Bobby Murcer
Bobby Ray Murcer was an American professional baseball outfielder who played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball between 1965 and 1983. 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 Associated Press's American League 1970s All-Decade team. Murcer led the American League in on-base percentage in 1971, and in runs and total bases in 1972.
Early life
Murcer played on the football, baseball, and basketball teams as a sophomore at Southeast High School in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. In his junior year, he made the All-district football team. He also helped Southeast High to the conference championship in baseball. As a senior, Murcer showed his athletic abilities by making All-State in both football and baseball and was All-City in basketball and baseball. As a senior Murcer hit.458 and struck out only once. 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 bonus contract with the Yankees.Minor league career (1964–68)
Murcer signed a contract with Yankees' scout Tom Greenwade, the same scout who signed fellow Oklahoman Mickey Mantle. Murcer signed for a $10,000 bonus in June 1964. He began with the Johnson City, rookie-level Appalachian League club in 1964 and hit.365 in 126 at bats.The following season, 1965, he was the Carolina League MVP with the Greensboro. Murcer hit.322, homered 16 times, drove in 90 runs, and stole 18 bases, playing in his league's All-Star game that season. In 1966, he began the season with the Yankees, but was sent down to Toledo of the International League. There he was in the All-Star game once again. He hit.266 with 15 home runs and had 63 RBIs to go along with 16 steals.
While on leave from the United States Army in 1968, Murcer played seven games in the Fall Instructional League. After his discharge, he played third base for Caguas in the Puerto Rico League, where he drove in 18 runs in 22 games.
When Major League Baseball expanded from 20 to 24 teams prior to the 1969 season, the Yankees allegedly protected Murcer and Jerry Kenney from the 1968 MLB expansion draft by making a last-minute appeal to other owners to allow players that were fulfilling their military obligation to be exempt from the expansion draft, which allowed the Yankees to protect 17 players instead of 15. The Yankees devised this strategy specifically to protect Murcer, who spent 1967 and 1968 in the Army.
Playing in the minor leagues from 1964 to 1966, 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.
Major league career
New York Yankees (1965–66, 1969–74)
A shortstop in the minor leagues, Murcer was slated to play the position for the Yankees but ended up being a center fielder, following in the footsteps of Mickey Mantle and Joe DiMaggio, and there were strong expectations that he would be "the next Mantle". Murcer became one of the team's most popular players of the era.His first hit in the major leagues, in 1965, was a game-winning home run. He also played on "Mickey Mantle Day" on September 18 of that year. Murcer said playing alongside Mantle in that game was the "greatest thrill of his career". He began the 1966 season with the major league club but was sent down to Triple-A. Murcer then spent 1967–68 in the United States Army as a result of the escalation of the Vietnam War.
After returning from the Army, Murcer began the 1969 season hitting.321, with 11 homers and a league-leading 43 runs-batted-in, when he jammed his heel in Kansas City. Murcer recalled, "I laid out seven days, and I lost my groove and my momentum". 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. On August 10, 1969, he was part of a feat that was perhaps the highlight of the 1969 season for Yankees' fans. Murcer, Thurman Munson, and Gene Michael hit consecutive home runs in the sixth inning against Oakland. Murcer led off the inning with a shot into the right-field bleachers. 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. This was the third time Yankees hit three successive home runs. Bobby Richardson, Mickey Mantle, and Joe Pepitone did it in 1966. In 1947 Charlie Keller, Joe DiMaggio, and Johnny Lindell initially accomplished the feat.
Murcer tied for the American League lead in outfield assists in 1970 with 15, while committing only 3 errors in center field. In June 1970, Murcer hit home runs in four consecutive at-bats in a doubleheader against the Cleveland Indians, tying an American League record and joining Lou Gehrig, Johnny Blanchard, and Mickey Mantle as the only Yankees to hit home runs in four consecutive at-bats. Murcer's reported salary for both 1969 and 1970 was $27,500.
In 1971, Murcer earned a raise to $35,000 and he ended the 1971 season with a career-high.331 batting average, good for second in the AL. He led the American League in on-base percentage and times on base, and came in second in slugging percentage and runs, fourth in RBIs and walks, fifth in intentional walks, and tenth in home runs. Murcer was seventh in MVP voting and was voted to the Sporting News All-Star team. Additionally, Murcer was Second-team All-MLB by both the Associated Press and the Newspaper Enterprise Association. On July 25, Murcer hit a pinch-hit grand slam in a win against the Milwaukee Brewers, the first of his seven career grand slams.
In 1972, with a new $65,000 salary, Murcer recorded a career-high 30 doubles, 7 triples, 33 home runs, and 96 RBIs. He also led the AL in runs scored, extra-base hits, and total bases, was third in slugging percentage and hits, and 10th in batting. He came in fifth in the AL MVP voting and won a Gold Glove for his fielding. Murcer was fourth in the AL in fielding percentage led the league in putouts, and was third in outfield assists with eleven. On August 29, Murcer hit for the cycle. On June 3, Murcer's five runs scored in a game marked the 11th time it had been done in Yankees history. He was named to the Sporting News All-Star team again and Murcer's 33 home runs were the most by a Yankees centerfielder since Mickey Mantle hit 35 in 1964. No Yankee center fielder topped that mark until 2011 when Curtis Granderson hit 41. Again he was named to The Sporting News AL All-Star team and was Second-team All-MLB by both the AP and NEA.
On March 6, 1973, Murcer asked for and received a $100,000 salary for the upcoming season, making him only the third Yankee to make six figures. For that season Murcer was third in the league in hits, fourth in batting, and seventh in RBIs. He was ninth in the MVP voting. He also led the American League in assists for the second time in four years, with 14. He made the Sporting News All-Star team for the third time in his career and for the third time in three seasons he was Second-team All-MLB by both the AP and NEA. He narrowly missed his second Gold Glove, finishing fourth in the voting among American League outfielders. He finished with 17 game-winning hits, second to AL MVP Reggie Jackson's 18. 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.
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. That night, Murcer hit a two-run homer off Perry that put the Yankees ahead in a 7–2 victory over the Cleveland Indians. Murcer had made his original comment about Kuhn after Perry beat New York the previous week, which ended the Yankees' eight-game winning streak. Kuhn said Murcer apologized in their meeting but Murcer refused to tell newsmen that he had, and he "didn't sound too contrite". 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."
For his career, Murcer hit Perry at a.232 clip with two home runs in 69 at-bats. 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. Aside from the abysmal 1972 summer, he had against Perry, who won the A.L. Cy Young Award that year, Murcer hit.286 against him.
Murcer also had some fun with Perry; he once caught a fly for the last out of an inning and spit on the ball before tossing it to him. Another time he sent Perry a gallon of lard. Perry retaliated by having a mutual acquaintance cover his hand with grease before shaking hands with Murcer and saying "Gaylord says hello."
In early 1974, Murcer and Mickey Mantle flew to Washington, D.C. to visit with Senator Ted Kennedy's son, Teddy, whose right leg had recently been amputated due to cancer. Murcer and Mantle traveled at Senator Kennedy's request and George Steinbrenner's expense.
Murcer, who had hit 25 homers with regularity, found it hard to hit home runs at Shea Stadium, where the Yankees played in 1974 and 1975 while Yankee Stadium was renovated. In the 1974 season, Murcer hit only two home runs at Shea, on consecutive days,.
In 1974 Murcer led all major league outfielders in assists by throwing out 21 baserunners. He was second in the AL in sacrifice flies, seventh in RBIs, and ninth in intentional walks, and was an American League All-Star for the fourth consecutive season and was the highest-paid player in Yankee history, earning $120,000.
San Francisco Giants (1975–76)
After the 1974 season, the Yankees traded Murcer to the San Francisco Giants for Bobby Bonds. Early on October 22, Gabe Paul called Murcer to say he had been traded straight up to San Francisco for Bobby Bonds. "The trade came", he remembered, "just after I had told Gabe I could finally accept right field if I knew I would be a Yankee the rest of my career. He said there was no way the Yankees could trade me. Three days later, I was gone."In 1975, wearing uniform #20, Murcer led the National League in sacrifice flies with 12 and was 5th in walks with 91 drove in 91 runs, and batted.298. He also led the Giants in game-winning hits with 13. Additionally, he was fourth among NL right fielders in fielding percentage with.981. On May 24, 1975, Murcer went 2 for 3 with a triple and a home run and had a career-high 6 RBIs in a win over the Cubs. That week he won the first of two National League Player of the Week awards.. He played in his fifth All-Star game and was Second-team All-National League by United Press International.
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. Author Zander Hollander noted that season that "only Murcer's dwindling power keeps him from superstar status" since other than the lack of home runs Murcer had a fine year in his first season as a Giant.
On April 6, 1976, the Associated Press reported that Murcer signed for a reported $175,000, making him the highest-paid player in Giants history and gave him about a $25,000 raise over his 1975 salary. That season Murcer regained his power swing and was 6th in the NL with 23 home runs, and 7th in RBIs. He walked 84 times which was sixth in the NL. He was also voted the Giants MVP after leading the Giants in home runs and tied for the team lead in steals with 12 and was second on the club with 10 game-winning RBI. His two consecutive seasons with 90 or more RBIs was not duplicated by a San Francisco Giant until Will Clark did it in 1987–88.
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.