On Saturday, we lost one of our true good guys as former Yankee center fielder Bobby Murcer passed away at the age of 62 succumbing to cancer after a courageous two-year battle. Though he came before my time, the man from Oklahoma City with the bright smile and keen sense of humor became a solid player for the Bronx Bombers slugging 175 of his career 252 home runs with the franchise which signed him as an amateur back in 1964. From 1969-73 during a time when the Yankees struggled following the post-Mantle Era, Murcer hit 22-or-more homers in each season knocking in over 90 three times. His best season came at the age of 25 back in 1971 when he hit .331 with 25 dingers, 94 RBI’s, 14 stolen bases in 146 games while posting an impressive .427 on-base percentage (91 walks) and .543 slugging finishing seventh in MVP voting. It also marked the first year he was an AL All-Star making it the first of five straight seasons including one with the Giants that he was selected.

-FULL STORY-

Shea Stadium was the ballpark of the future when it opened, and it’s the park of the past now. Not the kitschy, asymmetrical past that the new parks of today commemorate, it’s more a functional past when people thought, “What good is a new stadium if you can only use it six months a year?” Baseball, football, soccer, boxing, wrestling, concerts, religious events, flea markets, and even a summer Ice Capades…you name it, and Shea has tried it. Yet Shea has always been, first and foremost, a baseball stadium. And in today’s era of cozy parks cuddling up to power hitters, pitchers are thankful for Shea. The ballpark’s dimensions in 2008 are nearly the same as they were when it opened on April 17, 1964. As crowds thronged to Shea from the New York World’s Fair next door, the spanking-new stadium was thought to be relatively fair for both pitchers and hitters, certainly fairer than the Mets’ first home in the Manhattan.

-FULL STORY-