Row 1, Section E, Seat 18 was vacant for a very good reason.
Since 2004, the seat was a home-away-from-home for longtime Grayson Stadium staple Wally Murphy. Murphy passed away at the age of 82 last week, just before the first home game of his 21st consecutive season at the ballpark. He was an avid fan of the Savannah Sand Gnats before the Bananas arrived in town almost a decade ago.
![Bananas honor passing of legendary fan Wally Murphy with a touching mid-game tribute (2)](https://media1.connectsavannah.com/connectsavannah/imager/u/blog/21814959/img_1791.jpg?cb=1708908087)
"Wally was one of the best. He was a true Banana fan," Gillum said in a text on Saturday morning. "He was one of the first Banana fans I met when I started coaching here in 2018. Before every game I would look over and find Wally in his special seat. He would give me a big smile, nod his head and shoot me a thumbs up."
"He would always have his own scorebook and be keeping score."
Murphy would keep the same routine during the season on game days.
Arrive early for a chance to check out the starting lineups and collect other pregame bits of knowledge before taking his seat for the game, during which he kept track of every pitch in his own book brought from home. Then, before heading home to write up his nightly blog recap of the game that night, he would need to get some insight from the manager.
"He had the best interview approach in history," Gillum said. "After the game, he would walk down to the dugout, pull out his phone, turn on a video, put the video in really close to my face and say ... ‘Alright coach, start talking!’"
![Bananas honor passing of legendary fan Wally Murphy with a touching mid-game tribute (3)](https://media1.connectsavannah.com/connectsavannah/imager/u/blog/21814958/img_1783.jpg?cb=1708908087)
You can watch the Murphy tribute from Friday night by clicking on the video at bottom of this story (takes you directly to moment of tribute).
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