Books and articles about Thurman Munson

After fewer than 100 minor league games, Munson became the Yankees' starting catcher in 1970. The Yankees went from a mediocre team to back-to-back World Championships and Munson rivaled Fisk in the AL as the decade's top catcher.

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The gruff Munson immediately established his ability to handle veteran pitchers, but had a terrible start as a rookie. Manager Ralph Houk, a former catcher, stuck with him and was vindicated when Munson came around (.302) and captured AL Rookie of the Year honors. Munson's power was slow to develop, but he hit for average and usually batted second in his early years. He was an outstanding fielder, with perhaps the league's quickest release in throwing out basestealers. A sore shoulder later reduced his accuracy.

During the Yankees' mini-dynasty of 1976-78 Munson was at his peak. Off the field, he was a leader in the team's vicious clubhouse humor. On the field, he piled up his career-best offensive statistics (even a surprising 14 stolen bases in 1976). He hit over .300 with 100 or more RBI three years in a row (1975-77), won the MVP Award in 1976, and hit .529 in the 1976 WS and .320 in the 1977 and 1978 WS. Munson deserves much of the credit for the late-season surge by a shaky Catfish Hunter during the Yankees' 1978 comeback.

During the Yankees' rebuilding years, Bobby Murcer and Munson were the stars around whom the team was constructed, and they were close. Murcer was traded in 1975, but the pair were reunited briefly in 1979. Munson had a more volatile relationship with Reggie Jackson. Initially resented in 1977 for his big free-agent contract, Jackson was shunned by his new teammates. It was Munson, the team captain, who broke the ice and worked to include Jackson in team banter. But then a pre-season interview was published in which Jackson claimed that he was "the straw that stirs the drink. It all comes down to me. Maybe I should say Munson and me, but he really doesn't enter into it. Munson thinks he can be the straw that stirs the drink but he can only stir it bad." Later in the season things were smoothed over, but the relationship was never again more than professional.

Eventually the strain of catching 130 games a year began to show, and Munson started playing the outfield and DHing more. However, on August 2, 1979, Munson died as the private plane he was flying crashed in Canton, Ohio. (FDS)

FROM THE BASEBALL CHRONOLOGY » November 25, 1970: Yankee catcher Thurman Munson receives 23 of 24 votes in being named American League Rookie of the Year. Munson batted .302 in 132 games. » June 3, 1972: Bobby Murcer and Thurman Munson crack 3-run home runs in the Yankees' 8-run 13th inning to beat the White Sox 18–10. Murcer scores five runs on four hits. » July 27, 1973: Thurman Munson singles home the winner in the bottom of the 12th to give the Yankees a 1–0 win over the Brewers starter Jim Colborn. » August 1, 1973: Thurman Munson and Carlton Fisk brawl at Fenway. With a 2–2 score in the top of the 9th, Munson, attempting to score from 3rd on a missed bunt by Gene Michael, crashes into Fisk and they both come up swinging. Boston wins 3–2 in the bottom of the inning. » August 29, 1973: Thurman Munson gets a tainted first-inning hit as a pop fly drops between two Angels infielders calling for it. It turns out to be the only hit allowed by Nolan Ryan as he beats the Yankees, 5–0. » July 19, 1975: Yankee C Thurman Munson's first-inning single and RBI against the Twins are nullified because the tar on his bat handle exceeds the 18-inch limit. Catcher Glenn Borgmann gets the putout. The Yankees lose, 2–1. » September 6, 1975: At Baltimore, the Orioles top the Yankees 7–6, in 13 innings though neither manager or Yankee catcher Thurman Munson are around at the end. All are tossed in the 9th inning. » October 21, 1976: The Reds take a 3-0 lead against Ed Figueroa, but the Yankees close it to 3-2. A 4-run splurge in the 9th, topped by Johnny Bench's 2nd HR of the game, ices the Reds 7-2 win, completing a 4-game sweep of the Yankees. WS MVP Johnny Bench has 2 HRs and 5 RBI,and demolishes the Yankees with .533 hitting. Opposing C Thurman Munson had 6 straight singles to tie a WS mark. The 1976 Reds become the first team ever to go through an entire LCS and WS without a defeat. » April 29, 1977: Ron Guidry makes his a first start of the year and blanks the Mariners, 3–0, with relief help from Lyle. Thurman Munson belts a three run homer for New York, which moves into 2nd place. » May 13, 1977: Ed Figueroa pitches his 4th straight complete game, and Thurman Munson cracks a 7th inning homer to lead New York to a 3–0 win over the Angels. » June 5, 1977: The Yankees hit six home runs, their most in three years, and barely edge the White Sox, 8–6. Bucky Dent, Reggie Jackson, Thurman Munson, Carlos May, Graig Nettles and rookie George Zeber connect. Zeber's clout, his first ML homer, comes off Dave Hamilton, and is the game winner. » July 8, 1977: The Yankees, led by home runs off the bats of Thurman Munson and Graig Nettles, beat the Orioles, 7–5. Don Gullett wins his 7th of the year. » July 28, 1977: In New York, a Thursday crowd of 40,918 cheer as New York unleashes a 15 hit attack to down the Orioles, 14–2. The Yankee barrage includes homers by Graig Nettles, Thurman Munson and Roy White. » September 7, 1978: The Yankees, four games behind the Red Sox in the American League East, arrive in Boston for a crucial 4-game series. The Yanks begin the "Boston Massacre" with a 15–3 route as Willie Randolph drives in five of the runs. The Yanks collect 21 hits off four Sox pitchers, including three hits apiece by Randolph, Thurman Munson and White. Mike Torrez, with one inning of work, takes the loss. Ken Clay, in relief of Catfish Hunter, is the winner. » September 16, 1978: With 55,091 looking on, the Yankees snap a 2–2 tie with a 9th inning triple by Willie Randolph and a sacrifice fly by Thurman Munson to beat the Red Sox, 3–2. New York now leads by three 1/2 games. The Yanks first score on a Reggie Jackson 2-run blast in the 5th. Both starters, Catfish Hunter and Mike Torrez, go the distance. » October 6, 1978: Despite three home runs by George Brett, off Catfish Hunter, the Yankees pull out a 6–5 win in the 3rd game of the LCS. Thurman Munson's 2-run homer in the 8th gives the Yanks a 2-1 series lead. Reggie Jackson hits a 2nd inning homer to match a George Brett blast. » August 2, 1979: Yankees C Thurman Munson, 32, perishes at Canton, Ohio, in a crash of the plane he was piloting. A crowd of 51,151 will attend the memorial tribute at Yankee Stadium tomorrow. » August 6, 1979: In a night game following the funeral of Thurman Munson, Bobby Murcer drives in all five runs as the Yankees top Baltimore 5–4. Murcer has a 3-run home run and a 9th inning 2-run single. » October 17, 1990: In the first extra-inning World Series game since 1986, the underdog Reds beat the A's 5–4 in 10 innings to take a surprising 2-0 lead in the Series. Reds OF Billy Hatcher goes 4-for-4 to run his consecutive hit streak to 7, tying Thurman Munson's World Series record. » March 22, 1993: Cleveland pitchers Steve Olin and Tim Crews are killed, and Bob Ojeda is seriously injured, when the motorboat in which they are riding strikes a pier on Little Lake Nellie in Florida. Crews and Olin are the first active major leaguers to die since Thurman Munson in 1979.