Thursday, September 25, 2003
Citizen Murphy
Like millions of other die-hard New York Mets fans an hour ago, I was glued to the radio, listening to Bob Murphy's grand retirement send-off from Shea Stadium, in Flushing.0 comments
It's always hard to fathom why ANY party must end. Those rare moments in life that do actually fill us with joy and pleasure should never end. But they do.
Bob's Mets broadcasts have been just such a party since the first broadcasts in 1962.
Since 1962, whatever you were doing, wherever you went in the New York area, someone somewhere had a radio on in the background listening to the Mets game.
It was always there: in the deli, at the garage, in the back of the restaurant, not loud enough to call attention to itself, but decidedly there as wallpaper to your life. No matter where you went, there was Murph.
For forty-two years, Murphy has taken those who love baseball, those who dream, those who can enjoy what is good in life while still enduring the pain of intolerable losing, and brought them on a ride where, on any given day, there might actually be a "happy recap."
From the thousands of Mets games I've watched and heard, one comment Murph made a couple of years ago struck me hard and has stayed with me. In a typically meandering game, something bizarre happened, resulting in this from Bob:
"Wow. Just when you've seen everything in baseball, you see something you've never seen before!"
After a severe double-take, I realized that, aside from the distinct Yogi Berra-ness of the quote, it was one of those phrases coined about a specific, which translated immediately into life in general. It was the type of concise philosophy lesson that Murphy always seemed to be sneaking into his radiocasts, most likely without his even being aware of it.
Bless you for your marvelous work over the years, Murph. For all you've taught us about life and this marvelous game of baseball. And for everything you've meant, not just to the New York Metropolitans, or to baseball fans, but to the entire New York Metropolitan Area over four decades.
We've lived our own lives, but you've been the soundtrack.
Go put your feet up, Bob. You've earned it.
Thank you.
Stay in touch. We'll miss you.
posted by Gotham 7:51 PM
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