Hey, Hal, when you were passing out all those Monument Park invitations, you forgot one

So, we have two new members of the Monument Park fraternity this weekend. Congratulations, Goose Gossage and Tino Martinez.

We'll have a bunch more plaques put up over the next few years ... we've got Paul O'Neill, Joe Torre and Bernie Williams announced, and that doesn't even figure the inevitable Jeter-Rivera-Pettitte-Posada run. At this rate, they may have to rebuild the old Stadium just to hold all the Monument Park plaques.

I'll be honest, I have mixed feelings about the flood of Monument Park members. Tino was a helluva player for us for 6 or 7 years, got a bunch of rings and by all accounts is a great guy. Honestly, though, never once in his career -- and this is no knock on Tino -- did I ever think, "Yeah, he'll get a plaque in centerfield some day." Look, I'm not one of those folks screaming that we're on the slippery slope to Wayne Tolleson Day, but if I'm Graig Nettles, Lou Piniella, Willie Randolph or any of a dozen or so guys from the Yankees previous dynasties, I'm thinking, "Hey, when's my plaque being ordered?"


The cynic in me would note that this is the sort of thing that happens when you have a so-so team, very few stars in their prime and home-plate cameras showing the most expensive seats in the park half-filled most days. I'm sure no one is more thrilled about the influx of Monument Park residents than the folks at Steiner Sports, who can hawk more collectibles filled with their world-famous "game-used dirt." (Quick! start scooping up the dirt in Monument Park!)

That being said ... Hal, in your haste to pass out the MP membership cards, you missed one name.

Bobby Murcer.

I know, I know, Murcer never lived up to the "next Mantle" tag on the field. I know, he spent four prime years in the National League and when he came back for his second stint in Pinstripes he was mainly a platoon DH/pinch-hitter. And I know, he never was on a World Series winner.

But if you grew up in the early 70s, Murcer WAS the Yankees, at least for a while. He was the team's star and a great player -- top 10 in the MVP voting three times on a not-very-good team. When he returned to the Yanks in 1979, he was past his prime but still gave one of the truly memorable performances in the team's history on the night of Munson's funeral.

No, Murcer was never a threat to make the Hall of Fame. But see, Hal, if you'd attended any of those games as Murcer was winding down his career as a part-time DH in the early 80s, you'd have noticed something.

Yankees fans loved the guy. Hell, he was probably one of the most popular part-time players in history -- he'd get huge ovations when he was announced as a pinch-hitter. You should have heard the crowd when he hit that pinch-hit grand slam on Opening Day in 1981. (I did. I was there, and it was loud.) Yankee fans loved him in the broadcast booth for about 20 years, even though he would never be mistaken for Bob Costas. And nobody -- nobody -- loved being a Yankee more than Murcer did.You could see that on all those Old Timers' Days he was a part of, getting miked up by YES and looking like he was loving every minute he was able to spend wearing that old uniform again.

And so, we're at Old Timer's Day again, and this year it's Goose Gossage's day to get his plaque added to the wall. That's great, he's a Hall of Famer and he deserves it. Should be a memorable day.

But here's a suggestion, Hal. Add one more name to your list of plaques, and set the date for Old Timers' Day, 2015. It'll be great to see Bobby out in centerfield again.