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New York Yankees Thurman Munson. Gone 40 years ago today.

He was one of my favorite ballplayers growing up. New York Yankees, catcher, Thurman Munson died, tragically, in a plane crash, 40 years ago today.

He played 11 years in the majors. Was named rookie of the year in 1970. Won the American League MVP in 1976. Won back-to-back World series titles in '77 78. Was an 7x All-star and won three gold gloves. I've never forgotten him. Live on #15

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Permalink Reply by Steve Zarelli on August 2, 2019 at 5:44am

I distinctly recall I was watching tv with my brother, who is a Red Sox fan.

The crawl started to slowly creep across the bottom of the screen...

"NY Yankee catcher Thurm..."

My brother yelled, "Yes! Munson got traded!"

A second or two later it was clear the breaking news was not about a trade, rather Munson had been killed.

Truly shocking and tragic. Seems like yesterday.

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Permalink Reply by John Spillane on August 2, 2019 at 6:25am

I was 12 years old at the time. My Phillies were at Shea, playing a twi-night doubleheader against the Mets. It had come over the scoreboard. My mouth dropped. Between Pete Rose, being now a Phillie and the death of Lyman Bostock, not even a year before that, and now this. My emotions were pulled in so many different directions. I would remain a very distraught kid for the rest of that summer.

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Permalink Reply by CJCollector on August 2, 2019 at 9:29am

I was working the midnight shift at the time and woke up at 10PM to get ready for work and turned the TV on.

I was devastated.

RIP, Thurman.

He was on his way to being a first-ballot Hall-Of-Famer if it wasn't for that tragedy.

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Permalink Reply by Mike Shepherd on August 2, 2019 at 10:51am

Agreed, Christopher. Carlton Fisk had the longevity. I will be at Yankee Stadium this evening. I plan to represent.

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Permalink Reply by Steve Zarelli on August 2, 2019 at 11:01am

Yep. Munson and Nettles were my favorites. Two cranky guys. LOL

In Little League, everyone always wanted 9 or 15 for their uni number.

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Permalink Reply by James on August 2, 2019 at 4:22pm

I can still remember George Brett sliding into third and coming up swinging at Nettles because of something or other Nettles had allegedly done that Brett didn’t like. Of course, it seemed like Brett was always ready to fight when we played those “damn” Yankees! Lol.

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Permalink Reply by James on August 2, 2019 at 1:48pm

I was 14, just 8 days from turning 15. I was working as a laborer over the summer for my brother’s commercial masonry business (he’s 19 years older than I) in KC. I got the news at work. I remember one of the bricklayers saying, “Did you hear? Thurman Munson was killed in a plane crash?!” I was a huge Royals and George Brett fan. At the time, I pretty much hated the Yankees back then because the Royals had lost to them three straight years in 1976, 77, and 78 in the ALCS. But I still had huge respect for the Yankees and, of course, their superstar catcher, Thurman Munson. The rest of the day we were all talking about how terrible it was for his family and for baseball in general. It was a huge blow. The rest of the day was pretty somber. It was so sad that a guy so young and talented lost his life in his prime.

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Permalink Reply by terrier8HOF on August 2, 2019 at 3:46pm

very tough autograph

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Permalink Reply by Mike Shepherd on September 1, 2019 at 10:28am

I just visited the New York Yankees Museum at Yankee Stadium. They added Thurman Munson’s shin-guards to his locker, and the left shin-guard has his name signed on it. He must have done that for the purpose of identification. Very cool.