- Munson: Still loved and respected
- Reflections on Thurman by Ray Negron
- From Munson to Cory Lidle
- No. 15 for the Hall?
As I write this, the Chicago White Sox radio broadcast team are recalling Munson as an all-out player who would beat your brains out for a win. Notre Dame head football coach Charlie Weis was a catcher growing up and is describing how Munson was an influence and how he admired his toughness. If you were a runner heading home and Munson was blocking the plate, he'd ensure you'd make contact with his shin guard before applying the tag. A long-time Yankees fan who I interviewed for my feature summed it up best: There was tough and then there was "Thurman tough."
It's ironic that today, August 2, 1979, the Yankees are in Chicago playing the White Sox in the same park where Munson played his final game. Whether he's a Hall of Famer or not - my heart says yes but conventional wisdom and analysis suggests no - is immaterial. Munson is on the same level as Ruth, Gehrig, DiMaggio, Mantle, Yogi, Martin and Jackson: Yankee icons who made an impact on the field and in the hearts of fans. To this day we're still talking about them as well as plenty of others.
For me, it's back to covering the modern gang. Thursday marks the opener of a four-game showdown against the Red Sox.
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