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Thurman Munson
Thurman Munson
Munson wearing his Yankee cap
Catcher
Born: June 7, 1947(1947-06-07)
Akron, Ohio
Died: August 2, 1979 (aged 32)
Canton, Ohio
Batted: Right Threw: Right
MLB debut
August 8, 1969
for the New York Yankees
Final game
August 1, 1979
for the New York Yankees
Career statistics
Batting average     . Catcher is also a general term for a fielder who catches the ball in Cricket. Events 1099 - The First Crusade: The Siege of Jerusalem begins Year 1947 ( MCMXLVII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1947 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Akron is a city in the US state of Ohio and the County seat of Summit County. Events 338 BC - A Macedonian army led by Philip II defeated the combined forces of Athens and Thebes in the Year 1979 ( MCMLXXIX) was a Common year starting on Monday (link displays the 1979 Gregorian calendar) Canton is a city in the US state of Ohio and the County seat of Stark County. Events 1220 - Sweden is defeated by Estonian tribes in the Battle of Lihula. Champions Major League Baseball The most notable part of the 1969 season were the Miracle Mets World Series: New York Mets The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the borough of The Bronx, in New York City, New York. Events 30 BC - Octavian (later known as Augustus enters Alexandria, Egypt, bringing it under the control of the Roman Champions Major League Baseball World Series: Pittsburgh Pirates over Baltimore Orioles (4-3 Willie Stargell, The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the borough of The Bronx, in New York City, New York. Batting average is a Statistic in both Cricket and Baseball measuring the performance of cricket batsmen and baseball hitters, respectively 292
Hits     1,558
Runs batted in     701
Teams
Career highlights and awards

Thurman Lee Munson (June 7, 1947 – August 2, 1979) was an American catcher in Major League Baseball who played with the New York Yankees from 1969 to 1979. In Baseball statistics, a hit (denoted by H) sometimes called a base hit, is credited to a batter when the batter safely reaches The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the borough of The Bronx, in New York City, New York. Champions Major League Baseball The most notable part of the 1969 season were the Miracle Mets World Series: New York Mets Champions Major League Baseball World Series: Pittsburgh Pirates over Baltimore Orioles (4-3 Willie Stargell, The Major League Baseball All-Star Game, also popularly known as the "Midsummer Classic" is an annual Baseball game between players from the National League For other events named "World Series" see World Series (disambiguation. The 1977 World Series matched the returning American League champion New York Yankees against the Los Angeles Dodgers of the National League The 1978 World Series matched the defending champion New York Yankees against the Los Angeles Dodgers in a rematch of the 1977 Series, with the Yankees For the award given to amateur boxers see Golden Gloves. In American Baseball, the Rawlings Gold Glove Award, usually referred to The Most Valuable Player Award (commonly known as the MVP award is an annual award given to one outstanding player in each league of Major League Baseball. In Major League Baseball, the Rookie of the Year Award is given annually to one player from each league as voted upon by the Baseball Writers Association of America The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the borough of The Bronx, in New York City, New York. Events 1099 - The First Crusade: The Siege of Jerusalem begins Year 1947 ( MCMXLVII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1947 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 338 BC - A Macedonian army led by Philip II defeated the combined forces of Athens and Thebes in the Year 1979 ( MCMLXXIX) was a Common year starting on Monday (link displays the 1979 Gregorian calendar) The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Catcher is also a general term for a fielder who catches the ball in Cricket. The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the borough of The Bronx, in New York City, New York. Champions Major League Baseball The most notable part of the 1969 season were the Miracle Mets World Series: New York Mets Champions Major League Baseball World Series: Pittsburgh Pirates over Baltimore Orioles (4-3 Willie Stargell, Munson was killed at age 32 while trying to land his personal airplane.

Contents

Life and career

Born in Akron, Ohio to Darrell Vernon Munson and Ruth Myrna Smylie, Thurman grew up in nearby Canton. Akron is a city in the US state of Ohio and the County seat of Summit County. Canton is a city in the US state of Ohio and the County seat of Stark County. He graduated from Lehman High School in Canton, where he earned scholarship offers from various colleges due to his standout performances in football, basketball, as well as baseball;[1] Munson opted to attend nearby Kent State University on scholarship, where he was a teammate of pitcher and broadcaster Steve Stone. Kent State University (also known as Kent, Kent State, or KSU) is one of America’s largest university systems the third largest university Steven Michael Stone, nicknamed Stoney (born July 14, 1947, in South Euclid Ohio) is an American, former Major League Baseball At Kent, Munson joined the Delta Upsilon fraternity. Delta Upsilon ( ΔY) is the 6th oldest international all-male college Greek-letter social fraternity and is the first non-secret fraternity ever In September 1968 he married Diane Dominick at St. Paul's Parish, Canton.

In the summer of 1967, Munson joined the prestigious Cape Cod Baseball League leading his Chatham A's to their first ever league title. In the process Munson hit an amazing . 420. To recognize this achievement and his subsequent MLB career, the Thurman Munson Batting award is given each season to the CCBL's best hitter.

Munson was selected by the Yankees with the fourth pick in the first round of the 1968 amateur draft. In the minor leagues, he caught for the Binghamton Triplets in their final (1968) season. The Binghamton Triplets were a Minor league baseball team in Binghamton New York, affiliated with the New York Yankees (1932-1961 1965-1968 the team He was named the American League Rookie of the Year in 1970 after batting . In Major League Baseball, the Rookie of the Year Award is given annually to one player from each league as voted upon by the Baseball Writers Association of America Champions Major Leagues World Series MVP Brooks Robinson All-Star Game, July 14 at Riverfront Stadium Batting average is a Statistic in both Cricket and Baseball measuring the performance of cricket batsmen and baseball hitters, respectively 302 with seven home runs and 57 RBI, and making 80 assists. In 1976, he was voted the American League MVP after batting . Champions Major League Baseball World Series: Cincinnati Reds over New York Yankees (4-0 Johnny Bench, MVP The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, or simply the American League ( AL) is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball in The Most Valuable Player Award (commonly known as the MVP award is an annual award given to one outstanding player in each league of Major League Baseball. 302 with 17 home runs and 105 RBI, and stealing 14 bases. He is the only Yankee ever to win both the Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player awards.

An outstanding fielder, Munson made only one error while behind the plate in 1971 (he was knocked unconscious by a runner, dislodging the ball). He went on to win three straight Gold Glove Awards starting in 1973. For the award given to amateur boxers see Golden Gloves. In American Baseball, the Rawlings Gold Glove Award, usually referred to A seven-time All-Star, Munson hit 113 home runs, batted in 701 runners, and had a career batting average of . The Major League Baseball All-Star Game, also popularly known as the "Midsummer Classic" is an annual Baseball game between players from the National League 292 over his 10-year career. He was also the first captain named by the Yankees since Lou Gehrig. In team sports a captain is a title given to the member of the team Henry Louis "Lou" Gehrig ( June 19 1903  – June 2 1941) born Ludwig Heinrich Gehrig, was an American Munson helped lead his team to three consecutive World Series (1976–78), where he batted a remarkable . For other events named "World Series" see World Series (disambiguation. 373 overall (. 339 in the American League Championship Series). From 1975-77, Munson hit . 300 or better with 100 or more RBI each year, becoming the first catcher to accomplish the feat in three consecutive years since Yankee Hall of Famer Bill Dickey did it four straight seasons from 1936-39. William Malcolm Dickey ( June 5, 1907 – November 12, 1993) was a Professional baseball player and manager. Since Munson's run, Mike Piazza has also accomplished it (1996-98). Michael Joseph Piazza (pʰiˈɑːʦə or /pʰiˈɑːzə/ born September 4, 1968 in Norristown, Pennsylvania) is a former American

In the 1976 World Series, Munson batted . The 1976 World Series matched the defending champion Cincinnati Reds of the National League against the New York Yankees of the American League 529 and collected six consecutive hits to tie a World Series record set by Goose Goslin of the Washington Senators in 1925, (also in a losing effort). Leon Allen Goslin ( October 16, 1900 – May 15, 1971) better known as Goose Goslin, was a Left fielder in Major League The Minnesota Twins are a professional baseball team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In the 1925 World Series, the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the defending champion Washington Senators in seven games After this hitting performance, which included a 4-for-4 night in the final game at Yankee Stadium, Reds manager Sparky Anderson was asked by a reporter to compare Munson with his catcher, future Hall of Famer Johnny Bench. George Lee "Sparky" Anderson (born February 22, 1934 in Bridgewater South Dakota) is fifth on the all-time list for manager career wins Johnny Lee Bench (born December 7, 1947) is a former American Baseball player for the Cincinnati Reds from 1967 to Anderson's comment at the post-World Series press conference — "Don't ever embarrass nobody by comparing him to Johnny Bench" — may have been a tribute to his great player, but it angered Munson. [2]

Munson batted . 320 with a home run in the 1977 World Series, in which the Yankees defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers four games to two. The 1977 World Series matched the returning American League champion New York Yankees against the Los Angeles Dodgers of the National League The Los Angeles Dodgers are a Major League Baseball team based in Los Angeles California, USA In Game 3 of the 1978 American League Championship Series, with the Yankees tied a game apiece with the Kansas City Royals and trailing 5-4 in the bottom of the eighth inning, he hit the longest home run of his career, a 475-foot (145-meter) shot off Doug Bird over Yankee Stadium's Monument Park in left-center field, to give the Yankees a 6-5 win. The Kansas City Royals are a Major League Baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The original Yankee Stadium is a Stadium located in The Bronx in New York City. They won the pennant the next day, and in the World Series against the Dodgers, Munson caught a pop-up by Ron Cey for the final out. Ronald Charles (Ron Cey (seɪ born February 15, 1948 in Tacoma, Washington) is a former Third baseman in Major League Baseball

Death and legacy

Thurman Munson's number 15 was retired by the New York Yankees in 1979

Munson was frequently homesick, and took flying lessons so that he could fly home to his family in Canton on off-days. The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the borough of The Bronx, in New York City, New York. On August 2, 1979, he was practicing takeoffs and landings in his new Cessna Citation I/SP jet at the Akron-Canton Regional Airport. Events 338 BC - A Macedonian army led by Philip II defeated the combined forces of Athens and Thebes in the Year 1979 ( MCMLXXIX) was a Common year starting on Monday (link displays the 1979 Gregorian calendar) WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout On the third touch-and-go, Munson failed to lower the flaps for landing and allowed the aircraft to sink too low before increasing engine power, causing the jet to clip a tree and fall short of the runway. Touch-and-go and/or "circuits" are pilot 's terms for a maneuver that is common when learning to fly a Fixed-wing aircraft. Flaps are hinged surfaces on the trailing edge of the wings of a Fixed-wing aircraft. The plane then hit a tree stump and burst into flames, killing Munson (who was trapped inside) and injuring two other companions. It is believed that the inability to get out of the plane, and the ensuing asphyxiation, is what killed Munson, rather than injuries sustained on impact or burns (the two passengers survived). He was 32 years old. [3]

Munson's sudden death was major news across the nation and especially within the baseball community. Munson was survived by his wife, Diana, and their three children. The day after his death, before the start of the Yankees' four-game set with the Baltimore Orioles in the Bronx, the Yankees paid tribute to their deceased captain in a pre-game ceremony during which the starters stood at their defensive positions, save for the catcher's box, which remained empty. The Baltimore Orioles are a professional baseball team based in Baltimore, Maryland. At the conclusion of Robert Merrill's musical selection, the fans (announced attendance 51,151) burst into a 10-minute standing ovation. Robert Merrill ( June 4, 1917 &ndash October 23, 2004) was an American Operatic Baritone.

Four days later, on August 6, the entire Yankee team attended his funeral in Canton, Ohio. Events 1538 - Bogotá, Colombia, is founded by Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada. Lou Piniella and Bobby Murcer, who were Munson's best friends as well as teammates, gave eulogies. Louis Victor Piniella (pɨˈnɛlə born August 28, 1943, in Tampa Florida, United States) is the current manager of the Chicago Bobby Ray Murcer ( May 20 1946 – July 12 2008) was an American Major League Baseball Outfielder who played That night (in front of a national viewing audience on ABC's Monday Night Baseball) the Yankees beat the Orioles 5-4 in New York, with Murcer driving in all five runs with a three-run home run in the seventh inning and a two-run single in the bottom of the ninth. Major League Baseball on ABC is the De facto title of a program that televises Major League Baseball games on the American Broadcasting Company Monday Night Baseball is a live game telecast of Major League Baseball that airs most Monday nights during the regular season on ESPN and is also available [4]

Immediately following Munson's death, Yankee owner George Steinbrenner announced that his uniform number 15 was being retired. George Michael Steinbrenner III (born July 4, 1930 in Rocky River Ohio) is an American Billionaire businessman and the principal Major League baseball has retired various Uniform numbers in its history ensuring that they will always be associated with one player of note On September 20, 1980, a plaque was dedicated in Munson's memory and placed in Monument Park. Events 451 - The Battle of Chalons takes place in North Eastern France. Champions Major League Baseball World Series: Philadelphia Phillies over Kansas City Royals (4-2 Mike Schmidt, MVP Monument Park is a section of Yankee Stadium, located behind the left-center field fence at Yankee Stadium between the bullpens which contains a collection of monuments The plaque bears excerpts from an inscription composed by Steinbrenner and flashed on the Stadium scoreboard the day after his death:

“ Our captain and leader has not left us, today, tomorrow, this year, next . . . Our endeavors will reflect our love and admiration for him. ”

To this day, despite a packed clubhouse, an empty locker next to Derek Jeter's, with Munson's number 15 on it, remains as a tribute to the Yankees' lost catcher. The original locker that Munson used, along with a bronzed set of his catching equipment, was donated to the Baseball Hall of Fame (Munson himself is not in the Hall, generally considered by most sportswriters to be a "borderline" candidate at best due to the brevity of his career). His number 15 is also displayed on the center field wall at Thurman Munson Stadium, a minor-league ballpark in Canton. Thurman Munson Memorial Stadium is a Stadium in primarily used for Baseball. Munson is buried at Canton's Sunset Hills Burial Park.

Thurman is one of three Yankees who died in aviation accidents, including pitchers Jim Hardin in 1991 and Cory Lidle in 2006. James Warren Hardin ( August 6, 1943 – March 9, 1991) was a professional baseball player for the Baltimore Orioles, New York Yankees Cory Fulton Lidle ( March 22, 1972 – October 11, 2006) was an American right-handed baseball Pitcher who spend nine seasons

References

  1. ^ http://www.thurmanmunson.com/bio.html
  2. ^ All Roads Lead to October (chapter 10) by Maury Allen, St. Martin's Press 2000 ISBN 0-312-26175-6
  3. ^ ibid. , chapter 10, reprinted at Internet Archive's last entry for the ThurmanMunson.com history page
  4. ^ Retrosheet

External links

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