Bobby Murcer Autographs, Memorabilia & Collectibles

Bobby Murcer
This article was written by Clifford Blau and is presented in part, courtesy of the Society for American Baseball Research

As a boy, he rooted for the New York Yankees. Before he became an adult, he was playing for them. Although he left the club for a time, it never left him, and when he got the chance he did not hesitate to return. For the past twenty-five years, in one way or another, he has continued to be a part of the Yankees. He is a man who said that if he had to choose between election to the Baseball Hall of Fame or being honored with a day at Yankee Stadium, he'd pick the latter.

Bobby Ray Murcer was born May 20, 1946 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. He was the second of three children, all boys, born to Robert and Mae Belle Murcer. Robert owned a jewelry store. Bobby loved sports from the time he was a young boy. Although he was small, he was skilled enough to make the football, baseball, and basketball teams as a sophomore at Southeast High School. In his junior year, he made the all-district football team; at 145 pounds he was the second lightest player so honored.(1)

He also helped the Spartans to the conference championship in baseball, going three for three with a triple in the title game. (2) By the time he was a senior, he was probably the best high school athlete in the city, if not in all of Oklahoma. He made All-State in both football and baseball while he was All-City in basketball. Murcer was the leading scorer in the state in football and in the conference in basketball. While he was honored as a halfback, he also starred on the football team as a quarterback, linebacker, and punter. In baseball he mainly played shortstop while also pitching occasionally. He was a good enough running back to earn a football scholarship to the University of Oklahoma.