TheDiscipleMD

I followed him throughout his career. He was touted as the next Mickey Mantle but never lived up to the hype. In 2008, Bobby Murcer died of brain cancer at the age of sixty-two. People know who Mickey Mantle was, even if they are not baseball fans. But Murcer’s name will not be remembered by most. A priesthood leader remembered him in a talk given shortly after Mr. Murcer’s death.

The subject of that long ago evening meeting  was “Fatherhood” and the speaker briefly went through the life of Mr Murcer. He noted that although Bobby Murcer had never lived up to being the next “Mickey Mantle”, and who could, he was showered with accolades of the kind of man he was and the life he had lived.

“All of Major League Baseball is saddened today by the passing of Bobby Murcer”…then commissioner Bud Selig said. “Bobby was a gentleman, a great ambassador for baseball, and a true leader both on and off the field. He was a man of great heart and compassion.”

The Yankees learned of Murcer’s death Saturday…Visibly upset, players such as Mariano Rivera, Derek Jeter and Andy Pettite spoke softly about how much Murcer meant to them.

“One of the greatest Yankees of all-time, one of the greatest human beings I ever met,” added Alex Rodriguez.

“Bobby was a great human being. He really zeroed in on the person he was with, and he was a lot of fun. A lot of class. He’s going to be missed,” said then-manager Joe Torre.

“Just a wonderful person, a great teammate…, a sad day” Lou Piniella said from Chicago.

“He was a tough man,” Yankees Manager Joe Girardi said, fighting back tears. ” He was a great Yankee, but probably more importantly, he was a great friend. He always put others first. He played the game the right way. He got what life was about, and that was making life better for the people around you.”

“I’ve never met a more genuine person,” Yankees broadcaster Michael Kay said.

As a lifelong baseball player, the thrill of the game and the crowd’s praise can be intoxicating! Nothing is so satisfying as rounding the bases when you hit one out of the park. But I guess what the speaker was trying to communicate to us that night is that a man is better measured by the life he knits than the distance of a home run ball that he hits. This is another reminder that man’s praise stays on the field of play while an individual’s character travels far into the eternities.