Photo Courtesy of MLB.com
Bobby and Kay Murcer -
OKLAHOMA CITY - New York Yankees legend Bobby Murcer, a member of the Memorial Road church in Oklahoma City, died Saturday after an 18-month battle with brain cancer, the team said. He was 62.
"Bobby Murcer was a born Yankee, a great guy, very well-liked and a
true friend of mine," Yankees owner George Steinbrenner said in a statement.
"I extend my deepest sympathies to his wife Kay, their children and
grandchildren. I will really miss the guy."
In a statement, baseball commissioner Bud Selig said: "All of Major League Baseball is saddened today by the passing of Bobby
Murcer, particularly on the eve of this historic All-Star Game at
Yankee Stadium (on Tuesday night), a place he called home for so many years.
"Bobby was a
gentleman, a great ambassador for baseball, and a true leader both on
and off the field," Selig said "He was a man of great heart and compassion and made
many wonderful contributions to the Baseball Assistance Team and to the
game. All of us in baseball will miss him. We pass on our sympathies
and condolences to his family and to his many friends."
Murcer, a Yankees broadcaster and former five-time All-Star, relied on his faith throughout his cancer ordeal.
In a March 2007 interview with
The Christian Chronicle, Murcer recalled the night before his Dec. 28, 2006, surgery to remove a brain tumor slightly larger than a golf ball.
Murcer and his family read a
passage from Deuteronomy 31 that his brother-in-law Dwaine Rhodes said
had helped him through trials and tribulations. Verse 6 reads: “Be
strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them,
for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor
forsake you.”
“We took that and we read that every day because it gives us great strength,” Murcer said. “We know God will never forsake us.”
“My faith believes that God has healed me
already,” he told the
Chronicle. “I can't imagine any other thing because I just
think that's what his promise is for me.”
Besides teaching him to take life one day at a time, Murcer said in the 2007 interview, his cancer fight strengthened his faith.
“I
think God tests us with our faith, and sometimes, he has to get our
attention to bring us back on the railroad tracks,” he told the
Chronicle. “Everybody
thinks they're in charge of their own life, and I've come to find out
that I'm not really in charge of my own life.
“It's not what my will is. It's what God's will is,” he added. “And whatever his will is, it's fine with us.”
The
Yankees said Murcer died Saturday afternoon surrounded by relatives at
Mercy Hospital in Oklahoma City. He succumbed to complications from his
cancer.
Funeral services are pending. Murcer is survived by his wife, Kay; his children, Tori and Todd; and his grandchildren.