Our baby sitter Alison has an expression that my wife and I have grown to love: sharing is caring. And while she uses it mainly to referee possession disputes between our 3 year-old twins, I like to think she also means something more profound: sharing is the ultimate demonstration of love and caring for small children. If you need proof, witness the bond that toddlers have with those who play with them on the floor. Dropping to their altitude elicits smiles and offers of everything from toys to soggy crackers.
So it is that merely sharing a first name with the Yankee centerfielder in the early seventies was enough for me to become an adoring, mildly obsessed fan. Bobby Murcer was a pillar of my childhood.