Thurman was my uncle. The whole family fell apart when he passed. His last words were. " are you guys alright " he was more worried about the two piglets that were with them then himself. He saved their lives and lost his own. He was a amazing father and husband. I know the real story about the crash not was the paoers said
I’m a Red Sox Fan through and through. I also collected baseball cards back in the Day. I have to say though that one part of my collection that I am most proud of is all my Thurman Munson Cards. I just loved that Guy. One of the Few Yankees I respected. Maris , Mantle , DiMaggio , Gehrig , Ruth to name a few. My Father told me stories about these Guys. For some reason, Munson Cards just caught my eye. R.I.P. Thurman Munson.
This is a great story about a too-short rivalry between wonderful catchers and team leaders. A great telling. As someone said below: you're not John Bois but you are certainly welcome to stay.
Yes, he was, but a lot of that has to do with the Big Red Machine. Was way too hard to pitch around that line up, except at the bottom. Bench saw a lot of fastballs, with guys like Morgan, Rose and Bobby Tolan on base all the time, and with Tony Perez batting behind him. Bench benefitted greatly from it. A less talented player would have done well, too.
I know correlation isn't indicative of causation, but baseball certainly seems like it was more exciting when everyone was on stimulant drugs and there was lead in gasoline.
The Avery-Brodeur video was great. They do such an amazing job at composing these videos, I just wish the content involved the sports I enjoy... Like hockey and hockey.
HEY LAYOFF Gene Michael!! He was the one who built that LEGENDARY 1996-2000 Yankee team who won FOUR World Series when Steinbrenner was banned from baseball!!
Recently I was looking through my baseball cards from my childhood... in the 70’s. The Red Sox was my team... the Yankees were and are my sworn enemy. I came across Thurman Munsons card... I had to pause for a moment. His was a promising life cut short. A cruel twist of fate.
Great little video. I am Yankees fan so of course I enjoyed the career of Thurman Munson and was of course upset by his tragic loss. Carlton Fisk was a fine catcher in his own right. 'Richard'
Being a die-hard Red Sox fan who grew up during that time as I mentioned above, I TOTALLY agree with you!!! I gave you a GREAT, BIG, HUMONGOUS "thumb's up" for stating that in your comment.
Well said by both of you. Obviously, I wish Fisk could have won a title in Boston, but sometimes, you make due. I think Fisk is a deserving Hall of Famer. Admittedly, I wouldn't quite put Munson in, largely because of the longevity, but I could also make an exception. Munson certainly should have gotten closer than the 5-10% he usually got on the ballots.
This beef series is so well written and researched! Seriously. Also, this Fisk-Munson one is unexpectedly poignant (not knowing in advanced how their story ended) Well done.
The Reds and Dodgers were both in the NL West then, and had a bitter rivalry. After one of their brawls, the radio announcer said that there was "no love lost" between these teams. Iremember thinking, "That's very nice. I sure would hate for them to not have friendships anymore between these teams."
That was a great rivalry. As a kid growing up in the 70's in NYC, the Yankees were my team and Munson was our Captain. But l also respected and cheered for Carlton Fisk whenever the Sox were not playing the Yanks. Both guys were awesome! Thanks for the video.
That Gene “Stick” Michael who missed the bunt, is the same Gene “Stick” Michael who built the Yankees Dynasty that started in 1996.. When George Steinbrenner was suspended from baseball from 1990-1993, Gene Michael, who was the GM, refused to trade Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera & Bernie Williams. He had faith in the young core & did a great job putting the team together & adding the necessary pieces around them. Yankees signed Bernie in 1985 when he was 17 & he didn’t make his MLB debut until 1993 when he was 25. Without that suspension & without Gene Michael, those 4 WS in 5 years may look a lot different.. So would the team in general.. Crazy thing is, Jeter, Rivera, Pettitte & Posada were still around & a huge part of the 09 WS as well..
I gave you a GREAT, BIG, HUMONGOUS "thumb's up" for that! As a die-hard Boston Red Sox fan who still admired him when he went to play for the Chicago White Sox (Curse you Haywood Sullivan and Buddy LeRoux!), I felt it was my obligation to do so.
Your uncle was my favorite player when I was a kid... and my little 11 year old heart was broken when he left the Red Sox. Never should've came to that for a native New Englander who was one of our own. Although I had to watch the back half of his career from far away, I was glad to see how great he continued to be. Thanks for the memories, Pudge.
Sam Schoemann I recently saw my Munson card in my childhood collection. I was a Sox fan growing up. I had to pause for a second. His death was a sad, cruel and awful twist of fate.😞
Great video! I love old school baseball features, especially for some of those names that everyone knows but they get forgotten over time. I would love to see something on Jim Abbot, no one talks about him anymore. Crazy!
I remember the day Thurman died. Total gut punch and the Yankees didn't recover for a generation. They never really found another who could step and do the things he did. Dude was total clutch.
Excellent video and an excellent voice over. I liked the cutaways to your studio. Pudge Fisk was my favorite Red Sox player when I was growing up (only eclipsed later by Big Papi.) Thurman Munson's death was tragic and horrific. RIP.
Baseball was like the NFL in those days... now if someone gets hit on the head, you have a Neurosurgeon on scene along with an ambulance in minutes, even if the guy wasn't knocked out
You know what drove me crazy back then was the media always talking about Fisk and Munson like they were the best catchers in baseball. Us Reds fans had no doubts who the best catcher in MLB was.
I was camping in the white mountains of NEW HAMPSHIRE I was 15 and climbing the "imp" & I had my yankee shirt on a guy coming down the mountain said "to bad about munson" I was like "what"? then he filled me in ,I knew the rivalry wasn't going to be the same.
Good timing on a day when these two teams are tied for #1 in baseball and playing again tonight and tomorrow. Last night's losing pitcher came off a 6 game suspension for the last benches clearing brawl between the Sox and Yanks a few weeks back.
I was very young and well I'm from Massachusetts so I loved the Red Sos and hated the Yankees. When hanging in my basement where my Grandfather was working, the radio came on of Munson's death I felt complete sadness.
"As Baltimore won the AL East for the 4th time in 5 years. Again, this was a VERY different time in America." Baltimore's the only team to have a live game broadcasted without any fans present, so yeah - VERY DIFFERENT lmfao
Great video. You absolutely hit it. But to this The Greatest catcher (#15) is still not an "official" HOF MEMBER butttt his mitt and bat and cap are in there.
Detroit had a winning team only half the time, during the 70's. Even had a team lose over 100 games one season (1975). It was a dead time for sports, because the Tigers, Lions, Pistons and Wings were all average to just plain bad that decade. I know, for I lived in Westland all those years. Yes, great place to live, but local sports were eh.
Ok.. Great video, but believe me when I say it wasn't a missed bunt. Yes it was a "suicide squeeze" but it was probably his intention to absolutely truck Fisk at the plate. That's how baseball was back then
On a suicide squeeze Fisk'd probably be out fielding the ball to throw to whatever base he could (probably 1st). Munson wouldn't have expected Fisk to be there when he started running.
These two things are by no means exclusive - Munson absolutely would've trucked him whether the bunt succeeded or not given the chance, but I think it's safe to say the bunt was missed - you don't intentionally give up a runner on 3rd in the bottom of the 9th, no matter how much that guy wants to hit the guy he's running at.
My favorite Munson story: The Yanks were on a road trip so they were on a flight to their next destination and Munson was sitting with a couple of guys and they were listening to music on a boom box (It was the 70s) and they had it playing kind of loud. Elston Howard (I believe) was one of the coaches and he was asked to go back and ask them to turn it down a bit, so Howard goes back and asks them to turn it down and Munson responds, "What are you? The music coach?" It will always make me laugh, and it brings a smile because it seems like vintage Munson.
I remember this rivalry as a kid. I was from Boston I loved Carlton Fisk but when Thurmond Monson died in that plane crash everything seemed to change. That bothered me big time knowing Thurmond Monson was gone.. He was the captain of two championships and Fisk went on for many years still being as good as he ever was with the White Sox. Baseball change big time in the '80s. That Red Sox Yankee rivalry probably would have been just as big in the '80s as it would have been any time in history. If those events didn't happen.
