Cards That Never Were: Bobby Murcer 1984 Topps

Cards That Never Were is a recurring series in which I create virtual trading cards for players missed in various sets. It is a concept I borrowed from far too many to list, but I appreciate all of their efforts.

Bobby Murcer was signed by the New York Yankees as an amateur free agent in 1964. Viewed as the next Mickey Mantle, Murcer did not live up to that lofty expectation, but still had an excellent career. He had brief stints with the Yankees in 1965 and '66, before spending two years in the military. Returning to the MLB for the '69 season, Murcer stayed with the Yanks through the '74 season. He was traded to the San Francisco Giants. After two seasons in S.F., Murcer was traded to the Chicago Cubs for batting champ Bill Madlock. Midway through the '79 season, the Yanks reacquired Murcer, hoping to help buffer the tragic loss of Thurman Munson. Murcer played part-time until his release midway through the '83 season. For his career, Murcer played 1,908 games, hitting .277 with 252 homeruns and 1,043 RBIs and 972 runs scored.

Topps gave cards to Murcer from 1966-67 and '69-'83. Understandably, he was skipped in the 1968 and '84 sets. Since he didn't play in '67, I had no problem with that. He did play in '83 though, wrapping up a nice 17 year career. That deserved a 1984 "career capper," which I created.