Murcer to miss Opening Day

The last Opening Day at the current Yankee Stadium is Monday and despite vowing to be in the broadcast booth, Bobby Murcer told the New York Daily News' Bill Madden that he will not make it.

Murcer said the after-effects of treatment for brain cancer have made him too weak to travel to New York from his home in Oklahoma City.

"You have no idea how disappointing it is for me not to be able to be there for Opening Day, especially this particular Opening Day," Murcer told the Daily News. "But right now, I just don't have the strength I had last year."

The longtime Yankee outfielder and broadcaster on the YES Network has been battling brain cancer since Christmas Eve 2006. Murcer, 61, played in two stints with the Yankees from 1965-74 and 1979-83, and has been a broadcaster with the team since his retirement in 1983.

Murcer said he was still hoping to return to the booth this season, but added: "I'm just not sure when that might be."