2 PEAS IN A POD ? BOBBY MURCER & CARL YASTRZEMSKI

Both 5 ft 11" tall & 180 lbs.

A QUICK ANALYSIS: MURCER & YAZ

Bobby Murcer’s physical attributes are uncannily like those of  Carl Yastrzemski.

Baseball-reference.com has Murcer at 5’11”, 180 lbs. and Yastrzemski at 5’11”, 182 lbs.  Both are left handed hitters.

Though not identical in their statistical totals, they were VERY similar in stats-per-at-bat.

 

Yaz homered every 26.5 AB’s.  Murcer tatered every 26.7 AB’s.

Yaz got a hit every 3.5 AB’s.  Murcer did so every 3.6 AB’s.

Yaz scored a run every 6.6 AB’s.  Murcer — every 6.9 AB’s.

Yaz drove in a run every 6.5 AB’s.  Murcer got an RBI every 6.45 AB’s.

Yaz struck out every 8.6 AB’s  — Murcer K’d every 8.0.

 

Look at the comparison of some offensive totals –

HR’s:     Yaz 452       Murcer 252

2B’s:      Yaz 646       Murcer 285

Hits:       Yaz 3,419    Murcer 1,862

At Bats:  Yaz 11,988  Murcer 6,730

Yaz had 78% more at bats than Murcer.

Had Murcer had as many at bats as Yaz, this is what his totals could have been:

HR’s:                          Murcer 448

2B’s:                           Murcer 507

Hits:                            Murcer 3,314

At Bats:                       Murcer 11,988

Could be that Murcer had the make up and tools to achieve Hall of Fame numbers.  He would be right with Yaz, given the missing at bats.

The objective is not to simplify Yaz’s career.  Yaz received MVP votes in 14 seasons, was an 18x All Star, won 7 gold gloves, 3 batting titles, one MVP.   He substantively helped, or drove, the Red Sox to two AL Pennants.

Murcer had one Gold Glove, no batting titles, was a 5x All Star and received MVP votes in 4 seasons.

Still, Murcer may very well have put up Yaz-like plate numbers had he played in Boston, with the Pesky Pole 302 feet away, where coddling ownership & fans cling to star players.  (I speak with self-admittance, as a Red Sox National.)

Bobby Murcer’s career numbers suffered from a lack of playing time before age 23 and after age 33.  He was short changed by two years of military service.  He was cheated by new ownership that cut his playing time and looked for new answers after the Yanks’ temporary move to Shea cut Bobby’s power totals. He became a platoon DH at an age when Yaz still had 5,000 at bats to come.

Given that Murcer was never on the D.L. from 1969 to 1983, the argument is plausible.

He certainly believed he had more to give.

The passing of Bobby Murcer in June, 2008 at age 62 was a tragedy.  He certainly had more to give to family and fans, too.

Rest in Peace, Bobby.

FOR THE RECORD

 

Fri., July 25    Joba outduels Beckett  1-0

 

Sat. July 26    Wake’s first bad outing since May 18, Yanks win 10-3

 

Sun. July 27   Lester cruises over Ponson, 9-2.

Peter Gammons: Beyond the Sixth Game. Into the future without Yaz.

Gammons book a must-read

Beyond the Sixth Game.  What’s Happened to Baseball Since The Greatest Game in World Series History. By Peter Gammons.  Houghton Mifflin, 1985.

Do you remember when you first realized that the Size-XXL Dominican Gentleman with the big smile was a Red Sox ?

The Red Sox team that already had Manny, Nomar, ‘Tek, Pedro, Millar, Mueller, Lowe & Foulke.

Felt pretty good, didn’t it ?

Those are memories to savor.  For Red Sox fans, every so often things become aligned in a special way.

Sox fans (of a certain vintage) got a similar high 33 years ago after looking in the sports section and seeing TWO Red Sox players, unknown, right smack in Baseball’s Top 10 Al Hitter list !  Jeesus !  What’s going on here, we thought.

It soon came to pass that Jim Rice and Fred Lynn were young blue chippers sent by the Baseball Gods and Dick O’Connell, to join Yaz, Rico, Spaceman, and the best Red Sox pitcher ever – Luis Tiant.

Euphoria set in.   The Sox were LOADED and could win several pennants !

If you can relate, or if you just want to dig a little into an intriguing baseball book, Peter Gammons’ Beyond the Sixth Game is for you.  Gammons has captured the Red Sox of 1975 to 1983, a team history backed up to the late Sixties for perspective.

Gammons peppered this book with golden nuggets.

Rick “Tall Boy” Jones’ claim to fame came in high school, when he was suspended with 3 members of the Lynard Skynard band, caught by — who else ? — gym teacher Leonard Skinner.

Carlton Fisk, a well-rounded New England boy was honest to a fault, admitting that Bill Singer threw Pete Rose a spitter in the ’73 All Star Game.  He was critical of management, speaking up about Darrell Johnson, the most dysfunctional Sox Manager ever.  He was ready to fight; on 8-1-73 Fisk had Gene Michael pinned to the ground with his left hand while pounding Munson repeatedly with his right.

· Dennis Eckersley, a cocky but talented  23 year old, had his own language, offering batters “cheese for their kitchen, and a yakker for their kudo.”

· Boomer Scott, who, when asked about Biafra, said, “I never faced the muddafuka, but by the 3^rd time I face him, I’ll hit a tater off him.”

· On the collapse of 1978 —  Rick Burleson said, “the abuse we have taken and the abuse we must be prepared to take for the entire winter, we richly deserve.”

· Luis Tiant – while all were crumbling around him in late 1978 – “If we lose today, it will be over my dead body.  They’ll have to leave me face down on the mound. ….Bleep those guys who want to throw in the towel.  Win today, win tomorrow, win the next day….the easiest thing is to give up.”

· Dwight Evans, long after the release of Tiant, just after the Sox allowed California to claim him in 1982, “How could the owners not have understood (what Tiant meant to the team) ?

There are funny & touching details on Yaz through the various stages of his career, and much on how he handled his farewell weekend.  For anyone who was at Fenway on Oct. 1 or 2, 1983, this book is meant for you to read.

Gammons measures the Sox over a 9-season stretch.  The Sox rose.   They promised a dynasty.  They failed to adjust to changing times.  They won a pennant, nearly won one more, then slid into mediocrity & their first losing record in 17 years.  They enjoyed an historic influx of young talent and then released, traded away and otherwise squandered the talent, as the front office lost their way in an ownership battle.

Among the leading factors in the decline was Jean Yawkey.  Why would the aging doyen prefer to sell the Sox to two jokers with $400,000 on hand rather than to businessmen with $14 Million in cash-money ?

The Yawkeys take the brunt of the criticism for mismanaging the Sox.

In 1965, Tom Yawkey replace old drinking pal Pinky Higgins with Dick O’Connell as G.M.  Dick O’Connell designed the regeneration of the Sox from ’67 to ’75.

And when Jean Yawkey and the Sullivan/LeRoux team fired O’Connell in 1977, a costly series of decisions – stupid, stupid decisions — ensued, resulting in the departure of Fisk, Lynn, Lee, Carbo, and Tiant.

Dick O

The Sox pushed away pitching, said goodbye to their bench strength, and hoped that the salary spiral caused by free agency would correct itself.  Meanwhile, they hung back, stayed out of the bidding, and waited for the market to cool down.

They led us into the Valley of Mediocrity.

But where there is pain, there is also JOY.  You can’t go wrong reading BEYOND THE SIXTH GAME.   Younger fans will better understanding the burden endured by more experienced ones.  Older fans will smile with the memory of quirky talents, and the long dark road that ultimately led home.

Dear Captain, we miss you.

Gammons book a must read