Former Yankee, Bobby Murcer, talks about baseball and cancer in book

By BOB D’ANGELO
Media General News Service
Published: June 12, 2008

Bobby Murcer might be the most courageous New York Yankee since Hall of Famer Lou Gehrig.
He entered the major leagues touted as the next Mickey Mantle. Both men were from Oklahoma, began their careers as shortstops and later patrolled center field for the Yankees.
He never had the Hall of Fame career Mantle did, although Murcer did enjoy an excellent 17-year run as a player with the Yankees, Giants and Cubs. He starred during the Yankees’ pennant drought in the late 1960s and early 1970s (known by certain Yankee fans as the “Horace Clarke era”), finishing second in the batting title race in 1971 with a .331 average.
Murcer’s courage was tested on Christmas Eve 2006, when doctors told him he had a brain tumor. Five days later, after the tumor was removed, he was told the cancer was terminal.
Murcer was determined to tell his story, and he does so eloquently in “Yankee For Life: My 40-Year Journey In Pinstripes.” (HarperCollins, $24.95). Teamed with author Glen Waggoner (who co-wrote “My Life In And Out of the Rough” with golfer John Daly), Murcer, who distinguished himself as a Yankees broadcaster after his playing days, writes with wit and warmth about his career.
A natural-born storyteller (he devotes an entire chapter to his late broadcasting partner, Phil Rizzuto), Murcer also is a humble one, never losing sight of his Oklahoma roots.
The only apparent glitch is Murcer’s assertion that he was the second Yankee to earn a $100,000 annual salary, after Mantle. Many sources point to Joe DiMaggio cracking the barrier first in 1949, followed by Mantle and Murcer.
While being straightforward about his medical issues (“Hey, this cancer survival business is a full-time job!”), Murcer’s strength is talking baseball. He devotes a chapter to his opinions about today’s game, steroid use, Marvin Miller and advertising during baseball games.
His goal is to throw out the first pitch when the new Yankee Stadium opens next year (“provided, of course, that they don’t make me do it from third base.”), but Murcer is adamant: He has had “a wonderful life.”
His book gives him a chance to share it.

GIFTED LIFE: Pete Sampras had “The Gift.” His record in pro tennis is a testament to that: 64 pro singles titles and 14 Grand Slam singles championships. He didn’t have the flash of Andre Agassi or the emotional outbursts of Jimmy Connors or John McEnroe, but Sampras had the mind-set of a champion from the moment he stepped on the courts as a junior player.
He discusses his career in “A Champion’s Mind: Lessons From A Life In Tennis” (Crown, $24.95). With the help of Tennis magazine senior editor/columnist Peter Bodo, Sampras sticks to tennis and gives the reader his insights on the game. Sampras spent a good portion of his best years training in Tampa, and he lived in the Tampa Palms area. He is passionate about tennis, has some strong opinions about steroid use and (correctly) includes himself when he names the top five men’s singles players in the history of the Open Era. His memories of former coach Tim Gullikson, who died after a long battle with cancer, are poignant.
He is a happily married family guy, with wife Bridgette Wilson (who caught his eye after he watched her performance in the movie “Love Stinks”) and two sons.
Sampras relives his rivalry with Agassi and shares the determination that made him No. 1 for six straight seasons, writing that “if you decide you need to be number one, you have to realize you can’t hide. You have to get fitted for the bull’s-eye on your back and get used to living with it.”
Sampras proved he was equal to the task. If you love tennis, this is a great read.