LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- Nearly 30 years after making a career-changing conversion, Dale Murphy returned to Braves camp and was reunited with the two men who gave him the opportunity to end his days in the infield and become a five-time Gold Glove-winning outfielder.

When Murphy arrived at Disney's Wide World of Sports complex on Tuesday morning to begin a week-long stint as a special Spring Training instructor, he was greeted warmly by manager Bobby Cox and Bobby Dews, the two men who gave him a chance to display his athleticism in the outfield.

"I have to go in the clubhouse to look in the mirror to see if I'm 69 years old," said Dews, who currently serves as a Major League consultant for the Braves. "But when I see Murph, I feel young. He makes everybody on the field feel good about themselves."

Murphy wore his retired No. 3 Braves jersey on Tuesday and walked onto the field to interact with former teammate Glenn Hubbard and many of the current Atlanta players, some of whom were too young to remember when he won consecutive National League Most Valuable Player Awards in 1982 and '83.

"The jersey is a little tighter than it used to be, but it's always great to get out here with the guys," Murphy said. "All of my kids are done playing baseball. So I'd like to get down here as much as I can in the future."

Times have certainly changed since Dews, who will turn 70 next week, and Murphy first met during Spring Training in 1975.

Dews was in the first year of his current tenure with the Braves and Murphy was less than a year removed from having been selected as the fifth overall selection in the 1974 First-Year Player Draft.

"He was just a skinny high school kid," Dews said. "He had a bullet arm, really quick feet and good power. He was very coachable. The first time you saw him, you said, 'This guy has a chance to be a champion.' A champion to me is a champion off the field and on the field. He certainly qualifies for that."

When Murphy struggled during his early years as a catcher, the Braves decided to keep his bat in the lineup by moving him to first base. But to best utilize his athletic skills, Cox, who was in the midst of his first tenure as Atlanta's manager, decided to convert him into an outfielder during the 1980 season.

"I just thought with his speed, athleticism and arm, it would make sense to move him to the outfield," Cox said. "Then -- what do you know? -- he won two MVPs."

While combining for 44 homers during his first two full Major League seasons in 1978 and '79, Murphy proved that he could be a successful offensive threat. But he also combined for 35 errors as a first baseman and retired just six of the 38 opponents who attempted to steal a base against him while he was catching in '79.

"I knew it was do-or-die for me," Murphy said of the conversion to the outfield. "I wouldn't be here today if the two Bobbys hadn't helped me become an outfielder. I was hitting good. But I didn't really have a position."

Murphy reported to camp in 1980 determined to make himself into a strong defensive outfielder. He spent countless early-morning hours with Dews, who was supplying a seemingly endless supply of fly balls via a fungo bat.

"Usually, when you're hitting ground balls and fly balls to players, you say, 'Let me know when you have enough,'" Dews said. "But I would say, 'Hey Murph, let me know when I've had enough.' He would just wear you out."

Murphy's determination proved fruitful in 1982, when he captured the first of five consecutive Gold Glove Awards. Now, nearly 30 years later, he still takes advantage of every opportunity to show his thanks to Cox and Dews, who served as his manager in 1975 at Class A Greenwood.

During that summer in Greenwood, S.C., Murphy got fined because he committed the charitable act of going to an apartment building in the middle of the night to pick up some teammates who had encountered some trouble.

Instead of explaining what had happened, Murphy simply accepted the punishment and didn't tell Dews the truth until he returned from an All-Star Game and learned that, while he was gone, the team had held a party using some of the funds gathered from the fines.

"I think I'm the only manager who ever fined him," Dews said with a smile. "I didn't know he was the only reason all of those other guys even got home that night."

While reminiscing about that summer in Greenville, Murphy remembers benching himself after he didn't run hard to first base on an infield pop fly. Just a few days earlier, Dews had told the players that they wouldn't play if they committed that act. But after seeing his star player voluntarily accept the punishment, Dews provided an immediate pardon.

"I was like, 'I didn't hustle, and I'm taking myself out of the game,'" Murphy said. "But then Dewsy was like, 'No, wait, wait.'"

Murphy still laughs about that event and memories of the day when Dews' anger created a painful self-inflicted injury.

"All I remember is that he got mad at an umpire, threw his hat down, went to kick the hat, came up about a foot short of his hat and broke his ankle," Murphy said. "So the next day, he's sitting there relaxed with his foot elevated in the dugout."

Through these stories and their interaction, it doesn't take long to recognize the bond shared between Murphy and Dews. Nor is hard to realize that the mutual respect that they've nurtured for more than 30 years extends beyond the events they've shared on a baseball field.

"When you look at him, you know he's a winner," Dews said. "Some of our players build our character, and that's what I like to say about Dale -- he built my character."