The plane crashed right down the road from me. Remember seeing the terrible wreckage in person. What a shame, man.. Went to high school with his daughter Tracy. He also came to my baseball midget league banquet. He was getting ready to sign with the tribe too!. What a unbelievable talent, miss you stud.
WOW! I'm a Pirates fan but like Yankees too and Thurman was my favorite. So sad you had to actually see the wreckage. Did you actually meet Thurman at the midget league banquet? And you went to high school with Tracy. That's very cool. Ya, there will never be another Thurman. Wish they'd get him in the HOF. R.I.P. Thurman #15
Steve, I'd also heard wild rumors about the Indians and even the Pirates trading Dave Parker for Thurman 1 for 1. There is an interview on here where Thurman tells Howard Cosell that he had asked about going to Cleveland.
Thurman’s rookie year 1970 is when I became a Yankee fan. Even though I have family ties to the team I always thought of Thurman as my favorite and he still is. RIP THURMAN LEE MUNSON. GONE BUT NEVER FORGOTTEN.
Grew up in the Bronx but hated the Yankees being a Mets fan (NYC thing hard to explain) but I loved Munson. During the era of the "Bronx Zoo" Thurman was the guy who could stand up to Steinbrenner and no one could say a word. The Yankees have always had a no beard rule and when Thurman got pissed off at the old man he'd start growing one. All the sports reporters would use the length of Thurman's stubble to measure how serious the situation was. Oh I miss those days. I remember Reggie balling in right field during the moment of silence......
I remember the announcer even saying “I think the door was blocked. But if any man could’ve forced the door open Thurman Munson was that man.” I hated most of the Yankees as I was a Philly Fanatic but Thurman Munson was different He was the hard worker the true catcher of his day. Not prima-donna he busted his rear. Like a lot of Catchers in those days Bench, Bob Boone, Munson. I coach kids now. I always say-“ Catchers are the workhorse. How they go the team goes. The must bust their hump. If they are lazy the team loses if they don’t know every position not only theirs the team loses. If they do not see the entire field the team loses. So work your butt off. Hustle hustle hustle.
As a young Yankee fan of course I remember him doing the Game of the Week with Gowdy and Joe. Always extremely well informed and asked good questions and was willing to demonstrate at any time how the pros handled things as tips for young baseball players. A classy, kind good man. A very fine ball player. I remember being in my freshman year in college learning that Thurman Munson had passed... I was devastated.
Even though my cousin played for the Yankees from 1954-1962 his career was before my time. Bill Skowron is my cousin. But Thurman was and still is my favorite Yankee.
I remember watching him with the Yankees and the Oakland A’s. I also truly enjoyed listening to him as a Minnesota Twins analyst. I was heartbroken when he left the Twins broadcast booth
Phillies fan here, but I will never forget that day. My best friend and I would play wall ball if we couldnt get enough kids to play a full game. I met him at the school and he told me Thurman Munson died in a plane crash. He was a Cardinals fan but we both were saddened by the news. He was a star in baseball. Every kid knew him. I was 10 years old
My birthday was Aug. 1 and my girlfriend and I were going to the beach the next day. Heard the shocking news on the car’s radio. Twenty years later I’m driving in PA and I hear about Payne Stewart. I was a huge fan of his.
When I heard the news August 2nd 1979 about Thurman Munson died in the plane crash I was on the boardwalk seaside heights New Jersey very sad day for me 😪😪😪😪😪😪😪😪😪😪😪😪
I was 13 ... remember the whole weekend. The image of Home Plate being empty is etched in my mind forever. Then, when Murcer and Piniella hugged after that amazing win the game after the funeral. I think we all cried and jumped for joy at the same time....oh Captain, our Captain...RIP
When I was doing play by play in LAFAYETTE, LA., for an independent team in the Indy TEXAS-LOUISIANA LEAGUE, our mostly home games pitching coach for the BAYOU BULLFROGS was hometown guy(from suburb CARENCRO) RON GUIDRY, LOUISIANA LIGHTNIN’, himself. We actually played our home games in his old college ballpark. Because of RON G.’s connection to THURMAN MUNSON, a writer for Esquire magazine came down in 1999(20TH.ANNIVERSARY) to orchestrate the photographing of GUIDRY, and to interview him. I brought that writer MIKE PATERNITI up into the booth and talked to him on the air. Guidry really wanted to pay tribute to his friend, but I certainly was not going to broach the subject with him. He still felt the loss hard twenty years later. Most players loved THURMAN, and that included the ones who liked REGGIE in the BILLY MARTIN feud that cost BILLY his job. R.I.P. to THURMAN MUNSON, and sadly, to his former manager. Munson was the best hitting for average catcher in the A.L., bar none. Oh, and RIP to Munson’s bud BOBBY MURCER who spoke at the funeral, and later that same day in a pregame speech to the team in the clubhouse where he was in tears, before he promptly went out and had the winning hit for the YANKS in the old YANKEE STADIUM.. remarkable. Meanwhile, the piece on Munson’s death and how it affected his NY YANK teammates, is in that issue of ESQUIRE. I have it in storage. I do not remember the month.. It was likely in the summer.. The photog wore longer shorts, with big suspenders, and to match his shorts, brown shoes or boots with knee high socks and a short sleeve shirt. He was from JOLLY OLD ENGLAND.. Anyway..it was a Sad Deal even for a KC ROYALS fan like me..😥 The best to all of their families, today.. sigh.
Will always remember this day, we were in 12 yrs old All-stars, playing in our Little League State Finals Tournament, in Bullhead City, Az…before the National Anthem played, PA announcer said, “we have tragic news for our country, and shared the plane crash news, w loss of Thurman Munson “
The only catcher in the HOF who had a shorter career than Munson is Roy Campanella. Campanella is considered by some as the greatest catcher of all time, even better than Johnny Bench. Thurmon Munson has never been seriously mentioned in the same breath as Campanella. He had a great career, and Munson making the HOF would get no argument from me, but based on how short his career was, his worthiness is far from being an obvious selection. Yes, his career was cut short by his tragic death, but other players' promising careers have also been cut short by career-ending injuries, which are tragic in their own way, and the HOF doesn't care.
Two of my longtime buddy’s meet and showed him a King Air aircraft when he was shopping to upgrade aircraft. Although a nice guy they they thought him to be way overconfident of his abilities considering his lack of experience in high performance aircraft and low flight time. Sad…
I remember going inside from playing ball and my mom met me at the door and walked in with me. She first delicately told me and then brought me to the tv. I think it was Steve Bosh on WPIX 11 who was reporting. It was only 2 years after Elvis' death and it had that same feel... hard to believe. I still have the morning paper from 8/3/79.
I was drilling a bowling ball for a customer in the basement of the Melville TSS Sporting Goods dept. when I heard. Whatever I think of thurman I think of rubber fragments in my nose from those bowling balls. Odd how the strong memory of that tragic day has that sort of connection.
My respect mister John, unfortunately I dont have privilege to met you but my Father is your former golf ⛳ partner longtime ago in the sixties you pitch for the White Sox at the time long live To you⚾👍
He was really a likable person. Nice guy. Good ball player. Wish he chose to do something else that day. What a shame. Should have been a HOFer. Later Captain!
Personally, I will never consider the BBHoF to be credible until Thurman Munson and Curt Flood are part of it. Munson was one of the greatest catchers of all time and Flood is one of the most influential athletes of all time.
If the NBA can honor Bill Walton as one of the 75 best players of all time, just based on when he was healthy, MLB can certainly recognize the accomplishments of Munson's abbreviated career.
I'm not one for letting in the merely very good not great players as is so common anymore, I'm more of a small Hall guy. Not even a Yankee fan. But Munson and Mattingly belong. My God, that news was horrible. Still not over it.
He had the perfect 70's catcher mentality and look. Gruff, unshaven, growly, tough, scruffy " I dont wanna be Reggie's friend", all describe Munson. Without Reggie though, they don't win the chips...
Munson, in just 11 seasons, had the stats (113 HR, .292 BA, 696 Runs and 701 RBIs, Rookie of the Year, MVP 2x WS, 7x All-Star, 3x golden gloves), for induction into the hall, posthumously. Why the BBWAA didn't follow through is not clear. Cooperstown Board of Directors can also bypass the BBWAA and induct players, directly.
Better than average stats for sure, but Munson's slugging pct. and OPS were very mediocre. He was having an awful year at the plate the year he died. Only 3 homers in 97 games played. The year before he hit only 6 homers in 154 games. That's awful for a catcher.
@@kellykarcher7179 You gonna keep Campanella out because of his last years? Bench? Jackie Robinson? 😮 He was the first hitter since Ted Williams to have 3 straight years of .300 average and 100 RBI. I think you have to go all the way back to Bill Dickey to find another catcher who did that. And Thurman's post season record was stellar.
@@TheBatugan77 A MLB Player doesn't make the HOF due to postseason stats or stats over a 3 year period. If they did, Kirk Gibson and Josh Hamilton would be in. As a player, Munson was quite good (not great), but wasn't even close to the likes of Campanella, Bench or Robinson who are all ranked in the Top 5 players at their position. As I stated earlier, his career slugging pct. and OPS numbers were not very impressive. I truly believe this is the reason why he has not been inducted into the HOF...
Munson was an idiot, he refused to go to flight school. When Beech Aircraft would not sell him a jet unless he went to flight school he went to Cessna and immediately was allowed to fly a jet without training and subsequently crashed.
He deserves much respect for his play and leadership. However, I lost all respect for his character when, upon hearing of the killing of the 4 students at Kent State, his alma mater, Munson said he wished they had killed more. Wishing more human beings killed is beyond the pale for me.
