as im sure most of you know, mets announcer bob murphy is retiring,
set to call his final game this thursday evening as the mets play the
pittsburgh pirates in the final home game of this 2003 season.
as a young boy growing up, listening to bob murphy, ralph kiner and
lindsey nelson call mets games(both on tv and radio)was a pleasure
and a privilege. i learned much about the game from them and will
always cherish the memories. lindsey of course left the mets about
20 years ago and soon after passed away.......and about 15 years ago
murphy and kiner were split, bob working radio exclusively, and ralph
tv........but the legend of the original trio lived on, and
regardless of how you listened to games, hearing either the voice of
murphy or kiner, there was a strong connection back to the original
days.
one of bob murphy's most signature phrases was his "and we will be
back in just a moment with the HAPPY RECAP", after each met victory.
i dont care what it takes, but the mets damn well better find a way
to win thursday night and give murph that final official HAPPY RECAP
call.
you will be missed and fondly remembered bob....may you enjoy good
health in your retirement!
the following is a nice article about murph's career and final game
from mets.com.
An original Met calls it a career
By Kevin T. Czerwinski / MLB.com Get tickets
Bob Murphy, Lindsey Nelson and Ralph Kiner have been synonymous with
Mets baseball. (NY Mets)
NEW YORK -- Howie Rose's face lights up when you mention Bob Murphy.
Rose, who is a longtime staple on the New York sports broadcasting
scene himself, remains amazed by the man who is one of the few
original Mets still working in Queens. While Murphy's fantastic 41-
year run as the voice of the Mets will come to an end Thursday
evening at Shea Stadium, the memories he has provided for Rose and
millions of others will certainly last longer than the time Murphy
spent calling baseball games in the Big Apple.
Murphy, who announced his retirement earlier this season, will call
his final game as the Mets play Pittsburgh on Bob Murphy Night at
Shea Stadium. It will give the former Marine from Oklahoma one more
game to leave a lasting impression. There will be a pregame ceremony
to honor Murphy and the start of the game will be delayed until 7:30
p.m. ET.
The 78-year-old Murphy has had a 50-year career that began in the
minor leagues in the '40s. He covered the Red Sox and Ted Williams in
the '50s before moving on to the Baltimore Orioles. He's called more
than 6,000 Mets games, was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1994 and,
along with Ralph Kiner, had his own bobblehead day this year.
"It sounds trite but he just meant the Mets," said Rose, a Queens
native who grew up listening to Murphy, Kiner and Lindsey
Nelson. "Because he has such an unmistakable voice and such an
inimitable voice, the instant you heard it, you thought Mets. He was
one of the guys; more so than anyone I can remember -- and I remember
Mel Allen's last few years with the Yankees -- that you imitated.
"I can remember playing stickball and announcing them Murphy-style
and I wasn't the only one. There was a kid, a red head, now this is
close to 40 years ago, a curly red-haired kid and we were playing a
game of punch ball at PS 205 in Bayside. Someone punched one into the
corner and he was playing right field and I was playing center field.
And as I go to back him up, he's announcing the play as he goes to
pick it up. In fact, he called himself Johnny Lewis, who played for
the Mets in 1965, and he's doing it Bob Murphy-style. 'Here's Lewis,
the throw to the plate, they may get him.' People just didn't imitate
other baseball broadcasters in New York as much as they did Murph."
Gary Cohen, who is the Mets main radio play-by-play man now, has sat
alongside Murphy in the broadcast booth for the last 15 years. Cohen
calls Murphy "The Voice of Summer," a title the current generation of
baseball fans has also bestowed on him. The pair go together
marvelously, each appealing in a different way, each presenting the
game with the eyes of a different generation in mind.
Cohen recalls fondly the first time in 1988 that he slid into the
seat alongside Murphy to call a game. Cohen was understandably
nervous and at one point got a little tongue-tied. Murphy, 78, never
missed a beat, easing his young counterpart through the situation, a
fact that Cohen has never forgotten.
"More than anything else, what separates Murph from all the other
broadcasters is that he's not contrived," Cohen said. "People define
broadcasters by signature phrases and they write about Murph and
the 'Happy Recap' but what defines Murph much more is his ability to
rise to the moment in games.
"When it's 3-2 in the ninth inning and the bases are loaded, he has a
way of drawing you to the edge of your seat and making you feel like
you're in the ballpark. You can see it and feel it and smell it and
that's what Murph has always been about, the ability to bring a game
home. And there are times, 15 years later that I have to pinch myself
and say, 'Hey, this is Bob Murphy I'm sitting next to.' So it's a
very cool thing."
Cohen wasn't in the booth, though, when Murphy witnessed what he says
is his favorite memory of all from his time with the Mets. The 1969
World Series? Nope. The 1973 playoff run? Nope. Game 6 in '86? Well,
sort of. But not the Game 6 about which everyone thinks. Muprhy looks
back at Game 6 of the National League Championship Series, considered
by many to be one of the greatest games ever played, as his most
exhilerating Mets moment.
"Game 6 of the 1986 playoffs in Houston," Murphy fondly
recalled. "Roger Craig almost cost the Mets that World Series by
teaching Mike Scott how to pitch the split-finger fastball. He beat
the Mets twice and they were going to face him in Game 7. The Mets
were down 3-0 in the ninth inning of Game 6, rallied to tie it up,
took the lead in the 14th and won in the 16th. Many would tell you
that was the best postseason game ever played."
Murphy also speaks warmly of the early Mets with Casey Stengel and
the glory years in the late '60s and early '70s under Gil Hodges. He
freely admits that he was closer to the players back then. Mostly, he
and Kiner remain as the final link to those days.
Kiner has also been part of the Mets broadcast team since 1962 and,
unlike Murphy, has no plans on retiring. They, along with Nelson,
formed a memorable trio, one that took the club through its first 17
years of existence. And though Nelson left the Mets more than 20
years ago, passing away a few years after moving on from Queens, the
trio is still the most recognized set of broadcasters the club has
ever had.
"We were together 17 years," Kiner said. "The longest that one team
has worked with the ballclub. Bob became a brother to me. I was an
only child and we grew into brothers."
And now it's time for one of the brothers to go home. Murphy will
retire to Florida and perhaps be coaxed back to call a game now and
then. He and his wife, Joye, will always be welcome at Shea Stadium,
where a piece of Murphy will always remain. The radio booth is named
in his honor just as the television booth is named in Kiner's honor.
"It's honeydew season now for me," Murphy laughed. "Honey, do this.
Honey, do that. Otherwise, I don't have a single thing planned."
Baseball will go on and the Mets will be back in Queens next season.
It won't be the same, though. Rose knows it. Cohen knows it. The
Voice of Summer is going home.
Kevin T. Czerwinski is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not
subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
City of the world (for all races are here, all the lands of the earth make contributions). City of The Sea. City of wharves and stores. City of tall facades of marble and iron. Proud and passionate city. Mettlesome, mad and extravagant city.
— Walt Whitman
(Quote sculpted into metal fence overlooking promenade at The World Financial Center)
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