Thurman

He wasn't about glamour. This is the essence of Thurman Munson

It was August 1, 1979, and the Yankees were in Chicago.

The Bombers beat the White Sox 9-1 to improve to ten games over .500. Reggie Jackson, Lou Piniella, and Jerry Narron homered to back the pitching of Don Hood (remember him?).

It was the last time we'd ever see Thurman Munson.

Thurman, the captain of the team who was in the conversation of '70s catchers with Johnny Bench and Carlton Fisk, walked in the first after Bobby Murcer had singled and been caught stealing. Munson -- Thurm, Tugboat -- scored on Jackson's home run.

I was watching at home (what a shock) on WPIX-TV. My first memory was how weird it was to see Munson play first base.

With one out in the third, Munson stepped to the plate. Phil Rizzuto and Frank Messer had the call.


Munson would leave the game after the at-bat. He told Jerry Narron to expect more playing time behind the plate, as the 32-year-old was pretty banged up.

A night earlier Munson, Piniella, and Murcer went back to the apartment that Bobby and Kay had in Chicago. Murcer had been with the Cubs until June when a minor trade sent him back to New York.

The friends talked and laughed, with the Murcers eventually retreating to bed. Piniella and Munson sat and talked hitting until the wee hours.

After the Wednesday game, the Murcers drove Thurman to the airport and watched him fly away on the Cessna Citation I/SP jet that he'd recently bought.

The consummate family man, Tugboat wanted to get back to Canton to be with Diana and their three kids.

Thursday, August 2, 1979, was an off day for the Yankees. Thurman went back to the Akron-Canton airport to practics takeoffs and landings. On his third run, he brought the plane in too low.  The plane came down roughly 1000 feet from the runway, just off of Greensburg Road where it hit a tree stump and burst into flames.

His two passengers -- instructor Dave Hall and friend Jerry Anderson -- were able to get off the plane with injuries that weren't life-threatening. Munson was trapped. He had broken his neck.

He died of asphyxiation.

He was 32.

Word quickly spread. For some reason, I remember it being around 4:30 while I was watching channel 5 (WNEW) in New York. I remember anchor John Roland being the one who delivered the news.

I remember being stunned. I was 10. This was different. My first reaction was to run to my room and look at my Yankees Yearbooks (a collection that I had of all years from the 70s until the early 2000s.

I just wanted to look at a picture of him and process what I had learned.

Baseball went on. The Yankees lost both Friday and Saturday before winning Sunday's game. Munson was buried on Monday and played that night on national TV in what's become known as "The Bobby Murcer Game."

Another story for another time.

While thinking about Thurman today, and knowing I wanted to talk about it on Doubleheader, I stumbled on this amazing piece of audio. It ran on WMCA in New York during the Mets/Phillies game played on August 2 at Shea Stadium. Ralph Kiner and Bob Murphy are the Hall of Fame voices. There are also news reports from ABC and CBS at the back end of this file. (File courtesy of YouTube user ericpaddon).

A year later, a plaque was placed in Monument Park at Yankee Stadium. Former teammates Murcer, Piniella, and Gene Michael were there, as well as Diana Munson. The words on it read:

Thurman Munson

New York Yankees

June 7, 1947-August 2, 1979

Our captain and leader has not left us, today, tomorrow, this year, next

Our endeavors will reflect our love and admiration for him.

Erected by the New York Yankees

September 20, 1980

His locker still exists. After leaving it in the locker room at the old Stadium, it moved across the street, where it now resides in the museum.

It took a long time to move on from it.

For some of us who lived it, even as fans, it still hurts.

Forty years later.