Yankee for Life; My 40-Year Journey in Pinstripes

New York: Harper, 2009. First Harper Paperback First Printing [Stated]. Trade paperback. Good. xvi, Some cover wear noted. Foreword by Yogi Berra. Introduction by Derek Jeter. Twenty-one chapters. Epilogue by Kay Murcer, not found in the original hardback, addressing Murcer's death from cancer in 2008. Bobby Ray Murcer (May 20, 1946 - July 12, 2008) was an American professional baseball outfielder who played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball between 1965 and 1983. He played the majority of his career for the New York Yankees, whom he later rejoined as a longtime broadcaster. A Gold Glove winner and five-time All-Star, and was voted to the AP's American League 1970s All-Decade team. Murcer led the American League in on-base percentage in 1971, and in runs and total bases in 1972. A shortstop in the minor leagues, Murcer was slated to play the position for the Yankees but ended up being a center fielder, following in the footsteps of Mickey Mantle and Joe DiMaggio, and there were strong expectations that he would be "the next Mantle". Murcer became one of the team's most popular players of the era. His first hit in the major leagues, in 1965, was a game-winning home run. He also played on "Mickey Mantle Day" on September 18 of that year. Murcer said playing alongside Mantle in that game was the "greatest thrill of his career". On March 6, 1973, Murcer asked for and received a $100,000 salary for the upcoming season, making him only the third Yankee to make six figures. For that season Murcer was third in the league in hits (187), fourth in batting (.301), and seventh in RBIs (95). In 1975 he was traded for Barry Bonds. In June 1979, Murcer returned to the Yankees. When he retired, Murcer was the last active player to have been a playing teammate of Mickey Mantle. Murcer was also involved in the team as management and part-time coach as well. He was an assistant Yankee general manager in 1985, and individually worked with Rickey Henderson's rehab efforts when Henderson was brought to the Yankees. In 1987, George Steinbrenner hired Murcer to coach left-handed hitters. In 1989, he became partial owner of the Class AAA baseball team in Oklahoma, the Oklahoma City 89ers. He was also a regular at the annual Yankees Old Timer's Game, playing his last game in 2007. After his retirement, Murcer turned to a career in broadcasting. He was a sportscaster for the Yankees—on broadcast TV, radio, and the YES Network—for most of the two decades. He and colleague Frank Messer were behind the WPIX microphones as the infamous pine tar incident unfolded at Yankee Stadium on July 24, 1983. Murcer also worked games for NBC, teaming with Ted Robinson. Murcer continued to call games on WPIX until 1998, when the station lost the rights to broadcast the Yankees (they would pick up the broadcast rights to the Mets instead). He then moved to WNYW, where he and Tim McCarver (later Suzyn Waldman) shared play-by-play roles. He would remain there until 2001 (calling, among other games, David Cone's 1999 perfect game), and then moved to the YES Network to call the games there and on its broadcast partners (originally WCBS, now WWOR-TV), with a reduced workload. Murcer won three Emmy Awards for live sports coverage as the voice of the Yankees.