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Full Name: Bobby Ray Murcer Primary Position: OF,RF,CF
Height/Weight: 5' 11"/160 First Game: September 8, 1965
Birthdate: May 20, 1946 Final Game: June 11, 1983
Birthplace: Oklahoma City, Oklahoma MLB Experience: 17 years
Bat/Throw: Left/Right

Biography[]

Bobby Murcer (Bobby Ray Murcer) was born on May 20, 1946 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. He made his Major League debut on September 8, 1965 for the New York Yankees. In 1969, his rookie year, he hit .259 with 26 home runs and 82 RBI. Murcer played for the New York Yankees, San Francisco Giants and Chicago Cubs over the course of his 17 year career.

Most people believe that Bobby Murcer's best season was 1972, when he slugged 33 home runs, hit for a .292 average and knocked in 96 runs.

After coming up briefly in with the New York Yankees in 1965 and 1966, Murcer fulfilled his military obligation before being called up to the majors to stay in 1969. A shortstop in the minor leagues, Murcer was slated to be the team's third baseman but ended up being the centerfielder following in the footsteps of Mickey Mantle and Joe DiMaggio. Almost anyone would suffer in comparison to those members of the Baseball Hall of Fame, but Murcer did well enough during the years the Yankees finished in the second division to become one of the team's most popular players of that time.

Murcer averaged 21 home runs, 89 RBIs, and a .277 average over a full season during his career. He had a career high .331 batting average in 1971 and the following year posted highs of 33 home runs and 96 RBIs. Murcer ended with 252 home runs, 1,043 RBIs, and a .277 average. Murcer played for the New York Yankees until 1975 when he was traded to the San Francisco Giants for Bobby Bonds. In 1977 he was traded to the Chicago Cubs in the same five-player deal that sent two-time defending National League batting champion Bill Madlock to San Francisco. In 1979 Murcer returned to the Yankees as primarily a designated hitter where he played in the 1981 World Series before retiring in 1983 and turning to a career in broadcasting. Murcer made the All-Star teams in 1971-72-73-74 in the American League and 1975 in the National League. He also won a Gold Glove Award in 1972.

Murcer has been a sportscaster for the Yankees—on broadcast TV, radio and currently the YES Network -- for most of the two decades since his retirement. He and colleague Frank Messer were behind the WPIX microphones as the infamous Pine Tar incident unfolded at Yankee Stadium on July 24, 1983.

Statistics[]

Batting Stats[]

Year Team G AB R H HR RBI AVG OBP SLG 2B 3B BB SO HBP SH SB IBB GDP
1965 NY A 11 37 2 9 1 4 .243 .333 .378 0 1 5 12 0 0 0 0 0
1966 NY A 21 69 3 12 0 5 .174 .219 .217 1 1 4 5 0 0 2 0 0
1969 NY A 152 564 82 146 26 82 .259 .319 .454 24 4 50 103 3 2 7 2 8
1970 NY A 159 581 95 146 23 78 .251 .348 .420 23 3 87 100 2 4 15 5 7
1971 NY A 146 529 94 175 25 94 .331 .427 .543 25 6 91 60 0 1 14 13 9
1972 NY A 153 585 102 171 33 96 .292 .361 .537 30 7 63 67 2 0 11 7 6
1973 NY A 160 616 83 187 22 95 .304 .357 .464 29 2 50 67 3 0 6 6 11
1974 NY A 156 606 69 166 10 88 .274 .332 .378 25 4 57 59 2 2 14 10 11
1975 SF N 147 526 80 157 11 91 .298 .396 .432 29 4 91 45 2 1 9 6 11
1976 SF N 147 533 73 138 23 90 .259 .362 .433 20 2 84 78 4 0 12 10 11
1977 CHI N 154 554 90 147 27 89 .265 .355 .455 18 3 80 77 3 2 16 13 6
1978 CHI N 146 499 66 140 9 64 .281 .376 .403 22 6 80 57 0 0 14 15 12
1979 NY A 74 264 42 72 8 33 .273 .339 .409 12 0 25 32 2 2 1 2 10
1979 CHI N 58 190 22 49 7 22 .258 .374 .400 4 1 36 20 1 1 2 2 3
1979 Total 132 454 64 121 15 55 .267 .354 .405 16 1 61 52 3 3 3 4 13
1980 NY A 100 297 41 80 13 57 .269 .339 .438 9 1 34 28 2 3 2 2 9
1981 NY A 50 117 14 31 6 24 .265 .331 .470 6 0 12 15 0 0 0 1 3
1982 NY A 65 141 12 32 7 30 .227 .288 .418 6 0 12 15 1 0 2 2 4
1983 NY A 9 22 2 4 1 1 .182 .217 .409 2 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 3
Total NL 652 2302 331 631 77 356 .274 .372 .429 93 16 371 277 10 4 53 46 43
Total AL 1256 4428 641 1231 175 687 .278 .349 .453 192 29 491 564 17 14 74 50 81
Total 1908 6730 972 1862 252 1043 .277 .357 .445 285 45 862 841 27 18 127 96 124

Fielding Stats[]

Year Team POS G GS INN PO A ERR DP TP PB SB CS PkO AVG
1965 NY A SS 11 11 96 28 41 5 14 0 0 0 0 0 .932
1966 NY A SS 18 17 151 31 50 6 4 0 0 0 0 0 .931
1969 NY A RF 102 88 814.2 152 4 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 .969
1969 NY A 3B 31 31 262 23 77 14 11 0 0 0 0 0 .877
1969 NY A OF 118 115 1027 212 4 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 .964
1969 NY A CF 27 27 212.1 57 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 .950
1970 NY A OF 155 152 1382.1 375 15 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 .992
1970 NY A CF 155 152 1382.1 376 15 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 .992
1971 NY A CF 143 140 1258.1 317 10 5 1 0 0 0 0 0 .985
1971 NY A OF 143 140 1258.1 317 10 5 1 0 0 0 0 0 .985
1972 NY A OF 151 150 1328.1 382 11 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 .992
1972 NY A CF 151 150 1328.1 376 11 3 2 0 0 0 0 0 .992
1973 NY A OF 160 160 1385.2 380 14 6 2 0 0 0 0 0 .985
1973 NY A CF 160 160 1385.2 383 14 6 2 0 0 0 0 0 .985
1974 NY A OF 156 153 1363 297 21 7 2 0 0 0 0 0 .978
1974 NY A RF 102 100 883.2 187 18 5 2 0 0 0 0 0 .976
1974 NY A CF 59 53 479.1 109 3 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 .982
1975 SF N OF 144 143 1221.2 201 10 4 3 0 0 0 0 0 .981
1975 SF N RF 143 142 1212.2 202 9 4 3 0 0 0 0 0 .981
1975 SF N CF 2 1 9 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.000
1976 SF N OF 146 145 1278.1 282 11 12 2 0 0 0 0 0 .961
1976 SF N RF 146 145 1278.1 284 11 12 2 0 0 0 0 0 .961
1977 CHI N RF 150 148 1330.1 232 11 5 5 0 0 0 0 0 .980
1977 CHI N 2B 1 0 0.2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.000
1977 CHI N OF 150 148 1330.1 237 11 5 5 0 0 0 0 0 .980
1977 CHI N SS 1 0 3.1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
1978 CHI N OF 138 133 1179.1 225 8 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 .979
1978 CHI N RF 121 106 955.2 165 5 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 .988
1978 CHI N CF 33 27 223.2 59 2 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 .953
1979 NY A OF 70 65 579 169 4 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 .983
1979 NY A RF 8 5 61.2 6 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .857
1979 NY A CF 59 53 446.1 147 4 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 .987
1979 NY A LF 13 7 71 14 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.000
1979 CHI N OF 54 53 454.2 110 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.000
1979 CHI N RF 54 53 452.2 108 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.000
1979 CHI N CF 1 0 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.000
1979 Total OF 124 118 1033.2 279 8 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 .990
1979 Total RF 62 58 514.1 114 4 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .992
1979 Total CF 60 53 448.1 148 4 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 .987
1980 NY A DH 33 28 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
1980 NY A OF 59 44 392.2 82 2 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 .955
1980 NY A RF 18 13 116 23 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .960
1980 NY A LF 44 31 276.2 59 2 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 .953
1981 NY A DH 33 25 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
1982 NY A DH 48 29 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
1983 NY A DH 5 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Total DH 119 87 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Total RF 844 800 7105.2 1359 63 35 12 0 0 0 0 0 .976
Total 3B 31 31 262 23 77 14 11 0 0 0 0 0 .877
Total LF 57 38 347.2 73 2 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 .962
Total SS 30 28 250.1 59 91 11 18 0 0 0 0 0 .932
Total CF 790 763 6727.1 1826 59 27 8 0 0 0 0 0 .986
Total OF 1644 1601 14180.2 3269 125 65 19 0 0 0 0 0 .981
Total 2B 1 0 0.2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.000

Transactions[]

  • Signed as an amateur free agent by New York Yankees (June 2, 1964).
  • Traded by New York Yankees to San Francisco Giants in exchange for Bobby Bonds (October 22, 1974).
  • Traded by San Francisco Giants with Steve Ontiveros and Andy Muhlstock to Chicago Cubs in exchange for Bill Madlock and Rob Sperring (February 11, 1977).
  • Traded by Chicago Cubs to New York Yankees in exchange for Paul Semall (June 26, 1979).
  • Granted free agency (November 13, 1981).
  • Signed by New York Yankees (April 5, 1982).
  • Released by New York Yankees (June 20, 1983).

Trivia[]

See also[]

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