I’m 47, which means I started following baseball (and the Yankees) i nthe late Sixties, a time when the Mantle-Dimaggio-Ruth dynasty years seemed like a mighty distant memory.
Bobby Murcer was the best player the Yankees had during some mighty lean years. I was very sorry to see him go, and happy to see him return in the Eighties, as a player and a broadcaster.
Being a Yankee center fielder from Oklahoma made everyone compare him to Mickey Mantle, of course, and he was never THAT good. But he was plenty good enough, and SEEMED like a genuinely good guy, too.
He’ll be missed.
That sucks. I thought he was doing better. I barely recall seeing him play, but I really enjoyed his broadcasting work.
That’s too bad. He was a good ballplayer, always underrated because of the comparisons to Mantle (and to Barry Bonds, for whom he was swapped–and Bonds was under-rated in comparison to Mays), and he seemed like a decent guy. He certainly endured his cancer with bravery and dignity. My condolences to his family and his fans.
That’s sad. He was my favorite Yankee as a youth and had the misfortune to play on some pretty lousy teams. He always seemed like a nice guy to me.
If anyone is interested, here is Mike Lupica’s column from The NY Daily News today.