the second baseman and shortstop will be back on their heels and slow to cover the bag. After working with Mickey Mantle, he was also known as an excellent drag bunter. At his retirement, Murcer's 252 career home runs were tied for 72nd place on the all-time home run list, and his 175 home runs as a Yankee put him 11th on the club's career list. At his death, Murcer was tied for 183rd on the all-time list. Against Hall of Fame pitchers, Murcer hit .289 with 20 homers and 72 RBIs in 447 at bats. If Tommy John is inducted, Murcer's numbers total 553 at-bats with 20 home runs, 76 RBIs and a .297 average—stellar numbers versus an elite group of pitchers. In the 1970s, Murcer drove in 840 runs, the 9th most in the major leagues during that span. Murcer's 119 outfield assists led all major league outfielders for that decade, ahead of Bobby Bonds (106), Rusty Staub (97), Amos Otis (93), Reggie Smith (86), José Cardenal (85), Del Unser (82), and Reggie Jackson (81). His 198 homers tied for 17th in the major leagues for the 1970s, and his .282 batting average was 20th among all players who had 5,000 or more plate appearances. During the 1970s, he led his club in home runs six times (1970, 71, 72, 73, 76, 77). In MLB history only 24 players hit above .275 while also hitting 250 or more home runs, driving in more than 1,000 runs, and stealing more than 125 bases and totaling 45 or more triples. Among that elite group only Murcer, George Brett, and Rogers Hornsby struck out fewer than 1,000 times. Honors 1963 Battlefield League Most Improved Player 1965 Carolina League Most Valuable Player 1969 Voted "Most Popular Yankee" by the Catholic Youth Organization in NYC. 1971 AL All-Star team; TSN AL All-Star; Second-team All-MLB (AP, NEA) 1972 AL All-Star team; TSN AL All-Star; Second-team All-MLB (AP, NEA); Gold Glove 1973 AL All-Star team; TSN AL All-Star; Second-team All-MLB (AP, NEA) 1974 AL All-Star team 1975 NL All-Star team; Second-team All-NL (UPI) 1977 Second-team All-NL (UPI) 1993 inducted into the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame 1990s The Oklahoma Sports Museum's Bill Teegins Award winner. 2000 Named as one of the top 100 athletes in Oklahoma history 2004 Inducted Oklahoma Hall of Fame. 2005 Received the Legend Award for his "lone and meritorious service to