not to be petty, but my moms boyfriend is facing a similar scare and due to politics he has a brain tumor the size of a golf ball in his head and because he has no insurance and isn't old enough for medicare they have basically told him "you are going to die, we can't do crap for you" ....... so if a mlb player with a crap load of money can't get it fixed, my sympathy is pretty much non-existent....good luck guy, but welcome to the usa where republicans prefer you to die instead of allowing abortions.

A more relevant post has rarely been written. Bobby Murcer never should have lied about those WMDs.

Amazing. Bobby Murcer, one of baseball's truly good guys, is facing a potential recurrence of brain cancer, and someone decides to turn this into a political thread. Lovely.

I love Bobby but he had a glioblastoma, the odds are that this is a recurrence.

To be fair, it's a perfectly reasonable turn. Someone the poster actually knows is suffering from the same condition as "one of baseball's truly good guys" who probably none of us actually know, and is one of the roughly 1/4 of the population who has no health insurance, so he can't get treatment for it. Yeah, our thoughts and prayers are with both Murcer and cfb's mom's BF, but it isn't out of line to question why actual medical treatment is only with one of them.

Well, whatever, but why can't he have sympathy for some who is dying of brain cancer?

Is this a common thing? Sympathy and empathy are finite? One only has so much to give?

Life is shitty all over, you know, why can't two people, in similar, yet different shitty situations, receive thoughts, well wishes, etc.?

And it doesn't even take real sympathy to say "good luck to Mr. Murcer and family."

Yeah, they wouldn't try to go in for tissue unless it looks on MRI highly suspicious for local recurrence. If it's GBM as someone here mentioned, it doesn't look good.

GBMs are almost impossible to get clean margins on, and like kevin mentions, progress very rapidly.

....good luck guy, but welcome to the usa where republicans prefer you to die instead of allowing abortions.

Yeah, it was the republicans fault your mothers bf chose to not have insurance. Regardless of his poor choice, I hope he pulls through.

Yeah, it was the republicans fault your mothers bf chose to not have insurance.

There's probably a bit more to it that that. I can't speak for anyone else, but if my job & corresponding coverage went away today, I have no idea how long, or even if, I could afford COBRA coverage ... which of course runs out after a certain period (18 months?) anyway. I've been in that boat before. Luckily, I didn't get sick -- & given my age, lifestyle (or lack thereof) & predisposition toward certain types of health problems (mother died of colon cancer a day before she would've turned 57, father succumbed to heart attack at 34, I've got a mild case of Crohn's disease, etc), I was lucky as hell.

Now that's [MHS's comment] ignorant ####, and you know it. That guy "chose" not to have insurance in precisely the same way that I choose not to have a palace in Aruba.

That's not a reason not to hope Murcer recovers, of course.

Vaux, most american's who don't have health insurance can afford it, but chose not too. They prefer to spend their income on other things. This is beyond dispute. Of course, I'm generalizing CFB's Mom's BF in the group than can afford it, but chose not too... which may not be the case.

Now, I realize you will probably, argue with me, but let me cut you off at the pass. I'm going to engage in the debate. I don't believe in nationalized health care. I believe people health care is likely unaffordable to some american's making less than an average income should be given tax credits to index their cost of insure to that of an average income average family with average healthcare. If they chose to not purchase the healthcare they should be forced to pay for treatment in advance or to provide a line of credit. If they can't they don't get care. Just like you didn't get a palace in bermuda.

CFB, you stiill dating the blond with the big rack?

Now that's [MHS's comment] ignorant ####, and you know it. That guy "chose" not to have insurance in precisely the same way that I choose not to have a palace in Aruba.

Of course, we have no idea what that guy's situation is at all, whether he chose not to buy health insurance, or was unable to buy health insurance. Without further information, we have no idea whether he was unemployed or whether he was eligible for Medicaid and didn't apply or whether he decided a big screen TV was a more important purchase.

Is it a brain cloud?

Of course that's true, Dan.

It could be both. My father died of GBM in December. They went in and removed a necrosis, but he died a few months later as the cancer came back. Horrible disease.

Yeah, it was the republicans fault your mothers bf chose to not have insurance. Regardless of his poor choice, I hope he pulls through.

Choosing to get a brain tumor was a much worse choice.

Vaux, most american's who don't have health insurance can afford it, but chose not too. They prefer to spend their income on other things. This is beyond dispute.

You got a cite for that one?

In particular, I'm wondering what the 11 million kids who don't have health insurance are spending their money on. Pokemon cards maybe.

Oh, and best wishes to Bobby Murcer.

rephrase: adults.

MHS, you live in NY, correct? Do you pay for your own insurance or get it through work? If you pay for it yourself, how much do you pay? I pay for it myself, and it's type expensive, and going up exponentially. I'm far from rich and wonder if I'll still be able to afford it in 5 years. It is probably less expensive wherever cardsfanboy's guy lives, but your comments, as usual, seem strikingly ignorant.

sorry, didn't really mean to make this political (well actually just wanted to ##### about it for the most part) I do feel sympathy for anyone that is diagnosed with a terminal illness and do feel for Murcer. I'm not a fan of a national health care system, but do believe that a better system than we have now is possible. I don't know the specifics about my moms bf, he worked on fishing boats and is retired-I think, but not old enough for medicaid,(my mom is old enough for medicaid but that doesn't help him) beyond that I don't know any other specifics about his medical insurance. I do know that he's been told less than 6months to live, that it is operateable which could give him more time. For the record, his name is Walter Johnson so this is tangentially a baseball related comment. (well maybe not)

MHS, yes I'm still dating the blonde.

I think we need to get away from the political posturing about health care, and consider this story in fundamental human terms.

Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News, focusing on what this potential tragedy is REALLY all about:

"Today, Bobby Murcer needs all our prayers. But we need Bobby Murcer. Even now, we need him just as much as he needs us.

Baseball needs him even more.

Apple pie and Mom have been replaced by lying and cheating. The biggest stories in the game make it seem like it is played in a sewer. Roger Clemens, defiant and delusional, staring down the barrel of a possible perjury indictment. Andy Pettitte, destined to spend his summer as a professional witness.

Brian McNamee, the trainer/"friend," with his collection of syringes and gauze. Then there are all those mouthy lawyers and politicians. Don't forget Bud Selig and Donald Fehr. They have been hauled before Congress so many times they are on a first-name basis with the guy who guards the door.

See, we need someone to deliver a bouquet of flowers to a room that stinks. Yeah, we all need Bobby Murcer. We need him now."

Bobby was a favorite of mine when I was very young. It used to be Rick Monday and when he left the Cubs, Murcer came in and wore the same #7 so he inherited my spot as favorite player.

So obviously I hope he beats this. He gets a little more grief from Cubs fans than he deserves, yes he wasn't close to the player he was at his peak with the Yankees (if that peak lasts longer he's an easy Hall of Famer), but he could still hit a little. That he wasn't a CF anymore cut into his value a lot, and it wasn't his fault that the Cubs traded Madlock for him. Ontiveros wasn't a bad player either but high OBP low power and speed guys were not exactly in vogue back then.

Get well Bobby.

Bobby Murcer's broadcasting annoys me far more than steroids. So I don't think baseball particularly needs him. But if he gets better and retires, I'm all in favor of that. Raissman seems to do a lot more editorializing and a lot less reporting about TV/radio these days.