Joe Posnanski: The rare trade that hurts both players

That would be Bobby Murcer and Bobby Bonds…and Poz at his best.

When Bobby Murcer died young due to complications of cancer, I immediately thought about Bobby Bonds, who also died young, five years ago, due to similar complications. Baseball can do this, it can connect people in your mind. I’ve thought before that if San Francisco had not traded Bobby Bonds, he might be in the Hall of Fame today. I’ve thought before that if Bobby Murcer had come along at a slightly different time, he might be there with him. I’ve thought that in some ways they were both cheated a little bit by the baseball fates.

But maybe not. Baseball, like life, overflows with what might have been, and in the end it’s interesting to think about but it’s not much use. They both were something else when they were young, then they both got traded, and they had a few moments left. When Bobby Bonds finished playing, he became known as the father of Barry. And when Bobby Murcer finished, he became a Yankees announcer and as a true Yankee, which I suspect was what he always wanted.

I’ve spent the last day or so reading people’s memories of Bobby Murcer, and it sure seems like he was loved. A lot of the stories call him underrated, which I think is probably right. Anyway, it figures. Someone once told me that underrated people have large funerals.