2008 NY Yankees/Game 91/Rays,92/@ Pitt, 93/94/@Tor
Bobby Ray Murcer (May 20, 1946 – July 12, 2008
There isn't a dry eye anywhere that a Yankee fan is found, Bobby Murcer died today...succumbing to the Brain Cancer that he has been fighting since Christmas Eve, 2006. I wrote about Bobby when he came back to the YES Broadcast Booth for the first time last season, but couldn't locate the entry today. Suffice it to say that he was my FIRST Hero, the best Yankee in the years when I became a fan, an Oklahoman who was more like 'us' to Mom and I as we adjusted to the move back to NYC from Texas. I met him in the Yankee clubhouse as a 7 year old in 1971 and worshipped him - he told me to be good to my mom (still am, Bobby). When the Yankees closed down the original stadium for renovations (the stadium that is in its final season in 2008, the Yankees moved to Queens for two years and Bobby struggled to hit those Yankee stadium HR's he had patented in the Bronx - his 10 HR season that year was the first time in seven seasons he fell below 22-33 and Yankees traded him that winter for Barry Bonds Dad - Bobby Bonds. Although Bobby came BACK to the Yankees in 1979, he missed the 3 world series and 2 World Championships his beloved Yankees went to during his 5 years away.
That year, 1979, Yankee Captain and close friend to Bobby, Thurman Munson crashed his plane flying home to Canton, Ohio and Bobby gave the eulogy at his service. The first game back, Bobby hit a 3 run HR and then had a game-winning 2 run 1B in the Bottom of the 9th, playing the Orioles and his longtime friend, New Yorker and fellow announcer, Ken Singleton. In 1983, when I was 20, Bobby retired and went directly to the Booth, making way for Don Mattingly, who succeeded him as 'Most Popular Yankee'. Bobby was the only Yankee to play with Mickey and Donnie Baseball, the bridge between generations of Yankees. Bobby lost two of his prime years in the late '60s to Military Service during the Vietnam War and never spoke of it as anything but an inspiration and a tool that made him stronger. He was 'old school' in the BEST sense of that term.
In the booth, he was a fixture with Phil Rizzuto (who we lost last year) and into the YES years, covering all of the Championships and becoming a fixture to NEW Generations of Yankees and Yankee fans.
He came from the places Guru comes from and lived his life in the place that Guru lives his. He was the finest public person that has ever been associated with the Yankees since my first season (1970), a deeply religious man, who, like Andy Pettitte, never pushed any agenda or pointed the finger at other lifestyles, but rather, who GLOWED with decency, good humor, love for the Yankees and most of all, devotion to his wife, Kay, whose name I have known since I was 7 and who my heart breaks for today.
We loved you, Bobby. We'll never forget you.
Game 91/ Rays
Guru was in the bleachers for this one, a blistering hot day in the Bronx that failed to heat up slumbering Yankee bats. With 20,000 Yankee fans sporting their Giambi Mustaches, Sidney Ponson danced on the edge for six innings of one run baseball before handing it over to the bullpen who supplied 4 shutout innings of relief. A 1-1 game became a 2-1 victory when Bobby Abreu doubled Derek Jeter in from 1B on a gap 2B for the walkoff, a sweep of the 2 game Rays series and a 4-2 homestand against the teams the Yankees trail in the AL East.
Game 92/@ Pittsburgh
Three weeks ago, Yankees had a 3 run lead with Mike Mussina on the hill, only to have the rains flood the game away. In the Makeup game, the Yankees once again received a terrific start from the suddenly dominant Moose, but came away with a tough 4-2 loss when Jose Veras was tagged for a clutch 2 run HR by terrific young Pirate CF (All-Star!) Nate McClouth. Veras, who had not been scored upon in 17 1/3 innings previously, can hardly be blamed for the rare mistake nor can Yankee hitters, who ran into a brilliant performance from Pirate starter, LH, Paul Maholm, who threw 8 innings of 2 run ball and Pirate Closer, LH, Domaso Marte, who shut them down in the 9th. A tough loss for New York, coming off the 4 game winning streak against their rivals, but no fluke - this Pirate team has some players and some pitchers and played inspired baseball on this night.
Game 93/@ Toronto
Once again, Yankees got a brilliant pitching performance from their starter only to lose to an even BETTER one from the opposing starter. Blue Jay Ace, RH, Roy Halladay toyed with the Yankees in a complete game 2-hit shutout, offsetting 7 strong innings of 10 K work from Joba Chamberlain. Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter had the only Yankee hits and Yankee LH callup, Billy Traber, surrendered a 2 run shot in relief to provide the final 5-0 margin.
Game 94/ @ Toronto
Derek Jeter led off the game with his 200th MLB HR, only to see it squandered by a 4 run Toronto outburst in the bottom of the 1st against hard-trying, good-guy, not-good-enough Darell Rasner, and given the Yankee Offensive struggles since Matsui's injury (less than 3 runs in 8 of 12 games, worst since 1991) it was an open question if they'd be able to overcome the deficit. But Blue Jay starter, Jesse Litsch, is no Halladay and Yankee bats came alive with 8 more runs on their way to the 9-4 victory, one of which came on Alex Rodriguez's 537th HR - passing Mickey on the all-time list to move into the #13 slot, eleven behind #12 - Mike Schmidt, still two weeks before his 33rd Birthday.
For his part, Rasner had some poor luck in the 1st Inning debacle, with some bad Defense and just ONE bad pitch that Adam Lind hit for a 3 run 3B. He struck out 6 in five innings and combined with four Yankee relievers (Edwar Ramirez, Jose Veras, Kyle Farnsworth and Latroy Hawkins) to record 8 shutout innings to close out the win.
Yankees try for the series win to close out the first half tomorrow with Andy Pettitte going up against terrific AJ Burnett (owns the Yankees) in Rogers Center, a game that is sure to be an emotional one for the Yankees and close Murcer friend, Joe Girardi (crying profusely and beautifully in the postgame, making me prouder of him that I already was). For a team that has been inconsistent with its approach and its professionalism, perhaps the example of their class act Manager and the great Bobby Murcer can be used to lift them up from their recent malaise. Facing Burnett, they'll HAVE to if they want to go into the All-Star break with a good taste in their mouths and keep the Rays and Sox right where they are.
There isn't a dry eye anywhere that a Yankee fan is found, Bobby Murcer died today...succumbing to the Brain Cancer that he has been fighting since Christmas Eve, 2006. I wrote about Bobby when he came back to the YES Broadcast Booth for the first time last season, but couldn't locate the entry today. Suffice it to say that he was my FIRST Hero, the best Yankee in the years when I became a fan, an Oklahoman who was more like 'us' to Mom and I as we adjusted to the move back to NYC from Texas. I met him in the Yankee clubhouse as a 7 year old in 1971 and worshipped him - he told me to be good to my mom (still am, Bobby). When the Yankees closed down the original stadium for renovations (the stadium that is in its final season in 2008, the Yankees moved to Queens for two years and Bobby struggled to hit those Yankee stadium HR's he had patented in the Bronx - his 10 HR season that year was the first time in seven seasons he fell below 22-33 and Yankees traded him that winter for Barry Bonds Dad - Bobby Bonds. Although Bobby came BACK to the Yankees in 1979, he missed the 3 world series and 2 World Championships his beloved Yankees went to during his 5 years away.
That year, 1979, Yankee Captain and close friend to Bobby, Thurman Munson crashed his plane flying home to Canton, Ohio and Bobby gave the eulogy at his service. The first game back, Bobby hit a 3 run HR and then had a game-winning 2 run 1B in the Bottom of the 9th, playing the Orioles and his longtime friend, New Yorker and fellow announcer, Ken Singleton. In 1983, when I was 20, Bobby retired and went directly to the Booth, making way for Don Mattingly, who succeeded him as 'Most Popular Yankee'. Bobby was the only Yankee to play with Mickey and Donnie Baseball, the bridge between generations of Yankees. Bobby lost two of his prime years in the late '60s to Military Service during the Vietnam War and never spoke of it as anything but an inspiration and a tool that made him stronger. He was 'old school' in the BEST sense of that term.
In the booth, he was a fixture with Phil Rizzuto (who we lost last year) and into the YES years, covering all of the Championships and becoming a fixture to NEW Generations of Yankees and Yankee fans.
He came from the places Guru comes from and lived his life in the place that Guru lives his. He was the finest public person that has ever been associated with the Yankees since my first season (1970), a deeply religious man, who, like Andy Pettitte, never pushed any agenda or pointed the finger at other lifestyles, but rather, who GLOWED with decency, good humor, love for the Yankees and most of all, devotion to his wife, Kay, whose name I have known since I was 7 and who my heart breaks for today.
We loved you, Bobby. We'll never forget you.
Game 91/ Rays
Guru was in the bleachers for this one, a blistering hot day in the Bronx that failed to heat up slumbering Yankee bats. With 20,000 Yankee fans sporting their Giambi Mustaches, Sidney Ponson danced on the edge for six innings of one run baseball before handing it over to the bullpen who supplied 4 shutout innings of relief. A 1-1 game became a 2-1 victory when Bobby Abreu doubled Derek Jeter in from 1B on a gap 2B for the walkoff, a sweep of the 2 game Rays series and a 4-2 homestand against the teams the Yankees trail in the AL East.
Game 92/@ Pittsburgh
Three weeks ago, Yankees had a 3 run lead with Mike Mussina on the hill, only to have the rains flood the game away. In the Makeup game, the Yankees once again received a terrific start from the suddenly dominant Moose, but came away with a tough 4-2 loss when Jose Veras was tagged for a clutch 2 run HR by terrific young Pirate CF (All-Star!) Nate McClouth. Veras, who had not been scored upon in 17 1/3 innings previously, can hardly be blamed for the rare mistake nor can Yankee hitters, who ran into a brilliant performance from Pirate starter, LH, Paul Maholm, who threw 8 innings of 2 run ball and Pirate Closer, LH, Domaso Marte, who shut them down in the 9th. A tough loss for New York, coming off the 4 game winning streak against their rivals, but no fluke - this Pirate team has some players and some pitchers and played inspired baseball on this night.
Game 93/@ Toronto
Once again, Yankees got a brilliant pitching performance from their starter only to lose to an even BETTER one from the opposing starter. Blue Jay Ace, RH, Roy Halladay toyed with the Yankees in a complete game 2-hit shutout, offsetting 7 strong innings of 10 K work from Joba Chamberlain. Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter had the only Yankee hits and Yankee LH callup, Billy Traber, surrendered a 2 run shot in relief to provide the final 5-0 margin.
Game 94/ @ Toronto
Derek Jeter led off the game with his 200th MLB HR, only to see it squandered by a 4 run Toronto outburst in the bottom of the 1st against hard-trying, good-guy, not-good-enough Darell Rasner, and given the Yankee Offensive struggles since Matsui's injury (less than 3 runs in 8 of 12 games, worst since 1991) it was an open question if they'd be able to overcome the deficit. But Blue Jay starter, Jesse Litsch, is no Halladay and Yankee bats came alive with 8 more runs on their way to the 9-4 victory, one of which came on Alex Rodriguez's 537th HR - passing Mickey on the all-time list to move into the #13 slot, eleven behind #12 - Mike Schmidt, still two weeks before his 33rd Birthday.
For his part, Rasner had some poor luck in the 1st Inning debacle, with some bad Defense and just ONE bad pitch that Adam Lind hit for a 3 run 3B. He struck out 6 in five innings and combined with four Yankee relievers (Edwar Ramirez, Jose Veras, Kyle Farnsworth and Latroy Hawkins) to record 8 shutout innings to close out the win.
Yankees try for the series win to close out the first half tomorrow with Andy Pettitte going up against terrific AJ Burnett (owns the Yankees) in Rogers Center, a game that is sure to be an emotional one for the Yankees and close Murcer friend, Joe Girardi (crying profusely and beautifully in the postgame, making me prouder of him that I already was). For a team that has been inconsistent with its approach and its professionalism, perhaps the example of their class act Manager and the great Bobby Murcer can be used to lift them up from their recent malaise. Facing Burnett, they'll HAVE to if they want to go into the All-Star break with a good taste in their mouths and keep the Rays and Sox right where they are.
