35 Years Ago Today…We Remember The Captain, Thurman Munson

It’s been almost four decades since the passing of Thurman Munson. I certainly don’t remember him playing, but his death has always been attached to my life. My father, who had grown up a New York Yankees’ fan, and strayed when George Steinbrenner purchased the team in 1973, always had a soft spot in his heart for Munson.

Munson’s death came on my birthday, back in 1979. I was three. My father, who normally wasn’t the sentimental type, ensured that Munson’s memory lived on in his son, as I donned the #15 throughout my baseball career. My father, who is now gone as well, used to tell stories of the grittiness, the tenacity, the guts of the Captain. Dad used to say that “Fisk couldn’t hold Munson’s jock in their prime.” Maybe, maybe not. I do remember Fisk, hanging on for dear life at the end of his career with the Chicago White Sox. He’s a Hall of Famer. Johnny Bench, the gold standard for catchers from that era is a Hall of Famer. Had Munson not died, would he be a Hall of Famer? We’ll never know.

Instead of talking about what ifs, on this day, the 35th anniversary of the tragic death of the Yankee Captain, we are going to look back at some key moments of his career, life, and death. Today we remember, Thurman Munson.

Even though Munson’s career spanned just under a full decade in terms of big league service, he made the American League All-Star team 7 times, including the first in 1971. He also took home three straight Gold Gloves at the catcher position, something that was constantly a point of anger between he and Red Sox catcher Carlton Fisk. The two men simply did not like each other, and were bitter rivals throughout their career.

During that initial 1971 All-Star season, Munson made only one error the entire year, while throwing out an astounding 61 % of would be base stealers. Although he was an All-Star on seven different occasions, he only started three of those games, and during his first appearance, he went without a plate appearance.

1976 was a special year for Munson. He was named team captain, the first to hold the position since Lou Gehrig back in 1939. He helped lead the Yankees back to glory, prior to the arrival of Reggie Jackson, and although the Yankees were swept in the World Series by Johnny Bench and the Big Red Machine, the Cincinnati Reds, the Bombers, led by Munson, had reestablished the New York Yankees as the most feared team in the American League.

Munson’s 1976 season was the best of his career, as he hit .302 with 17 home runs and 105 runs driven in. He was rewarded for his outstanding season by being named the American League Most Valuable Player. During the World Series against the Reds, Munson tied a modern day World Series record, with six consecutive base hits. He also had an outstanding American League Championship Series against the rival Kansas City Royals, hitting a whopping .529.

The next two seasons brought joy and heartache professionally for Thurman Munson. The Yankees had signed Reggie Jackson to the highest-paid contract in baseball at the time, while Munson had a clause in his contract stipulating that while he was on the Yankees’ roster, he would always remain the highest-paid Yankee. He never pushed the issue with owner George Steinbrenner, but teammates were well aware of the contract clause going unrecognized.

For Munson though, it was always about team and loyalty, and that loyalty paid off in both 1977 and 1978, as the Big Red Machine had been dismantled by the National League Champion Los Angeles Dodgers. Unfortunately for the Dodgers, the Yankees were stronger than ever, and in back to back seasons, the Yankees and Munson found themselves atop the baseball world, winning both season’s World Series titles, and bringing the Yankees’ franchise back to their full glory.

By 1979, the Yankees’ dynasty was crumbling. The Bombers were having a horrid year, sitting in fourth place in the AL East. They were 11 full games back of the first place Orioles, and the circus that was the Bronx Zoo was wearing Munson out. He had contemplated retirement multiple times during the year, as the decade of catching had worn him out. There was also talk that he wanted out of New York and wanted to play in Ohio, preferably for the Indians so he could be closer to his wife and children.

About 18 months prior, Munson had taken up flying lessons, and by 1979, had purchased a Cessna Citation so he could be home more often rather than hang out in New York City, a place he was never fond of to begin with. After a night game, he flew the Cessna home to Canton, OH to see his family, as the Yankees had an off-day the following day.

While practicing take offs and landings, he misjudged the plane’s distance from a tree, which it clipped, forcing it to fall short of the runway, and to catch fire. Munson had two passengers, one of whom was his flight instructor. The plane crashed into a tree stump and burst into flames. Both passengers were able to get out, but Munson was caught in the plane, unable to get free. He perished in that airplane on August 2nd, 1979.

Upon learning of his death, the Yankees attended his funeral, and retired his #15. His locker remained intact at old Yankee Stadium prior to it’s destruction. Now, Munson’s locker sits encased in glass at the new Yankee Stadium Museum. While Don Mattingly and Derek Jeter have been Yankees’ captains since the passing of Munson, not many players had a bigger impact on the franchise than Thurman Munson during his reign in New York. Today, 35 years later, we remember Thurman Lee Munson.