Bobby played in the majors from 1965-1983, spending parts of 13 seasons with the Yankees and also playing with the Giants and Cubs. He missed the '67 and '68 seasons as he was serving in the military.
I remember being at a family party and the Yankees game was on. On the post-game show, Bob Lorenz announced that Murcer had passed away. I remember standing there watching it and then going outside to tell others who were at the party who were Yankee and/or Murcer fans.
I obviously never saw Bobby play but he just became my favorite player after watching highlights and Yankees Classics. He is one of the major reasons I have an interest in broadcasting as he was a Yankees broadcaster on both PIX11 and the YES Network following his playing days. I never saw him on PIX but remember hearing him on numerous games on YES.
As a player, Bobby was good, not great. He was looked at as the next Mickey Mantle. He wasn't that, but he did have a few big moments in his playing career including a pinch-hit Grand Slam in 1981 vs the Rangers and driving in all five runs in a 5-4 win vs the Orioles on August 6, 1979 after the death of teammate and friend Thurman Munson.
Bobby wrote his auto-biography called "Yankee for Life: My 40 Year Journey in Pinstripes" which details his playing career, his broadcasting career, and then his battle with brain cancer, which was what took his life.
The Yankees need to do something to honor Bobby. I know Rob Adams (who is an even bigger Murcer fan than I am) agrees. There needs to be a plaque in monument park or some recognition of Bobby's time as both a player and broadcaster for the Yankees. It is long overdue. He is very underrated. It is always great to see Kay Murcer at Old-Timers Day and that the Murcer family is still involved.
I have other thoughts but I would just be babbling. I'm always happy to hear Bobby mentioned and love having conversations about him.
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