OAKLAND --
While his group of supporters, which included parents Mike and Marge, his girlfriend and brother-in-law all losing their minds in excitement from their seats behind the A’s dugout, Murphy was even-keeled. He calmly chewed his piece of bubble gum with a straight face as he rounded the bases.\n\n
\n\nSean’s comments on having his parents in the stands for his first game and home run has us crying in the club right now. #RootedInOakland pic.twitter.com/9sSkp2kWGE
— Oakland A's (@Athletics) September 5, 2019
• [Murphy’s first homer an emotional scene](https://www.mlb.com/cut4/sean-murphy-s-first-mlb-home-run-an-emotional-scene)\n\nIt was the sign of a player who knows he belongs here. Knee injuries slowed his progress this season, but A’s manager Bob Melvin knew Murphy, [the A’s No. 3 prospect per MLB Pipeline](http://m.mlb.com/prospects/2019?list=oak), would find his way to Oakland at some point this year.\n\n“I think he was pretty excited, he just doesn’t show it,” Melvin said. “He’s calm in his demeanor and stoic. He wants to be that captain. But I think he was going crazy inside.”\n\nIt should come as no surprise that Murphy’s first hit left the yard. This just continues a trend he began this year at Triple-A Las Vegas, where he bashed 10 home runs in just 120 at-bats, putting together a whopping home-run-per-fly-ball rate of 31.3 percent.\n\n“That’s not the last time you’ll see him hit a home run to \\[the opposite field\\] like that,” Melvin said. “He’s got power all the way around the field. In the last couple of years, he really developed the power. He’s a big kid with great leverage. You look at his exit velos and they’re off the charts. I’m glad he got off to a good start.”
\n\nFor as good as Murphy’s bat is expected to be, it was mostly his defense that led to his third-round selection by the A’s in 2016, and he appeared to settle in quickly behind the plate by catching a shutout in his first Major League start. He displayed a good rapport with
\nMurphy leaned on Roark’s seven years of Major League experience as guidance through what he admitted was a nervous feeling as he took the field in the first inning.\n\n“Tanner was great,” Murphy said. “He’s a vet with a guy making his first start back there, and he worked with me every step of the way. He let me know what I was doing and what I needed to do. I’m glad he was there.”\n\nIn catching the full shutout, Murphy became the first A’s catcher to do so in his Major League debut since Jack Lapp on Sept. 11, 1908.\n\n“Hit a homer and catch a shutout. Not a bad start,” Melvin said. “I think he’ll probably tell you he’s just as proud of the shutout as he is the homer.”\n
\nThe best part of the night for Murphy? Contributing to a win in the middle of a playoff race.\n\n“I’m happy about the shutout and happy we won,” Murphy said. “Stepping into a ballclub that’s competing and has to win every night, it’s important that I go out and do my job to win. I could have gone 0-for, but as long as we won, I would have been happy.”\n\n**Homer happy**\n\nAll four A’s runs came via the long ball, with