Yankee catcher and Captain Thurman Munson was killed while engaged in the practice of take offs and landings. Loved that guy, gutsy dude who played hard like every inning of every game was his last.
The Captain. Great clutch hitter, one of the best career World Series hitter of all time, GREAT HANDLER of pitching staffs (just ask his fellow pitcher team mates), threw out 44% of base stealing attempts for his career and oh, by the way, he had a .292 career BA. Johnny Bench is the only catcher during Munson's time who I can honestly say had an edge on Munson as an all around catcher.
A tough fun player to watch but if I'm being honest he was a good player but over-rated. Nothing he did stands out for me & he never came closer to having a memorable season. Sorry but to me he missed having that WOW! factor. you know the career or even a season where you could say, "Hey, remember when Munson did....." Hell for that matter I can't even remember a specific game that stands out for me. Okay.....let me have it.
____________________ You do realize we're talking about the 70's (Munson began in the late 60's)...way before the steroid freak shows? Try this on for size - Munson became the first catcher since Roy Campanella to hit .300 and knock in 100 runs in three consecutive years. I also recall him winning an MVP, being a .357 career post season hitter (129 ABs) and having a career .373 World Series BA (62 AB) You can keep your other fancy numbers - Munson is just the kind of player the Yankees have been in dire need of these past few years...and you can toss in some of those early 2000 Yankee teams. Have a nice day --- Long live The Captain.
I enjoyed the hell out of the Yanx-Bosox Rivalries with Thurman and "Pudge" Fisk-those 2, took the rivalry to re-newed heights, no doubt....and from what I heard and have since read, they didn't care too much for each other either..... Keep in mind, Munson had just traded in his Cessna Prop Job, for a Jet Citation.....had he of still been flying that prop job, I do believe he would still be alive. Read a blow by blow account of the accident, in more than one Yankee book....plus I'll never forget the day.....as well, I still got the game after his death, on VHS and now DVD....what a game....it was too, tho' sad, & the Yanx were down in spirit, yet rose to the occassion....ya'll know the details, so I'll spare ya' that much.....!
LOL ahem what.... I wasn't trying to point out Fisk's offensive production so much as the 2 were like Cats and Dogs, defensively, as Catcher's, basically leaders of their Teams Defenses, (regardless of Capt's), both Munson and Fisk were barbarians defensively at the plate, try to cross it back in the days prior to LL non-blocking of the plate, when sitting on the plate, was still legal..... My point has nothing to do with who was better defensively or offensively....! Simply stating their hatred of each other, took both teams rivalries to new heights, no doubt, ahem....LOL...!
I'm well aware of the era that we're talking about. I was in high school when he came up as a rookie. And yes he was very clutch in the post season. Winning the MVP with those numbers without leading the league in ANY catagory was amazing. As a matter of fact he NEVER led the league in ANY offensive catagories, all I can say is he was very fortunate that 1976 was not a very big offensive year for anyone. Personally I thought George Bret should have won it that year. Leading the league in batting, hits, triples & total bases. Look like I said, he was a fun player to watch but like I said, NOTHING jumps out at me about his career. http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/munsoth01.shtml
Yet, his 75-78 yrs were spectacular, both with glove and bat. 3 Gold Gloves, in 73-75 were impressive, one of the best backstops IMHO....I've never been a big proponent of the WAR stat, yet Thurmon's both offensively and defensively is quit impressive... I too was shocked when Munson took the MVP out of Brett's hands, figuratively speaking, ie.
...I won't get into a back and forth war of stats, but I can't imagine anyone not acknowledging Munson's greatness.
Remembering Munson and the '76 to '78 Yankees played on gas tanks with Boston & Kansas City I wonder what he'd think of todays players hob nobbing and lolly gagging with each other pre-game. I saw Yogi, and I saw Munson and I am one lucky fan for that experience.
I was a big fan of the guy so I acknowledge that Munson was a tough, solid player who played with more heart then many players I've seen. To say he was great well, refer to post #11.
There's a TV show called NCIS where the lead character always slaps DeNozo in the back of the head every time he does something wrong, that would be Munson. And forget about posing after a HR. Munson (much like McCann did last season) would be waiting for you with an education on professionalism once you reached the plate. Like I said, a very good player.
may not have been the best in any one category but when you put them all together plus at the catchers position...
...yup, and generally speaking most catchers don't lead the league in many offensive categories...in fact Yogi won the MVP 3 times and never lead the league in anything. ...looking at the big picture and taking into account his consistency, his offense, defense, and leadership...Munson was one of the greats.
Again, I'm not taking anything away from Munson. His leadership alone was second to none. As far as Yogi, Munson really only had 10 full seasons so compared to Yogi's 1st 10 seasons the numbers are........ Munson = 1,397 games, 5,258 ABs, 1,536 hits, 112 HRs, 692 RBI, 293 BA, .346 OBP, .410 SLG%, .756 OPS Yogi......= 1,333 games, 5,004 ABs, 1,469 hits, 236 HRs, 999 RBI, 292 BA, .352 OBP, .495 SLG%, .847 OPS And even with Yogi, he was lucky that at the time he played the MVP was generally given to someone who played in the world series that year. Otherwise in 1951 it really should have gone to Ted Williams. 1954 he earned. But in 1955 IMO 3 players were more deserving of the award then Yogi including his own team mate Mickey Mantle. Also Ted Williams & especially Al Kaline. Bottom line is I wouldn't say Munson was great but he was very good in area's that don't show up in the box score & if you fielded 8 Thurmon Munsons you couldn't go wrong.
