Considering it's in only one catergory, and even in that one catergory Murph came up short of the standard 500 that usually gets one in, it's a meaningless stat. Dale has far more HRs than Ty Cobb too, perhaps the best player in history. ...and more than Rod Carew, Gwynn, Boggs, etc. These guys obviously weren't HR hitters -- it was their batting average and number of hits that got them in the HoF, and in Cobb's case just overall brillliance.
Murphy's forte was power, but he just doesn't have the numbers (either 500 HRs or 1500 RBis) to make the HoF.
Comparing Murphy to Joe D is laughable. Dimaggio hit 361 HRs desipte playing in a ballpark where the outfield dimensions make Fulton County Stadium look like a Little League park by comparison, and his lifetime batting average was over 60 pts higher than Murph's).
Yeah, he was undoubtedly one of the better players for a stretch of a few years, but not good enough. ....and because of that he'll most likely never get in.
AND he missed 3 years of his absolute prime for WW2.
To quote a gentleman named Dalton (from Road House)..."Opinions vary."
"I can't imagine Joe DiMaggio was a better all-around player than Dale Murphy." -- Nolan Ryan