R.I.P. Bobby Mercer
Posted by Andy on July 12, 2008
Extremely sad news today about the passing of Bobby Mercer.
Mercer was a very good player who didn't get tons of press since he never put up 100 RBI in a season. But check out the leaders in 88 to 99 RBI seasons from 1971 to 1977:
From To Ages Seasons Link to Individual Seasons +-----------------+----+----+-----+-------+------------------------------+ Bobby Murcer 1971 1977 25-31 7 Ind. Seasons Tony Perez 1971 1977 29-35 4 Ind. Seasons Lee May 1971 1977 28-34 4 Ind. Seasons Ted Simmons 1972 1977 22-27 3 Ind. Seasons Dave Parker 1976 1977 25-26 2 Ind. Seasons Chris Chambliss 1976 1977 27-28 2 Ind. Seasons Graig Nettles 1975 1976 30-31 2 Ind. Seasons George Brett 1975 1977 22-24 2 Ind. Seasons Willie Stargell 1974 1975 34-35 2 Ind. Seasons Joe Rudi 1974 1976 27-29 2 Ind. Seasons Hal McRae 1974 1977 28-31 2 Ind. Seasons Reggie Jackson 1974 1976 28-30 2 Ind. Seasons Greg Luzinski 1973 1976 22-25 2 Ind. Seasons Bobby Darwin 1973 1974 30-31 2 Ind. Seasons George Scott 1972 1977 28-33 2 Ind. Seasons Doug Rader 1972 1973 27-28 2 Ind. Seasons Al Oliver 1972 1973 25-26 2 Ind. Seasons Rusty Staub 1971 1976 27-32 2 Ind. Seasons Frank Robinson 1971 1973 35-37 2 Ind. Seasons Sal Bando 1971 1973 27-29 2 Ind. Seasons Dick Allen 1971 1974 29-32 2 Ind. Seasons
Mercer was universally loved and a great part of the game of baseball. He'll be missed.
July 12th, 2008 at 8:18 pm
In my book, Mercer was the AL MVP in 1971 and second only to Dick Allen in 1972.
Trading him away to the Giants was an awful mistake.
July 16th, 2008 at 1:28 am
OK, spanning 1971 to 1976 in MLB, total RBI leaders are:
1. Stargell, 607
2. Bench, 603
3. Lee May, 594
4. Perez, 583
5. Reggie Jackson, 560
6. Murcer, 554
Over the same timeframe, Runs Produced leaders:
1. Morgan, 1014
2. Rose, 969 (wow, rose & morgan)
3. Murcer, 931
And how about OPS+ (3000 min. PAs):
1. Stargell, 164
2. Morgan, 155
3. Reggie Jackson, 152
4. Reggie Smith, 139
4. Murcer, 139
July 16th, 2008 at 1:32 am
Mercer is the only guy since 1956 to have two 3-HR games in Yankee Stadium: 1970-06-24(2) and 1973-07-13.