Lots of times, we don’t realize what we’ve got until it’s gone.
That seems like the case with Bobby Murcer.
You can watch my latest video commentary or continue reading below:
The baseball legend died over the weekend, and much has been written and said about just how good he was. The five-time All-Star who played for the Yankees, Giants, Cubs and then Yankees again became as successful in the broadcast booth as he was on the field. In essence, Murcer was a star from his prep days at Southeast High until the day he died at Mercy Hospital.
And still, we didn’t realize what we had in Murcer.
He was even better than we knew.
That much became obvious to me during the past couple days. Saturday evening, I started making calls to folks who knew Murcer not because he was a baseball player, but because he was a friend. All of them told the most amazing stories about Murcer.
Gary England, the legendary weatherman, was a longtime friend of Murcer’s. As he shared with me some of his photos, he recounted remarkable snapshots of Murcer’s life.
There was one with a big group standing outside a firehouse in New York City. Seems that any time Murcer walked by a firehouse, he would go inside and meet the firefighters. He shook hands with thousands over the years.
Then, there was the photo of Murcer on the day he retired. He was standing in the aisle of a tour bus that was headed from Yankee Stadium to a fancy shindig in Jersey. The folks on the bus — every last one was from Oklahoma.
There was another group photo in England’s collection that included a pair of white-uniformed sailors. England recounted the story behind it.
Apparently, Murcer would spend the baseball season living in a hotel in New York. It became his home away from home. And every Fourth of July, the hotel would place his rocking chair on the sidewalk out front. As people passed by after the fireworks, Murcer would say hello, wave and take pictures. He would stay for hours.
We all knew that Murcer was a gem, and still, we may not have realized just how brilliant he was. In his death, we can fully see how wonderful his life really was.