Thurmon Munson

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Thurmon Munson

Post by GoldenOne » Fri Aug 03, 2018 9:02 am

Yesterday, 2 August, was 40 years since Thurman Munson died in a plane crash. (Interesting story from this week here.) If he had 3-5+ more years, assuming his abilities didnt drop off too much or he manages to maintain them with a switch to DH, would he be in the HOF?

For me, with a ROY, MVP (and a couple more top 10 seasons), 2 WS rings, 7 All Star games, 3 Gold Gloves, all in 10.5 seasons, all with a career .292/.346/.410, I'd put him in there. In 30 post-season games, he hit .357/.378/.496. In his 16 World Series games - .373/.417/.493!

I hate to admit it, but I was a Yankees fan in my early years. In my defense, I was from Upstate NY and it was only the Yankees and Red Sox on tv all the times. Plus, I was only 7 yo when Munson died. But, even though you had Reggie, Bucky, Willlie, Mickey, Oscar Gamble, Catfish, Guidry, Righetti, Tommy John, etc., etc. etc. to me, Thurmon Munson was the leader on those teams and was my favorite.

So, given a couple more years, he'd be in the HOF for me, definitely, whether I'm biased in my memories or not. RIP Thurmon!
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Re: Thurmon Munson

Post by Lane » Fri Aug 03, 2018 10:08 am

I'm far too young to know him for anything other than his name, but given a quick glance at his bbref page, he probably would have been borderline, especially considering he was primarily a catcher and a Yankee. HIf he played a few more productive years, then his awards and postseason play could easily have helped bolster his case.

Looking at the HOF numbers at the bottom of the bbref page, he has the peak performance relative to other catchers, and falls just 7 WAR short for career. JAWS of 41.5 compared to avg HOF C with 44.

So, I don't think you're too biased in this case!
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Re: Thurmon Munson

Post by indiansfan » Fri Aug 03, 2018 10:19 am

Now I feel really old. Thanks. I hated him as a player because he always destroyed the Indians. Remember very clearly the day he died. It was breaking news , back when breaking news mattered. He was from the Canton area and crashed at the local airport. The other 2 guys in the plane got out alive. He became a local legend after he died with stuff getting named after him and such.

I am surprised, given that his career was shortened due to death, that he didn’t get voted in the HOF like Addie Joss.
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Re: Thurmon Munson

Post by bcslouck » Fri Aug 03, 2018 10:21 am

indiansfan wrote:
Fri Aug 03, 2018 10:19 am
I am surprised, given that his career was shortened due to death, that he didn’t get voted in the HOF like Addie Joss.
I was just going to post that. Considering some of his HOF metrics being close and that his career was shortened due to death, I honestly thought he was in.
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Re: Thurmon Munson

Post by GoldenOne » Fri Aug 03, 2018 10:45 am

bcslouck wrote:
Fri Aug 03, 2018 10:21 am
indiansfan wrote:
Fri Aug 03, 2018 10:19 am
I am surprised, given that his career was shortened due to death, that he didn’t get voted in the HOF like Addie Joss.
I was just going to post that. Considering some of his HOF metrics being close and that his career was shortened due to death, I honestly thought he was in.
I was surprised to see that he never got more than 15% of the votes, and that was in his first chance. Never reached even 10% after that, but never dropped off before his chances were up.
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Re: Thurmon Munson

Post by RonCo » Fri Aug 03, 2018 11:48 am

Munson was a guy who was more than his numbers, too. Take into account that he played in an era where runs were more scare and you get a pretty interesting case.
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Re: Thurmon Munson

Post by indiansfan » Fri Aug 03, 2018 12:12 pm

RonCo wrote:
Fri Aug 03, 2018 11:48 am
Munson was a guy who was more than his numbers, too. Take into account that he played in an era where runs were more scare and you get a pretty interesting case.
He was really the leader on that team.
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Re: Thurmon Munson

Post by RonCo » Fri Aug 03, 2018 12:19 pm

indiansfan wrote:
Fri Aug 03, 2018 12:12 pm
RonCo wrote:
Fri Aug 03, 2018 11:48 am
Munson was a guy who was more than his numbers, too. Take into account that he played in an era where runs were more scare and you get a pretty interesting case.
He was really the leader on that team.
Yes. A team can be rowdy and raucous as long as it has someone to point that energy in the right direction. Munson seemed to be the glue that held it together.
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Re: Thurmon Munson

Post by agrudez » Fri Aug 03, 2018 1:57 pm

I thought this was going to be about the movie King Pin.
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Re: Thurmon Munson

Post by recte44 » Fri Aug 03, 2018 2:56 pm

As long as Ted Simmons isn’t in the Hall it’s hard for me to consider other catchers.

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Re: Thurmon Munson

Post by GoldenOne » Fri Aug 03, 2018 3:10 pm

:plus1:
recte44 wrote:
Fri Aug 03, 2018 2:56 pm
As long as Ted Simmons isn’t in the Hall it’s hard for me to consider other catchers.
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Re: Thurmon Munson

Post by RonCo » Fri Aug 03, 2018 3:12 pm

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Re: Thurmon Munson

Post by RonCo » Fri Aug 03, 2018 3:17 pm

Among the things I love about that video clip in the news article is how he walks off the field turning his hat around. No helmet.
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Re: Thurmon Munson

Post by felipe » Fri Aug 03, 2018 7:36 pm

Bill Freehan!

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Re: Thurmon Munson

Post by Lane » Wed Aug 08, 2018 4:32 pm

Ashley MacLennan just wrote a piece about HOF catcher snubs that includes Thurman Munson:

https://www.fangraphs.com/tht/cant-catc ... -catchers/
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Re: Thurmon Munson

Post by RonCo » Thu Aug 09, 2018 11:00 pm

Great article.
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Re: Thurmon Munson

Post by recte44 » Mon Dec 09, 2019 8:45 am

recte44 wrote:
Fri Aug 03, 2018 2:56 pm
As long as Ted Simmons isn’t in the Hall it’s hard for me to consider other catchers.
And now I need to find my next HOF cause. Congrats Ted!!!!

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