Thurman Lee Munson (June 7, 1947 - August 2, 1979) was a professional American baseball catcher who played 11 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees (1969-1979). A All-Star seven times, Munson has a career batting average of 0.292 with 113 home runs and 701 runs struck at (RBIs). Known for his extraordinary field, he won the Gold Glove Award in three consecutive years (1973-75).
Born in Akron, Ohio, Munson was chosen as the fourth pick of the 1968 MLB draft and was named a catcher in the 1968 All-American Baseball Team. Munson hit more than 0.300 in two seasons in the minor league, establishing himself as the top prospect. He became an early catcher of the Yankees' late in the 1969 season, and after his first complete season in 1970, where he was beaten.302, he was elected Rookie of the Year American League (AL). Considered the "heart and soul" of the Yankees, Munson was named the Yankees captain in 1976, the first team since Lou Gehrig. That same year, he won the AL Most Valuable Player (MVP) award, making him the only Yankee to win the Rookie of the Year and MVP Awards. Munson led the Yankees to three consecutive World Series appearances from 1976 to 1978, winning the championship in the last two years. He was the first player in baseball history to be named College Baseball All-American and later in MLB won Rookie of the Year Award, MVP Award, Gold Glove Award, and World Series championship. He is also the only catcher in MLB postseason history to record at least.300 batting (.357), 20 RBIs (22), and 20 thieves who were caught defensive (24).
In 1979, Munson died at the age of 32 years while practicing his Cessna Citation plane at Akron-Canton Airport. Munson suffered a broken neck from the accident, and the cause of his death was shortness of breath. The Yankees respected him with his retirement uniform 15 and dedicated a plaque to him at Monas Park.
Video Thurman Munson
Amateur career
Munson was born in Akron, Ohio to Darrell Vernon Munson and Ruth Myrna Smylie, the youngest of four children. His father was a World War II veteran who became a truck driver while his mother was a housewife. When he was eight years old, the Munson family moved to Canton, Ohio. He was taught how to play baseball by his brother Duane, and usually played baseball with Duane's age children, who were four years older. His brother went to join the United States Air Force while Thurman was a freshman in high school. He studied at Lehman High School in Canton, Ohio, where he captained basketball, baseball and basketball teams, and all were cities and in all three sports. Munson plays halfback in the soccer squad, guards in the basketball squad, and most shortstop in baseball. Munson switched to his senior year's catcher to handle the pitching skills of his teammate, Jerome Pruett (the fifth-round draft draft of St. Louis Cardinals in 1965 who never reached the Major League). He attracted scholarships from various universities. He chose to study near Kent State University on a scholarship, where he was a team mate of pitcher and announcer Steve Stone.
In the summer of 1967, Munson joined the Cape Cod Baseball League, where he led Chatham A to their first league title with an average batting of.420. In recognition of this achievement and subsequent professional achievements, the Thurman Munson Batting Award is awarded every season to the batting league champions.
Maps Thurman Munson
Professional career
1968-1970
Munson was selected by the Yankees with the fourth overall pick in the 1968 Major League Baseball draft. In the only full-league season he fought.301 with six home runs and 37 run batted in for Binghamton Triplet in their final season (1968) his first appearance at Yankee Stadium in August 1968, when the Triplet came to play an exhibition match against the Yankees. He hit 0.363 for Head of Syracuse in 1969 when he got promoted to the New York Yankees.
Munson made his major league debut on August 8, 1969, in the second game of the doubleheader against Oakland Athletics. Munson went two for three by running, one RBI and two running goalscoring. Two days later, his first major league home run was the second of three consecutive home runs who were attacked by Yankees from Lew Krausse in Yankee's 5-1 win over A's. For the season, Munson fought.256 with one home run and nine RBI. He made 97 plates appearance, but drew ten times the way and had one flying sacrifice, which gave him 86 officials on the bat, and allowed him into the 1970 season technically still a beginner.
The Yankees used pair Jake Gibbs and Frank FernÃÆ'¡ndez in the catcher for most of 1969. During the off season, the Yankees handled FernÃÆ'¡ndez to A's. Munson responded by hitting.302 with seven home runs and 57 RBI, and making 80 assists on the way to receiving the 1970 Rookie of the Year Rookie America award.
1971-1974
Munson received the first of seven All-Star nods in 1971, capturing the last two innings without a bat. A magnificent fielder, Munson only made one mistake all season. It happened on June 18 against the Baltimore Orioles when opponents who opposed Andy Etchebarren made Munson unconscious on the game on the plate, releasing the ball. He also only allowed nine balls over all seasons and caught 36 of 59 potential potential thieves for a capture percentage caught 61%.
Munson is known for his long feud with his Boston Red Sox Carlton Fisk counterpart. A special incident that symbolized their feud, and the Yankees - Red Sox competition in general, occurred on 1 August 1973 at Fenway Park. With the score tied at 2-2 above the ninth and runners at first and third, Munson attempted to score a third from a failed attempt at Michael's bart gene.
As the Red Sox thrower John Curtis let his first pitch leave, Munson broke the plate. Michael tried to jerk, and missed. With Munson coming, Fisk nudged the Yankee shortstop out of the way and prepared for Munson, who slid into Fisk. Fisk holds the ball, but Munson remains entangled with Fisk when Felipe Alou, who is in first position, tries to advance. The confrontation on the plate triggered a two-ten-bench-clearing fight in which both catchers were issued.
Munson made his second All-Star team and won his first Gold Glove Award in 1973. He also emerged as more of a slugger for the Yankees, hitting.300 for the first time since 1970, and attaining a twenty-career home run. In 1974, Munson was elected to start the first of three consecutive All-Star games, going one for three by running and running scoring.
1975-1976
Munson had a career high of.318 in 1975, the third in the league behind Rod Carew and Fred Lynn. For the start of the 1976 season, Munson was named the captain of the first Yankees team since Lou Gehrig retired in 1939. He responded by hitting.302 with 17 home runs and 105 RBI to receive the American League MVP Award and lead the Yankees to their first club. World Series since 1964. He fought.435 with three RBI and three runs scored in the 1976 United States Championship Series against the Kansas City Royals, and was beaten.529 with two RBI and two runs scored in the 1976 World Series against the Cincinnati Reds. Having dropped three games to none, Munson went four for four in the last game of the Series at the Yankee Stadium to try to avoid sweeping into the "Big Red Machine." Combined with the hits he earned in his last two games in a bat in game three, six successive attacks linked the World Series record set by Goose Goslin of the Washington Senator in 1924.
The red catcher Johnny Bench is named World Series MVP. A fairly clear comparison of the opponent's backstops was made for Reds manager Sparky Anderson during the post-World Series press conference, which, Anderson replied, "Munson is a great footballer and he will hit.300 in the National League but you do not" I never compare anyone to Johnny Bench. Do not ever embarrass anyone by comparing it to Johnny Bench. "Munson looked annoyed with these comments when he turned on the microphone shortly afterwards.
1977-1979
Munson fought, 308 with 100 RBI in 1977, giving him three consecutive seasons of.300 or better with 100 or more RBI each year. He was the first catcher to achieve the feat in three consecutive years since Yankee Hall of Fame Bill Dickey's four straight seasons of 1936-1939, only matched by Mike Piazza (1996-1998). The Yankees are repeated as the American Champions League, and face the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 1977 World Series. Munson fought 0.320 with a home run and three RBI in the Yankees four games for two victories over Dodgers. The Dodgers had stolen 114 bases during the regular season, but Munson captured four of six potential potential thieves in the first four games of the series to keep the Dodgers quickly grounded in the last two games.
The Yankees and Royals faced each other for the third time in a row in the 1978 American League Championship Series. With the ALCS tied to their respective games, and trailing 5-4 under the eighth inning of game three, Munson hit the longest home run of his career, 475 feet from Doug Bird over Yankee Stadium Monument Stadium on the left-side center, to give the Yankees a 6-5 win. They won the banner the next day, and went on to defeat Dodgers again for the 1978 World Series Championship. Munson fought off 0.320 (8-for-25) with 7 RBI in this Series and also caught Ron Cey's criticism for the final exit.
The Thurman Munson World Series Championships in 1977 and 1978 made him the second Catcher in baseball history, at that time, to win the Rookie of the Year Award, the MVP Award, the Gold Glove Award, and also won the World Series during his career. Johnny Bench has become the first Catcher to win all four of these awards when he won his own World Series title with The Reds in 1975 and 1976. Furthermore, and more recently, when Buster Posey won his first Gold Glove Award in 2016 he also joined List 3 The catcher is in all baseball history to win all 4 awards. But as a further point on the unique contribution to the game, since Buster Posey and Thurman Munson are both named College Baseball All-American based on their college baseball career, they now share the additional distinction of being two Catchers in history named Team All-American who also have ROY, MVP, GG, and World Series Title.
The Yankees had lost three in a row, and were in fourth place, eleven games behind the Baltimore Orioles in the Eastern American League heading into the All-Star break in 1979. Despite an average of 0.288, wear-and-tear catching started taking victim in Munson, and he was ignored for the American League All-Star team. Often homesick, he has a famous desire to play for the Cleveland Indians to get closer to his family, and also consider retiring at the end of the season.
Death
Munson has flown for over a year and purchased a Cessna Citation I/SP jet so he can fly home to his family in Canton on holidays. On the afternoon of Thursday, August 2, 1979, he practiced taking off and landing at Akron-Canton Regional Airport with friends Jerry Anderson and flight instructor Dave Hall. On the fourth touch and landing landing, Munson allowed the aircraft to sink too low before increasing engine power, causing the jet to cut trees and fail to reach the runway. The plane then crashed into a tree trunk and burned on Greensburg Road, 870 feet (270 m) below runway 19.
Hall and Anderson survived the accident. Hall receives burns on his arms and hands, and Anderson receives burns on his face, arms, and neck. Munson suffered a broken neck and most likely will suffer quadriplegia if he lives. Munson died of shortness of breath from breathing hot air and toxic substances. The NTSB investigation into accidents states that a possible cause is "... a pilot's failure to recognize the need for, and to take action to maintain, sufficient airspeed to prevent kiosks to the ground during landing." Pilots also fail to recognize the need for power applications which is timely and sufficient to prevent kiosks during the accidental approach without an extended flap. Contribute to the pilot's inability to recognize the problem and to take appropriate action is the failure to use the appropriate checklist and its non-standard pattern procedure resulting in a profile an abnormal approach. "
Legacy
The day after his death, before the start of four Yankees matches with the Baltimore Orioles in the Bronx, the team paid tribute to their deceased captain in a pre-match ceremony where the starters stood in their defensive positions, storing for the catcher box, which remained empty. After a prayer by Cardinal Terence Cooke, a moment of silence and "America the Beautiful" by Robert Merrill, the fans (announcing the presence of 51151) burst into applause for eight minutes. Jerry Narron, the man who replaced Munson behind the plate that night, remained in the dugout and did not enter the field until Bob Sheppard's broadcaster announcer said, "And now it's time to play ball. Thank you, lord and lady, for your cooperation."
On August 6, the entire Yankee team attended Munson's funeral in Canton. Team mate Lou Piniella and Bobby Murcer, who were good friends of Munson, gave praise at the 700 meeting at the Canton Memorial Civic Center. That night before the audience watched nationwide on ABC Night Monday Baseball, the Yankees defeated the Orioles 5-4 in New York, with Murcer driving in all five runs with a three run home run in the seventh inning and two run singles in the under the ninth.
The Yankee owner, George Steinbrenner, retired Munson number 15 immediately after the death of his captors. On September 20, 1980, a plaque dedicated to Munson's memory was placed in Monas Park. This plaque contains excerpts from inscriptions compiled by Steinbrenner and appeared on the stadium scoreboard the day after his death:
Our captain and leader have not left us, today, tomorrow, this year, next... Our efforts will reflect our love and admiration for him.
The locker used by Munson, along with a set of bronze-caught equipment, was donated to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Despite the crowded clubs, Munson's last locker position was never transferred. The empty locker next to Yankee team captain Derek Jeter, with a Munson number 15 on it, remained in tribute to Yankee's lost catcher at the original Yankee Stadium until the Stadium was closed in 2008. Munson's locker was moved in one section to the New Yankee Stadium. It is located in the New York Yankees Museum. Visitors can view the Yankees Museum on match days from when the gates open to the end of the eighth innings and during the Yankee Stadium tour. No. 15 Munson was also featured on the center wall of the field at Thurman Munson Stadium, a small league baseball stadium in Canton. Munson is buried in Sunset Hills Canton's Cemetery.
A simple one-block street at Concourse Village East and 156th Street in The Bronx was named Thurman Munson Way in 1979. Two school buildings, which housed several schools including Henry Lou Gehrig Junior High School, had been built on the street.
On August 1, 1980, the day before the first anniversary of the accident, the Yankees filed a $ 4.5 million lawsuit against Cessna Aircraft Co. and Flight Safety International, Inc. (the company that coaches Munson to fly), with team spokesman John J. McCarty saying, "We are asking for $ 4.5 million because that would be the value of Munson if the Yankees traded it." The widow of Munson, Diana, also filed a $ 42.2 million lawsuit against the two companies. Cessna offers Munson a special deal for flying lessons if she will pick it up from FlightSafety International. Instead of requiring Munson to take a two-week safety class in Kansas, FlightSafety commissioned a "traveling instructor" to go out with him, and trained him among the ballgames. The lawsuit was finally settled out of court.
Family
In September 1968, Munson married Diana Dominick at St. John's Church. John in Canton. She survived by Diana and their three children: Tracy's daughter, Kelly's daughter and Michael's son. Diana Munson threw out the first ceremonial pitch in Game 3 of the 1997 World Series in Cleveland, Ohio.
Baseball Achievement
Munson had a career of 356 average batting in the postseason with three home runs, 22 RBI and 19 runs scored. The average batting in the World Series is.373. Munson dumped 44.48% of the base runner who tried to steal the base on him, ranked 11th on the all time list.
- 1 all the time - Single in World Series, 9
- 10 all the time - Average batting by catcher,.292
- 11 all the time - Average postseason batting,.357
- 11 all the time - Caught stealing percentages
- 16th all the time - Based on the bottom percentage by catcher
- 20th all the time - OPS by catcher
- the 24th all the time - Slugging by catcher
- 26 all the time - Hits by catcher
- 26 all the time - Run by catcher
- AL Rookie of the Year (1970)
- AL MVP (1976)
- 3ÃÆ'â € "Gold Glove Award
- 3 AL Banner
- 2 World Series titles
- 7ÃÆ'â € "All Star
See also
- List of baseball players who died during their careers
- List of Major League Baseball players who spend their entire career with one franchise
References
Bibliography
External links
- Career and player information statistics from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-References, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)
- Thurman Munson's Decade of Unrivaled Excellence - Case for Induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame
- NTSB Aircraft Crash Report - possibly the cause of an investigative report on the Munson airplane accident
- The Deadball Era
- Thurman Munson in the Search of the Mausoleum
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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