Murton stays productive while he's 'waiting'

Over the course of a Sky Sox game, those short introductory songs that greet hitters start to blend together in a mix of lyric-less guitar riffs.

But when an unfamiliar voice blasts out, "while I'm waiting," you know Matt Murton is coming up.

And instantly, you also know his story.

"It was relevant to where I am in my life right now," Murton said of the Christian song he heard in the movie "Fireproof." "In terms of a lot of different things - baseball and life in general."

The message is pretty obvious - "While I'm waiting, I will serve you. While I'm waiting, I will worship" - and it fits Murton's devout religious beliefs.

But it's the "waiting" that seems particularly poignant, because that's what Murton's time in Colorado Springs has been all about - a time that includes a team-record 29-game hitting streak wrapped around a promotion to the Rockies.

Actually, it's been that way for a while.

Before reaching his 25th birthday, Murton had already played 195 games with the Chicago Cubs and owned a .303 career average.

That was three years ago, and, mysteriously, Murton has been waiting for regular duty in the major leagues ever since.

"That's a good question," said Sky Sox manager Stu Cole when asked why Murton - with his numbers - hasn't become an MLB regular. "Unfortunately, I haven't been part of a staff at the big-league level that has had him. I'm pretty sure the people who have made the choices and decisions to send him down, they had their reasons."

Colorado briefly gave Murton a shot - he had 49 plate appearances from April 29 through June 5 - before shipping him back to bring up Carlos Gonzalez.

Murton's Triple-A hitting streak stood at 13 before his call-up. He didn't skip a beat on his return, hitting safely in 16 more while burying any disappointment he might have felt.

"He's got an outstanding attitude and there's not a harder worker that we have, maybe in the organization and the big leagues," said hitting coach Rene Lachemann.

"The guy works diligently on his hitting. I talked to him when he got down here and he understood Carlos was doing his job down here and he wasn't playing that much up there so he had to come down here. He continues to put those numbers up, he's going to be playing in the big leagues for somebody."

According to Sky Sox catcher Sal Fasano, who knows a thing or two about bouncing between the majors and minors, Murton's attitude will aid him in his quest to get another call-up.

"It's part of the maturation process," Fasano said. "You start to realize that you're an independent contractor, that's what you are when you're playing down here - you're playing for 29 different teams ... You come down, do what you're supposed to do and either you get called back up or you get traded."

"Very few guys who make the big leagues make it and never come back down. There are far more grinders than there are studs."

For the time being, Murton is a grinder waiting to establish himself. And that's what went through his mind when the team asked him to choose a song for when he comes to the plate.

He immediately recalled the Kirk Cameron movie and the John Waller song he'd downloaded on iTunes.

"Sometimes I use music to try to get me fired up," Murton said. "And sometimes I use things that are relevant to things in my life now and usually it's more fun to try tell a story. And, while telling a story, finding something that will inspire you. So it's a little bit of both."