topped that mark until 2011 when Curtis Granderson hit 41. Again he was named to The Sporting News AL All-Star team and was Second-team All-MLB by both the AP and NEA. On March 6, 1973, Murcer asked for and received a $100,000 salary for the upcoming season, making him only the third Yankee to make six figures. For that season Murcer was third in the league in hits (187), fourth in batting (.301), and seventh in RBIs (95). He was ninth in the MVP voting. He also led the American League in assists for the second time in four years, with 14. He made the Sporting News All-Star team for the third time in his career and for the third time in three seasons he was Second-team All-MLB by both the AP and NEA. He narrowly missed his second Gold Glove, finishing fourth in the voting among American League outfielders. He finished with 17 game-winning hits, second to AL MVP Reggie Jackson's 18. On July 13, Murcer hit three home runs for the second time in his career and drove in all five runs in a 5–0 win over the Kansas City Royals. On June 30, 1973, baseball Commissioner Bowie Kuhn fined Murcer $250 for saying that Kuhn didn't have the "guts" to stop Hall of Fame pitcher Gaylord Perry from throwing the spitball. That night, Murcer hit a two-run homer off Perry that put the Yankees ahead in a 7–2 victory over the Cleveland Indians. Murcer had made his original comment about Kuhn after Perry beat New York the previous week, which ended the Yankees' eight-game winning streak. Kuhn said Murcer apologized in their meeting but Murcer refused to tell newsmen that he had, and he "didn't sound too contrite". Murcer, who flung his right hand into the air when he rounded first after hitting the homer, said to reporters "I hit a hanging spitter." For his career, Murcer hit Perry at a .232 clip with two home runs in 69 at-bats. However, much of that low batting average was due to the 2 for 20 performance in the 1972 season, which caused Murcer's ire in the first place. Aside from the abysmal 1972 summer, he had against Perry, who won the A.L. Cy Young Award that year, Murcer hit .286 against him. Murcer also had some fun with Perry; he once caught a fly for the last out