Thurman Munson Memorial Era

Lore & Background

Thurman Lee Munson was born on June 7, 1947, in Akron, Ohio, to Darrell Vernon Munson and Ruth Myrna Smylie, and he was the youngest of four children. His father was a World War II veteran who became a truck driver while his mother was a homemaker. When he turned eight, the Munson family moved to nearby Canton. He was taught how to play baseball by his older brother Duane, and usually played baseball with kids Duane's age, who were four years older.

His brother left to join the United States Air Force while Thurman was a freshman in high school. Munson attended Lehman High School, where he was captain of the football, basketball, and baseball teams and was all-city and -state in all three sports. He played halfback in football, guard in basketball, and mostly shortstop in baseball. Munson switched to catcher in his senior year in order to handle the pitching prowess of his teammate, Jerome Pruett (a fifth-round draft pick of the St. Louis Cardinals in 1965 who never reached the majors).

Munson attracted scholarship offers from various colleges, and opted to attend nearby Kent State University on scholarship, where he was a teammate of pitcher and broadcaster Steve Stone. In the summer of 1967, Munson joined the Cape Cod Baseball League, where he led the Chatham A's to their first league title with a prodigious .420 batting average. In recognition of this achievement and his subsequent professional achievements, the Thurman Munson Batting Award is given each season to the league's batting champion. In 2000, Munson was named a member of the inaugural class of the Cape Cod Baseball League Hall of Fame.

Reader's Guide

Munson was selected by the Yankees with the fourth overall pick in the 1968 Major League Baseball draft. In his only full minor league season, he batted .301 with six home runs and 37 runs batted in (RBIs) for the Binghamton Triplets in their final season, and made his first appearance in Yankee Stadium in August 1968, when the Triplets came to play an exhibition game against the Yankees. He was batting .363 for the Syracuse Chiefs when he earned a promotion to the New York Yankees.

Munson made his major league debut on August 8, 1969, in the second game of a doubleheader against the Oakland Athletics. Munson went two for three with a walk, one RBI and two runs scored. Two days later, his first major league home run was the second of three consecutive home runs hit by the Yankees off Lew Krausse Jr. in a 5-1 Yankee victory over the A's. For the season, Munson batted .256 with one home run and nine RBIs. He made 97 plate appearances, but drew ten walks and had one sacrifice fly, which gave him 86 official at bats, and allowed him to go into the 1970 season still technically a rookie.

The Yankees used the pair of Jake Gibbs and Frank Fernández at catcher for most of 1969. During the off season, the Yankees dealt Fernández to the A's. Munson responded by batting .302 with seven home runs and 57 RBIs, and making 80 assists en route to receiving the 1970 American League Rookie of the Year award. Munson received his first of seven All-Star nods in 1971, catching the last two innings without an at-bat. An outstanding fielder, Munson committed only one error all season.

It occurred on June 18 against the Baltimore Orioles when opposing catcher Andy Etchebarren knocked Munson unconscious on a play at the plate, dislodging the ball. He also only allowed nine passed balls all season and caught 36 of a potential 59 base stealers for a 61% caught stealing percentage. Munson was known for his longstanding feud with Boston Red Sox counterpart Carlton Fisk. One particular incident occurred on August 1, 1973 at Fenway Park.

With the score tied at 2–2 in the top of the ninth and runners on first and third, Munson attempted to score from third on Gene Michael's missed bunt attempt. As Red Sox pitcher John Curtis let his first pitch go, Munson broke for the plate. Michael tried to bunt, and missed.