 40: Tom Murphy and The Tell-Tale Eyes

TRUE!—CHAOS—very, very dreadfully injured he had been! But why will you say that he is mad? The injury had sharpened his senses—not destroyed—not dulled them. Above all was the sense of chaos acute. He watched all things heard in the heaven and in the earth; in the playoffs and in the regular season. He saw many things in hell; on the injured list. How then, is he mad? Hearken! and observe how healthily—how calmly I can tell you the whole story.

It is impossible to say how Tom Murphy first entered my brain; but once conceived, he haunted my day and night. Prospect there was none. Passion there was none. I appreciated the journeyman catcher. He has never wronged me. I think it was his eyes!…