How Murcer became Mr. Yankee after all

On April 2, Opening Day at Yankee Stadium, a familiar face, sans hair, appeared on the scoreboard screen. And the cynical, crude New York fans crumbled in emotion.

The screen displayed Bobby Murcer, calling an inning or two for the Yankee network, and the crowd thundered its affection. Players and coaches emerged from the dugout to join the ovation.

Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News called it "an inspiring moment, something transcending the game ... a true heartbeat coming from the truest of Yankees.”

Murcer, battling a brain tumor since December, returns to the Yankee broadcast booth tonight in Arlington, Texas, and Murcer has landed the status expected of him since signing with the Yanks in 1964.

Mister Yankee.

"He warmed the heart of all Yankee fans,” said Thomas Colaprico, a Yankee loyalist from Rockland County, N.Y. "That standing ovation symbolized how the Yankees feel about him.”

Internet blogs from well-wishers hail the man who didn't quite scale the mountain of superstardom as a player but still has become one of the most-loved men in a franchise that for almost a century has been producing epic heroes.

"You're the face of the Yankees,” said one.

"One of the saddest days as a Yankee fan was when you were traded,” said another.

"Like Gehrig, DiMaggio and Mantle, there was no doubt he was a YANKEE when he took the field,” said the most poignant of tributes. "He belongs in Monument Park. We the fans who grew up in the '60s and early '70s did not have spectacular players. We had one hero, and his name was Bobby Murcer.”

Murcer was honored Monday night with Oklahoma City University's Abe Lemons/Paul Hansen Award for Sports Excellence at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum.

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