it was the highlight of his whole life." Bobby Ray Murcer (May 20, 1946 – July 12, 2008) was an American Major League Baseball outfielder who played for 17 seasons between 1965 and 1983, mostly with the New York Yankees, whom he later rejoined as a longtime broadcaster. However, despite a fine offensive season, he hit only 11 home runs, eliciting this quote from Murcer, "Patty Hearst could be hiding in Candlestick's upper deck and nobody would ever find her", referring to how tough it was to hit long balls at the park where the Giants played their home games. [4] Murcer became one of the team's most popular players of the era. Bobby Murcer Jersey Brett Gardner Jersey Brian Roberts Jersey Brooks Kriske Jersey Chad Green Jersey Chris Carter Jersey Clarke Schmidt Jersey Clint Frazier Jersey Corey Kluber Jersey Custom Jersey Darren O'Day Jersey David Wells Jersey Deivi Garcia Jersey Derek Jeter Jersey DJ LeMahieu Jersey Domingo German Jersey Don Larsen Jersey He also had one stretch of eight straight hits, a feat not duplicated by a Cub until Andre Dawson did it in 1989. On June 30, 1973, baseball Commissioner Bowie Kuhn fined Murcer $250 for saying that Kuhn didn't have the "guts" to stop Hall of Fame pitcher Gaylord Perry from throwing the spitball. Cyrus was Cy Young's nickname, originally meant as a putdown of the country boy from Ohio. At that point the Cubs' record was 70–53, and they were 7½ games out, in second place. [29], Murcer was a tobacco user for most of his life. But what happened afterward we'd just as soon forget about." [1], Murcer was involved with many charities, including serving as the chairman of the board of the Baseball Assistance Team (B.A.T. Murcer had made his original comment about Kuhn after Perry beat New York the previous week, which ended the Yankees' eight-game winning streak. Murcer tied for the American League (AL) lead in outfield assists in 1970 with 15, while committing only 3 errors in center field. . Playing in the minor leagues from 1964–66, Murcer hit .302 which does not include his 1–12 stint with the Ft. Lauderdale Yankees in 1985 when he was attempting a comeback to the Yankees or his time with the Instructional League and the Puerto Rico League in 1968. They were married for 42 years until his death, and had two children, Tori and Todd. He ended the season batting .259 with 26 homers and playing center field, his third defensive position, after beginning the season at third base and then switching to right field. [45], The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, List of Major League Baseball career home run leaders, List of Major League Baseball career runs batted in leaders, List of Major League Baseball players to hit for the cycle, List of Major League Baseball annual runs scored leaders, "BabeRuthCentral.com interview, Mr. Bobby Murcer", "Longtime Yank Bobby Murcer dies at 62 after bout with brain cancer", "Murcer and Kenney Sign Contracts With Yankees", "Between the seams: Munson items are going to auction", "Murcer Revisits Emotional Night About Munson", "Mourning the Death of a Teammate Is A Difficult Process for Players and Coaches", https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/murcebo01.shtml, "Baseball Reference, Fielding Leaders (Era)", "Oklahoma Hall of Fame Honorees Announced", "Tumor removed, Murcer recovering in hospital", "Yankee great Bobby Murcer skeptical of Mitchell Report", "Bobby Murcer, 62, Yankee on Field and Air, Dies", "The Tug McGraw Foundation Announces 2007 Fundraising Gala", "Until the very end, Bobby Murcer showed 'heart of a champion, "Family releases update on Yankees broadcaster Bobby Murcer", "Report: Yanks' broadcaster Bobby Murcer dies at 62", "Ex-Yankees star, broadcaster Murcer dies at 62", "Late Yankee slugger Bobby Murcer's life celebrated in Edmond", American League Outfielder Gold Glove Award, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bobby_Murcer&oldid=1004310656, Articles with dead external links from February 2019, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles with unsourced statements from January 2019, Wikipedia articles in need of updating from January 2019, All Wikipedia articles in need of updating, Wikipedia articles with SNAC-ID identifiers, Wikipedia articles with WORLDCATID identifiers, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, September 8, 1965, for the New York Yankees, 1963 Battlefield League Most Improved Player, 1965 Carolina League Most Valuable Player, 1993 inducted into the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame. [5] His retirement on June 20, 1983, was hastened by the Yankees wanting to bring up rookie first baseman/outfielder Don Mattingly. [6] Murcer was seventh in MVP voting and was voted to the Sporting News All-Star team. On August 10, 1969, he was part of a feat that was perhaps the highlight of the 1969 season for Yankees' fans. Discover the real story, facts, and details of Bobby Murcer. presents an annual "Bobby Murcer Award" to the two major league teams (one AL and one NL) whose players commit the most resources to the organization. He was diagnosed with a brain tumor (glioblastoma multiforme) on Christmas Eve, 2006, and underwent surgery four days later at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. He was ninth in the MVP voting. At his death, Murcer was tied for 183rd on the all-time list. The Yankees devised this strategy specifically to protect Murcer, who spent 1967 and 1968 in the Army. Born May 20th 1946 - Re-Born with grace July 12, 2008 Facebook Logo He practically won the game single-handedly, bringing the Yankees back from a 4–0 deficit with a 3-run homer in the 7th, then hitting a walk-off 2-run single down the left-field line in the bottom of the 9th, causing Howard Cosell to exclaim what a heroic performance Murcer had put on. "Thurman Munson wore the pinstripes as No. Murcer returned to the Yankees for the final four years of his career, principally as a designated hitter. In May 2008, Murcer's autobiography, Yankee for Life: My 40-Year Journey in Pinstripes, was published by Harper Collins. In his career he was the highest-paid Yankee, Giant, and Cub in history (all since broken), and in his 17-year career Murcer earned a total of just shy of $3 million, including the signing bonus he received in the 1960s, meaning his career average was around $173,000.[20]. He began the 1966 season with the major league club but was sent down to Triple-A. After his retirement, Murcer turned to a career in broadcasting. However, much of that low batting average was due to the 2 for 20 performance in the 1972 season, which caused Murcer's ire in the first place. A left-handed hitter, Murcer had a career .277 batting average, finishing with 252 home runs and 1,043 RBIs. Murcer, who flung his right hand into the air when he rounded first after hitting the homer, said to reporters "I hit a hanging spitter.". Murcer also worked games for NBC,[26] teaming with Ted Robinson. He played the majority of his career for the New York Yankees, whom he later rejoined as a longtime broadcaster.A Gold Glove winner and five-time All-Star, and was voted to the AP's American League 1970s All-Decade team. Murcer continued to call games on WPIX until 1998, when the station lost the rights to broadcast the Yankees (they would pick up the broadcast rights to the Mets instead). He also won a Gold Glove in 1972. While on leave from the United States Army in 1968, Murcer played seven games in the Fall Instructional League. 1990s The Oklahoma Sports Museum's Bill Teegins Award winner. Murcer then spent 1967–68 in the United States Army. He was only the third New York Yankee (after Joe DiMaggio and Mickey Mantle) to earn $100,000 per season, and at 26 years of age was the youngest American League player to earn a six-figure salary. Also known as..... baseball is a sport known for its colorful monikers. He recorded two country songs, "Skoal Dippin' Man" and "Bad Whiskey" in 1982, both released by Columbia Records, and appeared in two films as himself, including The Scout. Clark was voted the starting first baseman for the NL All-Star team every season from 1988 through 1992. On June 3, Murcer's five runs scored in a game marked the 11th time it had been done in Yankee history. He and colleague Frank Messer were behind the WPIX microphones as the infamous pine tar incident unfolded at Yankee Stadium on July 24, 1983. there was never a time when he didn’t make you smile listening to him in the broadcast booth no matter how bad the game was going.he didn’t know how good he really was and i imagine if you told him he would shrug it off and say “it’s all in a days work”. Seller 100% positive. ABC's Jackson had relayed the story that had been told to him by a Chicago Cub official Buck Peden and alerted the boy to his own medical condition. In 1974 Murcer led all major league outfielders in assists by throwing out 21 baserunners. Linda Crull, the boy's aunt, added, "What Bobby Murcer did was great. He was an assistant Yankee general manager in 1985,[5] and individually worked with Rickey Henderson's rehab efforts when Henderson was brought to the Yankees. Right Fielder, 1977-79.270 BA, 43 HR, 175 RBI with Cubs (Editor's Note: Second in a series identifying the 100 worst Cubs of all-time.) Against Hall of Fame pitchers, Murcer hit .291 with 17 homers and 65 RBIs in 447 at bats. On July 2, 2004, the Seattle Times reported that Diana Munson put the bat, along with other items of Munson's, up for auction. Bobby Murcer’s 1975 Topps card reminds us of some of those unhappy times. In the late 1990s, he conceded what he thought was the error of his ways. In the 1974 season, Murcer hit only two home runs at Shea, on consecutive days, (September 21 and 22, 1974). The cancer treatment over the last 18 months has been intensive and has, as a side effect, somewhat compromised his immune system and made the fight all the more challenging. Murcer married his high school sweetheart, Diana Kay Rhodes (known as "Kay"), in 1966. Bobby Murcer, the left-handed ... Murcer and his family went to Florida to watch Wheelock Murcer always called him Colonel, not Doug or his nickname, Wheels blast off … Murcer severely regretted his involvement, especially after his mother and brother both died from cancer. But it's not only us that's hurting. Later, in the winter of 1964, he signed a letter of intent to play for the Oklahoma Sooners, but in the spring of 1965 he signed a $20,000 ($162,260 today) bonus contract with the Yankees.[1][2]. On May 26, 1976, Murcer hit a grand slam against the Astros and on September 22, 1976, he stole home in a 3–1 victory against the rival Dodgers and a week later, on September 29, 1976, he gloved the final out in John Montefusco's no-hitter. Murcer was traded to the San Francisco Giants for Bobby Bonds in 1975 in baseball's first even swap of $100,000 superstar players. In early 1974, Murcer and Mickey Mantle flew to Washington, D.C. to visit with Senator Ted Kennedy's (D-MA) son, Teddy, who recently had a right leg amputated due to cancer. He was also part of a four-player biography in 1973, "At Bat! Difficulty: … About the game, Murcer says that he was playing on "shock adrenaline" and that the game has become "part of my legacy". He was interviewed by Kay and took phone calls from listeners. Murcer also tied for the team lead (with Bill Buckner) in game-winning hits with nine. In 1966, he began the season with the Yankees, but was sent down to Toledo of the International League. Kay was pregnant when he was drafted, and gave birth in the fall to their daughter Tori Keleighn Murcer. He called an inning with the YES Network crew, and once his presence was pointed out on the video scoreboard, he received a standing ovation from the crowd, with the Yankees coming out of the dugout to applaud him. On June 26, 1979, Murcer returned to the Yankees in a trade for Paul Semall and cash. [28] The 2008 award, as announced three months later, went to longtime Seattle broadcaster Dave Niehaus. Murcer was fifth in the league in 1980 with nine sacrifice flies. Murcer, Thurman Munson, and Gene Michael hit consecutive home runs in the sixth inning against Oakland. "I mean, they never tested positive for any of that." He made the Sporting News All-Star team for the third time in his career. Donald Denton ... Bobby Bonds Jose Canseco Bobby Murcer. On July 13, Murcer hit three home runs for the second time in his career, and drove in all five runs in a 5–0 win over the Kansas City Royals. A baseball prodigy as a young child, Bobby Murcer was drafted by the brand new York Yankees and was tabbed for … [19], Once while playing with the Yankees, he and two other teammates got caught in a bizarre 2–5–3–1 triple play. [34], In July 2006, Aduddell Industries of Oklahoma City named Murcer as corporate spokesperson. According to the New York Daily News, Murcer had been suffering from headaches and a lack of energy. Munson, playing in only his second major league game, hit a pitch into the left field seats, bringing up Michael, who hit a ball into the right field seats. Bobby Murcer Net Worth is $900,000 Mini Biography. [39], In January 2008, he was honored by the New York Chapter of the BBWA as the winner of the "You Gotta Have Heart" award for his battle against cancer. There is nothing surprising in this: both names have the same origin or the same numbers of numerology. Yankee teammates Lou Piniella and Bobby Murcer and the Rev. Bobby Locke Hand Signed 1962 Topps Chicago Cubs Autograph. Murcer stated he planned to rest until spring training where he planned to call Yankee games and work in the YES Network studio. I will really miss the guy. He finished the season by batting as designated hitter in the 1981 World Series. [30], Murcer defended Yankee pitchers Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte, who were accused of using performance-enhancing drugs in the Mitchell Report, which was released in December 2007. Murcer never used the bat from the game again and gave it to Munson's widow, Diana. Niekro also earned 5 Gold Gloves and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1997 after retiring in 1987 at the age of 48. As a senior, Murcer showed his athletic abilities by making All-State in both football (the state leading scorer) and baseball and was All-City (led the city in scoring) in basketball and baseball. I didn't know the man. 2007 honored by Oklahoma City University with the Abe Lemons/Paul Hansen Award for Sports Excellence. He was a sportscaster for the Yankees—on broadcast TV, radio, and the YES Network—for most of the two decades. 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