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Life & Events > Joe Black is Back
 

Joe Black is Back


Remember the look in Brad Pitt's eyes in the classic, "Meet Joe Black".  It definitely depicts a man with no soul--or a soul with no man! Either way, we all soon realize that he is the personification of "Death" on a holiday .

Well, this past week, "Death" was on no holiday. He was in Oklahoma. And he stole from us two of our most beloved citizens--Mr.Rodeo, Clem McSpadden ,and Mr. Yankee--Bobby Murcer.


Rodeo fans the world over know who Clem McSpadden is. He's the guy who paid a young unknown $10 to sing the national anthem during the run of the National Finals Rodeo when she was a college student at Southeastern State College and the National Finals were still held in Oklahoma City.

That gig set her on the road to superstardom. Yesterday, she returned to sing the National Anthem one last time for Clem--at his funeral. Later, she, her sister, and two nieces closed the solemn occasion with a salute to Clem's first love--Oklahoma--singing a medley of Oklahoma-themed tunes, including "Those Oklahoma Hills Where I Was Born."

As they concluded, McSpadden's widow took the stage with them, handing the superstar another $10 for her efforts. That redhead is none other than Reba McEntire, a friend of the McSpadden family since the days when her father was a world champion calf roper.

2500 people sat under three tents on Clem McSpadden's ranch at Bushyhead, Oklahoma, to listen to stories of McSpadden's life, including his famous Labor Day pasture roping contest. McSpadden had heard of such an event in Texas where the calf got a 100 foot head start. So McSpadden had his calves get a 101 foot head start when he inaugurated the event.

"I wanted Oklahoma to be better, so I made it one hundred and one," he said years ago with a big grin.

"That was Clem McSpadden. "He was an Oklahoman through and through, no matter where his boots carried him," as one writer stated. From the halls of the United States Congress to the wide-open country of Canada to announce the Calvary Stampede (the only U. S. citizen so honored) to the bluestem country of northeastern Oklahoma, the place he called home, McSpadden was the same.

He was a grand nephew of Will Rogers, among other things. In 1885, his gandparents, Tom and Sally McSpadden, a sister of Will Rogers, settled a little more than a mile away from the site of the Bushyhead Labor Day Pasture Roping. Clem was born in a house there on November 9, 1925. McSpadden died Monday at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. He was 82.

Bobby Murcer


Julie Jacobson / Associated Press

Murcer spent nearly four decades with the team as a player, executive and broadcaster.class="orgurl" style="text-align: center;">

Bobby Murcer, 62; five-time All-Star outfielder, longtime New York Yankee





Julie Jacobson / Associated Press

Said Yankees owner George Steinbrenner of Bobby Murcer, who spent nearly four decades with the team as a player, executive and broadcaster: "Bobby Murcer was a born Yankee, a great guy, very well-liked and a true friend of mine."



From the Associated Press

July 13, 2008

 

Bobby Murcer, a five-time All-Star outfielder who spent nearly four decades with the New York Yankees as a player, executive and announcer, died Saturday at an Oklahoma City hospital of complications from a malignant brain tumor. He was 62.

Murcer was diagnosed with a brain tumor on Christmas Eve 2006 after having headaches. He had surgery that week in Houston, and doctors found that the tumor was malignant. Determined to be around his beloved Yankees, Murcer returned to the broadcast booth last year and briefly this season.

The only person to play with both Mickey Mantle and Don Mattingly, the popular Murcer hit .277 with 252 home runs and 1,043 runs batted in over 17 seasons with the Yankees, San Francisco Giants and the Chicago Cubs. He made the All-Star team in both the American and National leagues and won a Gold Glove.

Always a fan favorite in New York and known for his folksy manner as a broadcaster, Murcer won three Emmy Awards for live sports coverage. His most dramatic words came on one of the saddest days in Yankees history.

Murcer delivered one of the eulogies in Ohio after team captain Thurman Munson was killed in a plane crash in August 1979. The team flew home after the funeral and, that night, Murcer hit a three-run homer and then a two-run single in the bottom of the ninth to beat Baltimore, 5-4.

A tearful Murcer fell into the arms of teammate Lou Piniella after the game and gave his bat to Munson's wife.

"There is no way to explain what happened," Murcer said. "We used every ounce of strength to go out and play that game. We won it for Thurman."

Bobby Ray Murcer was born May 20, 1946, in Oklahoma City. Although he was offered a football scholarship to the University of Oklahoma, he chose to play baseball. Touted by many in New York as the next Mantle -- they were both from Oklahoma, played shortstop and came with strokes fit for Yankee Stadium's short right-field fence-- Murcer made his major league debut as a 19-year-old in September 1965.

Drafted into the Army, Murcer served in the radio corps at Ft. Huachuca in Arizona during the 1967 and '68 seasons. On his return to the Yankees, he homered on opening day in 1969. He moved from shortstop to third base to begin that year, but soon was playing in center field -- Mantle's old spot. Murcer also took over Mantle's locker.

Murcer was traded to San Francisco for Bobby Bonds after the 1974 season. He was with the Cubs when the Yankees won the World Series in 1977 and 1978.

Murcer returned to the Yankees during the 1979 season. He had a pinch-hit grand slam in the 1981 opener and was a part-time player when he reached the World Series for the only time later that year, with the Yankees losing to the Dodgers in six games.

During his career, Murcer had a three-homer game, hit for the cycle and once homered in four straight at-bats. He made the All-Star team for five straight seasons, starting in 1971.

He retired in June 1983 and moved into the broadcast booth that season, working as a color analyst on radio. He served one year as assistant general manager of the Yankees, returned as an announcer in 1989 and stayed in the booth.

A family service will be held in Oklahoma City. The Yankees are planning a celebration of Murcer's life.

Murcer is survived by his wife, Kay; his children, Tori and Todd; and his grandchildren.site stats



 

 


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1 comment on Joe Black Is Back

posted on July 13, 2008 6:46 PM ()

Comments:

comment by oldroan on July 15, 2008 10:49 PM ()
We grow some good men in Oklahoma, don't we?
comment by elderjane on July 15, 2008 5:35 PM ()
comment by elfie33 on July 15, 2008 2:26 PM ()
As a life-long Red Sox fan, I always considered Bobby Murcer to be the loyal and much respected opposition. A class act all around. Baseball needs more people like him today!
comment by hayduke on July 15, 2008 9:41 AM ()
A couple of the good ones.
comment by grumpy on July 14, 2008 8:08 AM ()
I'm so sorry!!
comment by texastar on July 13, 2008 10:35 PM ()
comment by marta on July 13, 2008 9:09 PM ()
well I didn't know who the first fellow was, but RIP to all of the just the same
comment by ducky on July 13, 2008 7:02 PM ()

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