Tuesday, August 3, 2010

6 years ago today, we lost our voice

I'm just re-posting what I wrote a year ago today about the 5 year anniversary of the passing of Bob Murphy, forever the voice of the Mets.



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Posted by DyHrdMET at 7:32 PM
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Rob Daly · 765 weeks ago

Back in the late 90's I would go with my father Bob and brother Kevin every spring to Port St. Lucie to see the Mets . In 1999, after several springs of chasing players through the St. Lucie complex and hounding them for autographs, I decided to just sit back and take in all the sights and sounds of the game. While all of the autograph seekers were chasing down the likes of Mike Piazza, Edgardo Alfonso, and Al Leiter I was on the back fields watching hitters take batting practice, pitchers fine-tuning their mechanics and rookies doing running drills. I really enjoyed it. As I made my way back to one of the front fields at the complex I was talking with my dad when I saw an older gentleman quietly shuffling his way through the crowd. None of the fans stopped to look at the small man in a black Mets cap and Hawaiian shirt sleeves as they ran past him to ask for an autograph from the player of day. As I watched the man walk, slowly but surely, something made me look twice at him. I was able to get a look at his face. I quickly grabbed my father to alert him of the gem that I had found. "Dad", I said, "it's Bob Murphy". I grabbed a baseball out of my bag that I had found on one of the side fields earlier that day along with a pen and ran up to Mr. Murphy. I managed to nervously squeak out something along the lines of, "Mr. Murphy I'm a huge fan of your broadcasts. Would you please sign my baseball?". Without hesitation, Murph smiled and in his ever-friendly tone said, "well sure." As he struggled to grasp the ball and scribble his name with my pen it was then that I realized that Murph must have had some sort of illness that winter which slowed his motor skills considerably. None the less, while he carefully autographed my ball, I heard THAT voice. The voice with the oh-so-familiar enthusiasm that had filled our radio speakers summer after summer. The voice that Met fans had been listening to since the inception of the team. "So, what do you think of the Mets this season?" he asked me. Bob Murphy was asking ME what I thought of the Mets. While trying to be as respectful of his time as I possibly could, I loosened a bit but quickly muttered, "I think this is our year, sir". With a smile, Murph looked at me and in classic Bob Murphy fashion said, "Oooooh, I think it could be too".

That was Murph. In a matter of seconds he showed me that all of the countless hours we spent listening to him game after game, season after season was the authentic Bob Murphy. He was just like the rest of us fans, hanging around baseball because we were excited at the thought of a new season. While Murph had seen thousands of games and gone to spring training games for four decades, he still wanted to be around baseball. His broadcasting exemplified this passion for the game. Every single day, he filled the airwaves with a friendly voice and a happy recap. Murph had the rare ability to make you feel as though you were having a conversation with a friend. So there I stood with Murph while he spoke to me - just as if he had a headset on with a microphone in front of him talking to hundreds of thousands of Met fans across the tri-state area, Murph wanted to talk baseball with me. As he handed me back the baseball, he said goodbye and slowly shuffled off, unnoticed by anyone else in Port St. Lucie. He walked his way back to the clubhouse area where someone helped him in and he disappeared as the door shut behind him.

After meeting dozens of players, getting countless autographs, and watching some of my heroes at just an arms length, it was meeting Bob Murphy that will always stick in my mind as my favorite memory while visiting the Mets at Spring Training. I thought of all the things that I wish I had said to him. I could have thanked him for being the voice of the Mets for so many years. I could have let him know that he was the voice of summer for not only me but my father as well. I could have even asked him a question or two. But, as I think about it, the few moments I got to spend with a true baseball legend were as they should be. Thanks, Bob.

Rob Daly
Andover, NJ
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DyHrdMET 55p · 765 weeks ago

Rob, great story. thanks for sharing. I do remember hearing that he was losing a step around the late 90s or so, but you would hardly hear it on the broadcasts. You mention that "[h]e was just like the rest of us fans, hanging around baseball because we were excited at the thought of a new season"...I have a sound byte from the first spring broadcast of 1998 where you can hear that sentiment coming through in his greeting. he was like that every year that I can remember. click on the "audio" tab and scroll down to find it.
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Rob Daly · 764 weeks ago

I also have the final broadcast by Murph from September 25, 2003. I'd be happy to share it with you to post to your audio page. Let me know if you're interested.

-Rob
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DyHrdMET 55p · 764 weeks ago

I would love to hear that game. I don't know if I'd be allowed to post it because MLB could have it removed as an infringement of their copyright of the broadcast. But I would post his final inning or something relatively short like that. Is it on cassette, CD, or on the computer?
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Rob Daly · 764 weeks ago

I understand about the copyright. I recorded it direct on the computer to MP3, back when the games we're streamed for free on the net. I only have the recording from the 6th inning to the end, but Murph didn't do the entire game that night and didn't join Gary in the booth until the 8th. I've sent a link to your gmail account so you can download the file. Enjoy!

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