Bobby Murcer

http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080712&content_id=3120888&vkey=news_nyy&fext=.jsp&c_id=nyy

One of my all-time favorite ballplayers/commentators. A class act and a nice guy who will be missed.

She's always said that he was "the one who got away". My uncle Larry (RIP) would turn green every time she said it. Kinda funny, kinda sad.

He made watching the old timers game so much fun because he had such a good sense of humor. One of the girls at work was going to go to his book signing a couple of weeks ago, but he had to cancel his appearance. She called the bookstore to find out why, but they didn't give any explanation. We had hoped that it was just because he was tired from the treatments...guess it was because his condition had worsened. Listening to the audio of his eulogy for Thurman Munson still makes me cry. RIP, Bobby.

It was in Midwest City, OK at my great grandparents house. I was a "city boy", there on vacation. All I can remember of that day is that there was someone there who caused a stir. My geat grandparents house was the central point for a lot of families and it wasn't until years later when I learned to love baseball the I put his name together with who he actually was.

My uncle Larry died years ago, and my aunt Linda will still tell stories about "Bobby".

I guess the six degrees of separation thing is not just something people talk about, it's something that some lucky people actually live. I never met him per se because I was a child, but I was lucky enough to cross his path, and my aunt was lucky enough to actually know him.

Man, I'm getting old.

I can picture him at a BBQ, fame and all...just a regular guy. They said today that he was so surprised by how many get well wishes he received from fans when he announced his illness, that he really had no idea how much Yankee fans loved, respected, and appreciated him. I know he got a HUGE ovation when he came back after his first round of chemo...tomorrow's game is going to be very sad.

jumping to get him whatever he wanted. My aunt was in heaven.

your aunt had good taste! Even after the chemo, he was still a very handsome man!

My childhood keeps dying.

That's exactly how I feel. Very depressing...

I'm truly torn. I despised Tony Snow, but yet feel a loss. Bobby Murcer. I grew UP with him.

growing up with him as in being a fan since you were a kid? Or did you actually know him? Although, I feel like I knew him and I'm just a baseball fan! Everyone who talked about him after today's game said how nice he was and what you saw on TV was just how he was in real life. The last few old timers games he played in, they had a microphone on him and he was so funny! He'd pick a different Yankee each year to be his batting coach and today they showed the clip from when Giambi coached him. He hit a line drive to 3rd base his first time up, then blamed it on Giambi because he told him to be aggressive! He said "I'm getting a new coach next time" and everybody laughed.

I might actually watch the All-Star game this year, just to see if they do some kind of tribute to him.

Didn't know him. Growing up on the East Coast, I felt I knew him. Like knowing Springsteen. Same thing.

I know exactly what you mean.

I turned away from Springsteen after he "fired" the E Street Band, but have lately come back and downloaded all the old stuff from iTunes that I have on my albums in the closet. Don't know if it's because I'm old now and want to relive my youth or what, but I just can't listen to "Thunder Road" enough these days!

My Mom & Dad are dead. All that I can say, is savor the memories from your youth.I have, and it is sincerely rewarding.

I've been doing that a lot lately and it's usually triggered by music. Maybe it is because I'm old or maybe it's just to try to escape from the state of the world today...

My major in college was the Civil War. The worst this country has seen. Or has it???

but lately, I'm not so sure. I'm hoping like hell we win big in November and can start undoing the damage that's been done for the past 8 years!

Think? What a laugh. I've got a great confidence in this man.

Initially, I was with Kucinich, then Edwards, but would vote for whoever was our nominee. I remember seeing Obama speak at the '04 convention and telling people at work to keep an eye on him because he did such a great job....that "skinny kid with the funny name"! I really hope he wins by a landslide!

Very sad to hear he's gone.

Here's to extra innings somewhere up there, Bobby.

To the fans anyway! I bet that Bobby loved the game so much that extra innings were something he'd never shy away from or resent... Unless it was the bottom of the ninth and the damn relief pitcher gave up a big lead LOL.

Extra Innings to You Bobby!

:patriot:

Love the reference to extra innings! The current team talked today about how good he was with encouraging them during slumps and giving all sorts of advice on the game, how he was always so positive...he really loved baseball and the Yankees!

Loved being a Marine and talked about it all the time. "Real Men" and all that. But he HATED VIETNAM and all it stood for. Counted himself among the lucky. Had MANY fellow Marines who stayed with him during hard times.

My aunt Linda was his favorite person in the world and I can remember him opening doors for her and she'd always giggle. My other aunts and mom would whisper about how much they wished my uncles and dad were more like Larry. I got mad at my mom to the point of tears once for that. Now I NEVER get into the car without opening my fiance's door, and never walk through a door without holding it for someone for that matter.

He was for a time the superintendant of the largest earthen fish hatchery in the world in Durant, OK. Helped adapt striped bass to fresh water although I'm sure he'd rethink that after seeing what havoc striped bass have wreaked in fresh water lakes and rivers. I remember fishing at the hatchery after hours and catching 30lb catfish like they were bluegill.

I'm saddened by the fact that it takes a death to jog memories.

Bobby was a baseball player I followed as a kid but never knew. Larry was a man whose feet I would sit at and wish that someday I'd grow up to be like. In the end, Monsanto and Agent Orange caused his death and that of my other hero, another uncle who served. Both died of brain cancer in their forties.

Damn memories anyway.

Larry sounds like a great guy and I'm sure you make him smile every time you open the door for your fiancee!

I have two uncles who served in Vietnam. One has horrible scars across his abdomen and thighs, was there for two weeks before being shot. He NEVER talks about it. The other enlisted and did two tours after his brother got wounded. ALL he talks about is the war. They do have one thing in common and it's alcohol. I've always wondered what they'd be like if they were never over there, how would their lives have turned out? It scares the hell out of me to think of the kids who'll be returning from Iraq and Afghanistan and how their lives will be.

I've always held hard to the notion that you cannot put ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances and expect them to come home to be like they were before. My mom's only surviving brother was also a VN Vet. He keeps it to himself but has been through two marriages and is scared of his own shadow sometimes. Funny thing; Because he is a Native American he had to spend a whole year "on point" while he was in country. I love him with all my heart, but he's just not someone who exists in our current world with any kind of confidence.

I guess that's why I get angry when I see posts here that demean the service of people who had no choice rather than honor the draft... Or why I get mad to the point of tears at the thought of having another one.

My son just turned 18 in May. All the recent rumblings with Iran and the thought of another draft scares me to death. January 2009 can't get here soon enough.

So right, sadly. I've been going through that for over a year, and I keep surprising myself with what I remember. Maybe that's just how we're wired.

Sounds like your uncle was a helluva guy.

We owe it to people like them to take back this damn government and start doing the right thing rather than bombing those whose lives we will never know anything about.

My uncle Larry would be the first to tell you that in his own mind he was "just a guy", and didn't feel like he was anyone special (other than being a Marine of course LOL). I can tell you though that he influenced my life like few people ever could, and I'll never forget him or the things he inspired in me. I'd have to hang my head in shame though when I told him that it took a shock to bring those memories to the front of my consciousness.

All this because Bobby Murcer died. I guess he's really responsible for "bonus baseball"!

We all suffer from amnesia about things these days. That's the culture we inhabit. It's how well we remember when prodded that measures us. You're doing just fine.