Teammates for Life

By Bryan Painter

Published: April 8, 2007

EDMOND — Tori Witherspoon plucked a compact mirror from her purse and handed it to her father, Bobby Murcer. The New York Yankees broadcaster and five-time All-Star was lying in a bed at the Critical Care Unit at Houston's M.D. Anderson Cancer Center on Dec. 28. Turban-like bandages covered a freshly shaved head bearing an incision that looked something like a Nike swoosh.

Hours earlier, surgeons had removed a malignant brain tumor slightly larger than a golf ball from the right frontal lobe of this man, who hit 20 or more home runs in five consecutive seasons from the late 1960s to early 1970s.

Murcer, 60, recently sat grinning in his Edmond home as wife Kay Murcer shared a story that's an example of how laughter has not only sweetened but continually strengthened the greatest team either has ever been a part of — their marriage.

"I told him the other day, if you ever stop making me laugh, I don't know what I'll do," Kay said. "He's always made me laugh either by the things he's done or the things he's said."

The couple certainly have needed humor since December, when doctors told Murcer, suffering from headaches and a lack of energy, that he had the worst possible type of brain cancer — the type that typically reduces life expectancy to about 14 months. But by laughing together, praying together and fully trusting God, the Murcers are frontrunners in what they consider the toughest and yet greatest season of their 40-year marriage.

"Here's why we were laughing," Kay Murcer said as she continued her story about the compact mirror. "Bobby has always been a micromanager. So when they wheeled him into CCU with the big window and the electronic board showing his vitals, he absolutely couldn't understand why they faced him toward the nurse's station and not toward the window and the board."

After a little while, the family thought that issue had passed. But Bobby, who led the American League in on-base-percentage in 1971, knows hits aren't the only way to get on base. So he adapted.

He kept the compact mirror and frequently held it in front of his face.

"Our family got to laughing because we thought anyone seeing him constantly looking in the mirror must have thought he was pretty vain," Kay said. "But actually what he was doing was using the mirror to see out the window and read his vitals off the board."

Murcer's response to that? "Hey, they don't give you stat sheets in the hospital. I could read those vitals, and I knew what they meant."

Three steaks and a wife

Although 10-year-old Bobby Murcer was a youth league player on the Ravens in southeast Oklahoma City, his team wasn't entered in a certain summer tournament. So the nearby Scissortails recruited the solid hitter for the three-day event.

As it turned out, the Scissortails went into the final day with an opportunity to win.

"A man I knew only as Mr. Rhodes who owned the grocery store comes up to me before the last game," Murcer said. "He says 'For every home run you hit today, you can come into my store and pick from the biggest steaks I have.' "

Murcer hit three home runs, leading the Scissortails to a win. A few days later, he headed for the Rhodes Thrifty Wise.

"I went in and picked out my steaks and picked out my wife at the same time," Murcer said. "That man was Kay's father."

Lloyd and Sara Rhodes and their children lived in the 5100 block of S Shartel, while Robert and Maybelle Murcer, who since have passed away, lived with their children in the 4900 block of S Walker.

Bobby became a frequent visitor to the Rhodes' home not only because of a friendship with their son, Dwaine, but also because of their daughter Kay, who was two years his junior.

"Look at her, she was as pretty back then as she is today," he said. "She was funny, smart and entertaining. What could I not like about her?"

On June 2, 1964, not long after claiming his diploma at Southeast High School, Bobby Murcer signed with the New York Yankees. On Sept. 8, 1965 he made his Major League debut, and on Oct. 14, 1966 Lloyd Rhodes, the man who had bribed Bobby with the steaks, married the couple.

"We are teammates for life," Kay Murcer said. "He loves the Yankees, but I'm the home team."

And Bobby Murcer quickly adds, "I love her more than the Yankees, and they have 26 World Championships."

More than laughter

Bobby Murcer retired as a player in 1983 and went immediately to the broadcast booth. With all those years in baseball, he definitely was a creature of habit — spring training, the season/post-season and the off-season.

He's still a creature of habit, just a slightly different one.

Bobby and Kay Murcer start each day with a devotion; then they go over to the couch. He drapes his arm around her, and they pray.

"Our focus from the start of the morning is God, and then we take care of the daily matters," he said.

The night before Bobby Murcer's surgery, Dwaine Rhodes quoted Deuteronomy 31:6-8 and explained that those were the verses that have helped him through many difficult times.

In part, they say, "He will be with you; he will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed."

Then he took out the hotel Bible and marked those scriptures. Bobby and Kay Murcer; their children, Witherspoon and Todd Murcer; Bobby Murcer's family members; Kay Murcer's family and others were gathered that night at the hotel.

"We read it as a family, and from that point on, I've known everything is going to be OK," said Bobby, who since the surgery has undergone seven weeks of chemotherapy and radiation, and is now in the early stages of a joint vaccine trial conducted by M.D. Anderson and Duke University.

It may seem like a lot, but they're not shaken. In fact, Kay Murcer laughs about that.

"I think some people think we are still in denial about Bobby's illness, because we're so at peace," she said. "But we're just trusting God each day. We're amazed at how He's working."

At the time of the surgery, the Murcers asked for prayer.

About three weeks after the surgery, a friend from Florida called Kay Murcer and said they needed to look on the Internet at a blog for Bobby Murcer.

The blog showed 1 million posts. People were praying for him, including those who said they had never prayed before.

"Think how powerful that can be," Bobby Murcer said.

And Kay Murcer did think about it.

In fact, it was as if this was her compact mirror and she was looking back on life.

"I got to thinking, he had his baseball career, and he's announced all these years and now with what God is doing, this puts it all together," she said. "This is what we're supposed to be about."

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