Sully Baseball Honors... Bobby Murcer's 1977 Topps Card

I am currently putting together a Giants blog post with lots of baseball card pictures. I needed to find one of the late Bobby Murcer in a Giants uniform and this one kept popping up on Google Images.

And I can't lie to you, dear readers. I am fascinated by it.

This was the picture that the Topps editor decided to go with.
This is TOPPS mind you... not Fleer who, as I wrote before, had a tendency to go with odd photos on their cards.

First of all, if I were to describe the picture, the first thing I would say would be "It's a picture of Cardinal catcher Joe Ferguson's back."

I mean if you are going by what takes up the majority of the space, this should be a Joe Ferguson card.

Murcer is obscured... and he doesn't look happy about it.
He's being blocked in his own card!

And it isn't like the picture is Murcer sliding into home and you see Ferguson's back.
Murcer is arguing a balls and strike call in the picture. And frankly looks like a dick doing it.

Bobby Murcer is a guy who has always had the reputation of being one of the nice guys in the game and a true class act. Someone who you look at and think it was so unfair that he just barely missed two Yankee eras of World Series titles in his career.

And what picture is used to represent him?
One where he looks petty and is obscured.

This was the best picture they had?
Was he sneezing in every other picture?

Or maybe he did looked pissed in every picture.
He clearly didn't want to be traded from the Yankees and just as he left, they started their winning ways again.

Maybe he is more mad about that than the balls and strikes calls.

Either way, this is one of the strangest baseball cards I have ever seen. And worth a salute.

Rest in Peace Bobby Murcer

When I heard Bobby Murcer died, I called my buddy Chris DeLuca to let him know I was sorry.

DeLuca is a big Yankee fan and I really felt like this was like a death in the family.
And there were few in the Yankee family that wore the uniform with his dignity.

His luck was Mattingly-esque in terms of missing out on 2 separate World Series runs for the Yankees.

The Yankees went on a run between 1947 to 1964 where they missed the World Series only 3 times and won 10 titles.

Murcer made his debut in 1965, when the winning stopped.
He remained the Yankees lone MVP candidate during the lean late 60s and early 70s years.

And then was shipped off to San Francisco before the 1975 season.
The Yankees won the 1976 pennant while Bobby was freezing himself in Candlestick.

He was with the Cubs when the Yankees won the 1977 and 1978 World Series. He returned in 1979 when not only the World Series titles stopped but also in time for Thurman Munson's death.

Unlike Mattingly, he would play in a World Series.
And as a pinch hitter in game 6 of the 1981 World Series, he nearly hit a tie breaking pinch hit homer... but it fell just short.

As an announcer I remember he stared off rather stiffly but loosened up with Scooter in the booth. When Scooter left the booth for good in 1996, Murcer's role expanded.

Now think about that for a second.
He was an Oklahoma born power hitting slugger whose career took off as Mickey Mantle's was winding down.

And then played the role of beloved former player turned broadcaster.

He had to replace not one, but TWO Yankee legends.

And boy did he do a great job.

Who cares if he doesn't have a ring?
Jose Canseco has a ring as a Yankee. So does Kenny Rogers. So does HGH magnet Jason Grimsley.

Are any of them better Yankees than Murcer?

It's safe to say there will be a plaque for him at the new monument park.
It's long overdue.