GaryMrMets
08-02-2004, 07:02 PM
It's hard to believe that Thurman Munson passed away 25 years ago.
http://yesnetwork.com/announcers/article.asp?article_id=226
Where would Thurman Munson be now?
http://yesnetwork.com/images/talent/small/pepe_head_sm.jpgBy Phil Pepe
Special to YES Network Online
July 28 2004
Hard to believe that 25 years have passed, a quarter of a century has gone by, since that horrific day of August 2, 1979; that awful day that Thurman Munson went to Akron-Canton Regional Airport, took his plane up and never came back.
It's just as hard to believe for those of us who spent so many hours around him that these days when old Yankees gather at Legends Field during spring training or at Yankee Stadium for Oldtimers Days, that old Squatty Body himself, doesn't come bursting into the clubhouse scowling and snarling and hurling insults at everyone he sees.
How would life have treated Thurman Munson during the past 25 years if he had not decided to practice takeoffs and landings on that fateful day in 1979? Or if he had been fortunate enough to walk away unscathed from the fiery crash of his Cessna Citation?
Had he lived, Munson would have turned 57 on June 7, almost a senior citizen, eligible to collect social security in just a few years. He might be a little paunchier, have a little less hair on his head, but he still would be wearing his trademark handlebar mustache, and he still would be presenting that façade of the gruff, surly, antisocial grump; all of it a mask for his insecurities.
This is one man's view of what might have transpired in Thurman Munson's life over the past quarter of a century:
WOULD HE HAVE BEEN ELECTED TO THE HALL OF FAME?
There's a good chance he would have. When his career ended so abruptly and tragically, he had played 11 seasons in the major leagues, had a lifetime average of .292, 113 home runs and 701 RBI, numbers short of Hall of Fame caliber. However, he was only 32 and while his days as a catcher were numbered, he could have played another five or six years as a combination outfielder-first baseman-DH, and almost certainly would have exceeded 200 homers (more than Hall of Famers Rick Ferrell, Ernie Lombardi, Roger Bresnahan, Mickey Cochrane, Buck Ewing and Ray Schalk), and 1,000 RBIs (more than Ferrell, Lombardi, Bresnahan, Roy Campanella, Cochrane, Ewing and Schalk). Assuming his average would have stayed around .292, it would be higher than Ferrell, Johnny Bench, Gary Carter, Carlton Fisk, Yogi Berra, Bresnahan, Campanella and Schalk.
Since Munson's death, five catchers have been elected to the Hall of Fame, Ferrell and Lombardi by the Veterans Committee, Bench, Carter and Fisk by the BBWAA. Of the 14 catchers in Cooperstown, only Fisk and Carter do not predate Munson's time in the major leagues. It is therefore logical to believe that 35 years after he broke in with the Yankees, and with so few catchers in the Hall of Fame, Munson would have been inducted.
WOULD HE AND REGGIE JACKSON HAVE BURIED THE HATCHET?
Their rift had already started being repaired when Munson was killed. There was mutual respect for each other as players and competitors, but Munson was hurt by Jackson's ill-advised "I'm the straw that stirs the drink" comments in SPORT Magazine, remarks, I believe, that Jackson has always regretted.
It was Jackson who made overtures to mend the rift by reaching out to Munson. They were never going to be great buddies and the healing was going to take time, but by now it would have been forgotten, a thing of the past.
WOULD MUNSON EVER HAVE MANAGED THE YANKEES?
Considering his penchant for giving the job to former Yankees Billy Martin, Yogi Berra, Gene Michael, Lou Piniella, Bucky Dent it's inevitable that George Steinbrenner would eventually have gotten around to naming Munson his manager. Steinbrenner had great respect and admiration for Munson as a player and a leader, and he had genuine affection for him as a man. And considering Munson's crusty and combative personality and his sensitivity, he ultimately would have been firedand rehiredand fired again.
When his career ended in the mid-1980s, Munson probably would have been made a coach, likely under Piniella. And he would have been the logical successor, instead of Dallas Green, when Piniella stepped down after the 1988 season.
Another possibility is that once fired by the Yankees, Thurman would have surfaced as manager of the Cleveland Indians, close to his home. But eventually, he would have returned to the Yankees fold, as they almost all do.
WHAT WOULD MUNSON BE DOING TODAY?
He'd be retired, spending his time flying his plane and enjoying life. And he would be a member of the Yankee family in some capacity, another old Yankee collected by Steinbrenner to perpetuate the pinstripe tradition, another old Yankee to trot out as a spring training instructor or on Opening Day, Old Timers' Day and the postseason.
Munson would be part of the pantheon of Yankees stars and Hall of Famers, along with Phil Rizzuto, Whitey Ford, Berra and Jackson, there to raise another championship flag in April.
And he'd be a regular at Old Timers' Day, bursting into the clubhouse and flinging insults at everyone he sees.
Acclaimed author Phil Pepe is a regular contributor to YES Network Online.
http://www.yesnetwork.com/images/talent_article/munson_0728.jpg
Thurman Munson was the preeminent catcher of his era.
http://yesnetwork.com/announcers/article.asp?article_id=226
Where would Thurman Munson be now?
http://yesnetwork.com/images/talent/small/pepe_head_sm.jpgBy Phil Pepe
Special to YES Network Online
July 28 2004
Hard to believe that 25 years have passed, a quarter of a century has gone by, since that horrific day of August 2, 1979; that awful day that Thurman Munson went to Akron-Canton Regional Airport, took his plane up and never came back.
It's just as hard to believe for those of us who spent so many hours around him that these days when old Yankees gather at Legends Field during spring training or at Yankee Stadium for Oldtimers Days, that old Squatty Body himself, doesn't come bursting into the clubhouse scowling and snarling and hurling insults at everyone he sees.
How would life have treated Thurman Munson during the past 25 years if he had not decided to practice takeoffs and landings on that fateful day in 1979? Or if he had been fortunate enough to walk away unscathed from the fiery crash of his Cessna Citation?
Had he lived, Munson would have turned 57 on June 7, almost a senior citizen, eligible to collect social security in just a few years. He might be a little paunchier, have a little less hair on his head, but he still would be wearing his trademark handlebar mustache, and he still would be presenting that façade of the gruff, surly, antisocial grump; all of it a mask for his insecurities.
This is one man's view of what might have transpired in Thurman Munson's life over the past quarter of a century:
WOULD HE HAVE BEEN ELECTED TO THE HALL OF FAME?
There's a good chance he would have. When his career ended so abruptly and tragically, he had played 11 seasons in the major leagues, had a lifetime average of .292, 113 home runs and 701 RBI, numbers short of Hall of Fame caliber. However, he was only 32 and while his days as a catcher were numbered, he could have played another five or six years as a combination outfielder-first baseman-DH, and almost certainly would have exceeded 200 homers (more than Hall of Famers Rick Ferrell, Ernie Lombardi, Roger Bresnahan, Mickey Cochrane, Buck Ewing and Ray Schalk), and 1,000 RBIs (more than Ferrell, Lombardi, Bresnahan, Roy Campanella, Cochrane, Ewing and Schalk). Assuming his average would have stayed around .292, it would be higher than Ferrell, Johnny Bench, Gary Carter, Carlton Fisk, Yogi Berra, Bresnahan, Campanella and Schalk.
Since Munson's death, five catchers have been elected to the Hall of Fame, Ferrell and Lombardi by the Veterans Committee, Bench, Carter and Fisk by the BBWAA. Of the 14 catchers in Cooperstown, only Fisk and Carter do not predate Munson's time in the major leagues. It is therefore logical to believe that 35 years after he broke in with the Yankees, and with so few catchers in the Hall of Fame, Munson would have been inducted.
WOULD HE AND REGGIE JACKSON HAVE BURIED THE HATCHET?
Their rift had already started being repaired when Munson was killed. There was mutual respect for each other as players and competitors, but Munson was hurt by Jackson's ill-advised "I'm the straw that stirs the drink" comments in SPORT Magazine, remarks, I believe, that Jackson has always regretted.
It was Jackson who made overtures to mend the rift by reaching out to Munson. They were never going to be great buddies and the healing was going to take time, but by now it would have been forgotten, a thing of the past.
WOULD MUNSON EVER HAVE MANAGED THE YANKEES?
Considering his penchant for giving the job to former Yankees Billy Martin, Yogi Berra, Gene Michael, Lou Piniella, Bucky Dent it's inevitable that George Steinbrenner would eventually have gotten around to naming Munson his manager. Steinbrenner had great respect and admiration for Munson as a player and a leader, and he had genuine affection for him as a man. And considering Munson's crusty and combative personality and his sensitivity, he ultimately would have been firedand rehiredand fired again.
When his career ended in the mid-1980s, Munson probably would have been made a coach, likely under Piniella. And he would have been the logical successor, instead of Dallas Green, when Piniella stepped down after the 1988 season.
Another possibility is that once fired by the Yankees, Thurman would have surfaced as manager of the Cleveland Indians, close to his home. But eventually, he would have returned to the Yankees fold, as they almost all do.
WHAT WOULD MUNSON BE DOING TODAY?
He'd be retired, spending his time flying his plane and enjoying life. And he would be a member of the Yankee family in some capacity, another old Yankee collected by Steinbrenner to perpetuate the pinstripe tradition, another old Yankee to trot out as a spring training instructor or on Opening Day, Old Timers' Day and the postseason.
Munson would be part of the pantheon of Yankees stars and Hall of Famers, along with Phil Rizzuto, Whitey Ford, Berra and Jackson, there to raise another championship flag in April.
And he'd be a regular at Old Timers' Day, bursting into the clubhouse and flinging insults at everyone he sees.
Acclaimed author Phil Pepe is a regular contributor to YES Network Online.
http://www.yesnetwork.com/images/talent_article/munson_0728.jpg
Thurman Munson was the preeminent catcher of his era.