Read Munson: The Life and Death of a Yankee Captain Online
Authors: Marty Appel
Munson: The Life and Death of a Yankee Captain (45 page)
Akron-Canton Airport is a busy mid-sized airport with no indication that a nationally covered tragedy once took place there. The field through which the doomed jet bounced is free of trees and
free of the stump that prevented Munson from surviving. In the operations office sits a black binder with an index card on the cover that says, “Munson Crash, Aug 2, 1979,” containing the NTSB report, photos, and other ephemera from that day. On Greenburg Road, near where the jet came to a halt, the pavement seems discolored and scarred, as though repaired. One can’t be sure if this is residue from the awful event.
The Civic Center is much as it was at the time of the funeral.
Thurman’s boyhood home on Frazer is occupied by another family that knows of its historic connection, and occasionally deals with people stopping by for a photo. Lehman High is now a middle school but the football field on which Thurman starred is still as it was, extending along Fourteenth Street NW.
There was some talk after Thurman’s death of a movie based on the autobiography that we did together, and we did in fact sell an option, but it never came to be. Talk would arise every now and then of what an interesting subject it would be, but it did not materialize. In the meantime, the YES Network produced a series of “Yankee-ographies” in the 2000s, with Munson’s being one of the most popular and most repeated. On anniversaries of the accident—the first, the fifth, the fifteenth, the twentieth, the twenty-fifth—there would be columns written about him and television reports about him. Diana Munson was always gracious in welcoming reporters into her home for interviews, and she would drive them to the grave site so that they could see it for themselves. She was always greeted by a thunderous ovation at Yankee Stadium. On the twentieth anniversary in 1999, home plate was again left empty during the national anthem, and then Diana went to the mound, Joe Girardi squatted behind the plate, and to great cheers, she threw him a strike. Coaches Willie Randolph, Mel Stottlemyre, and Chris Chambliss escorted her back into the dugout, while young Jorge Posada maintained a loving applause.
Navy blue Yankee T-shirts with the name
MUNSON
and the number 15 on the back were always good sellers at Yankee Stadium souvenir stands, and they tended to be found on somewhat overweight middle-aged men.
My son Brian was born on September 18, 1979, about six weeks after the accident. Diana had always asked about how we were doing and sent a congratulatory message despite all that was going on in her life. Coward, McCann and Geoghegan, the publisher of the autobiography, asked me to write a concluding chapter about the accident, and rushed out a memorial edition of the book. The Book-of-the-Month Club made it a featured book almost immediately. It reached best-seller status on a few lists, and a paperback edition, never planned but originally hoped for by Thurman, was issued a year later.
Young fans in the sixties had Mickey Mantle as an idol; in the seventies they had Thurman, and in the eighties, when Brian became a baseball fan, they had Don Mattingly, who became his hero. In the nineties Derek Jeter came along. There was something about the Yankees’ always producing just the right man for the times, someone who really connected with their fans.
Bill James, SABR, and fantasy leagues all came along after Thurman’s career, but in James’s
Historical Baseball Abstract
, updated in 2001, he ranked Thurman as the fourteenth-best catcher in history, behind Yogi Berra, Johnny Bench, Roy Campanella, Mickey Cochrane, Mike Piazza, Carlton Fisk, Bill Dickey, Gary Carter, Gabby Hartnett, Ted Simmons, Joe Torre, Bill Freehan, and Ivan Rodriguez, with Elston Howard fifteenth.
At the time of his death, Thurman owned apartments and an office building in Canton, and real estate estimated to be worth about $1.5 million, according to Jerry Anderson. Diana completed one of his transactions after he died, and later sold most of his holdings, including his piece of the Belden Village mall property. She held on
to the office building, which provided a cash flow for her, as well as property in Boca Raton, Florida.
Would Thurman have managed the Yankees? There can hardly be any doubt that the offer would have come. Steinbrenner absolutely respected him as a leader, as a “true Yankee,” and as a great baseball mind. While he was running through Dick Howser, Gene Michael, Bob Lemon, Michael again, Clyde King, Billy Martin (again), Yogi Berra, Billy Martin (again), Lou Piniella, Billy Martin (again), Lou Piniella (again), Dallas Green, Bucky Dent, Stump Merrill, Buck Showalter, Joe Torre, and Joe Girardi, it seems clear that Thurman’s turn would have come up. Unless, of course, he was managing elsewhere (Cleveland?), or making so much money outside baseball that his desire to resume the travel would have made him say no.
It was reported that Steinbrenner told Munson, during spring training of 1979, “Learn everything you can, because you’re going to be my manager someday.”
“Thurman would’ve been thrilled with that because no matter what anyone else said, he really loved the Yankees,” says Diana.
If he was among those who returned each year for Old-Timers’ Day, you can be sure he would have been right there with all the beloved Yankee immortals, getting the biggest ovations. One can almost see him, probably a little overweight, chugging out to the first base line to slap hands with old buddies like Murcer and Nettles, Piniella, Randolph, Rivers, Chambliss, Guidry, White, Lyle, Gossage, and yes, Reggie Jackson. And someone would have taken a photo of him with Derek Jeter—Yankee captains, then and now—Jeter, respectful, calling him Mr. Munson, and Thurman, playfully tapping Jeter on the back of his neck, the symbols of two very different dynasties, one succeeding by overcoming conflict to rise to the top, the other succeeding in an era of peace and harmony
in the clubhouse of Joe Torre. Jeter’s locker is next to Munson’s.
Or perhaps some poor Yankee publicist would scramble to get a photo of Yankee captains Munson, Nettles, Guidry, Randolph, Mat-tingly, and Jeter … only to find Munson in the TV lounge watching the Three Stooges.
For assistance and support in completing this book, I would like to thank Brian Appel, Deborah Appel, Irv Appel, Katie Appel, Norm Appel, Steve Berman, Rob Bloom, Terry Cashman, Gloria Coleman, David Corcoron, Pearl Davis, Mike DeMarco, Paul Doherty, Mark Durand, Joe Fosina, John Frew, Dick Friedman, Joe Grippo, David Hall, Jane Hamilton, Dr. Stuart Hershon, Erik Jensen, Doubleday’s fine editor Jason Kaufman, Mark Kriegel, Bowie Kuhn, Dr. Judith Kuriansky, Jane Leavy, Jeffrey Lyons, Lourdes Magbanua, Rich Marazzi, Matt Merola, Juliet Papa, Dale Petroskey, Jorge Posada, Sy Preston, Pete Quagliarini, Louis Requena, Frank Russo, Al Santasiere, Dom Scala, Steve Schanwald, Art Shamsky, David Smith, Mark Stamos, Rusty Staub, Arthur Toretzky, Lonn Trost, Dewey Wigod, my agent Rob Wilson, Paul Winfield, and Jason Zillo.
I joined the Yankee front office in 1968, the year Thurman Munson was drafted out of Kent State, and I then had the privilege of enjoying a front-row seat for most of his career. When I left the Yankees early in 1977, I remained close to Thurman, collaborating with him on his autobiography, and keeping in touch with the teammates from the teams now identified as from
The Bronx Zoo
and
The Bronx Is Burning
years.
Many of the scenes here were re-created from my memory. When you have such remarkable access to the team you grew up rooting for, you pay attention. Whether I was in the clubhouse, in George Steinbrenner’s office, or on a team flight, it all stayed in my mind in great detail.
It took some hunting, but we were able to go beyond the subjects Thurman wanted to cover in his autobiography, and thanks to able researchers at the
Daily News
in New York, we found his brother Duane Munson in Georgia and then his sister Darla Day in Canton, whose cooperation opened the doors to the period of Thurman’s
life he chose to skim over in that book. Darla graciously provided a guided tour to all the homes, schools, and landmarks in Canton that were part of Thurman’s life.
In addition, many classmates from his early years and on through his college years came forward with stories that helped paint the picture of the future star in development. These included Ed Baird, Bob Belden, Randy Benson, Randy Board, Billy Bor, Robert Forshione, John Frobose, Terry Fudin, Steve Greenberg, George Greer, Bob Henderson, Susan Hines Leanues, Joe Kociubes, Glen Lautzenhiser, Tim Lewis, Jim Lurie, Lenny May, Tom Palbu, Jerome Pruett, Ken Rhyne, Earl Rodd, Steve Saradnik, Gregg Schorsten, Bill Shearer, Bonnie Eyessen Steenrod, Steve Stone, Bobby Valentine, Susie Wilson, and Tom Wilson.
While Diana Munson did not play an active interview role in this, she and I have shared stories for nearly forty years, and through her close friend Joanne Murray a number of facts related to years, addresses, and the like were able to be double-checked.
Among Thurman’s professional teammates, some have told their stories in other books, as shown in the bibliography, and others were freshly interviewed for this project, including Ron Blomberg, Chris Chambliss, Ed Figueroa, Ron Guidry, Fran Healy, Ken Holtzman, Reggie Jackson, Jim Kaat, Sparky Lyle, Tippy Martinez, Gene Michael, trainer Gene Monahan, Bobby Murcer, Graig Nettles, Fritz Peterson, Lou Piniella, Willie Randolph, Mickey Rivers, Mickey Scott, Mel Stottlemyre, Ron Swoboda, and Roy White. Some player wives who were very helpful included Gretchen Randolph, Audra Chambliss, Kay Murcer, and Mara Blomberg Young. Billy Joe Martin shared memories of his father, Billy.
Baseball officials and media who had interesting reflections included Seth Abraham, Maury Allen, Jimmy Bank, Peter Bavasi, Sy Berger, Howard Berk, Art Berke, Ira Berkow, Hal Bock, Rick Cerrone, Jim Charlton, Murray Chass, Wayne Coffey, Dennis
D’Agostino, Joe D’Ambrosio, David Fisher, Rob Franklin, Joe Garagiola Jr., Joe Garagiola Sr., Rick Gentile, Pat Gillick, Ross Greenburg, Michael Grossbardt, Bill Guilfoile, Henry Hecht, Jeff Idelson, Steve Jacobson, Dave Kaplan, Jerry Kirshenbaum, Dennis Lewin, Lee Lowenfish, Bruce Lowitt, Lee MacPhail, Bill Madden, Loren Mathews, Jack McKeon, Leigh Montville, Mickey Morabito, Tony Morante, Gerry Murphy, Herschel Nissenson, Marty Noble, Keith Olbermann, Phil Pepe, Arthur Pincus, Gary Pomerantz, Jay Rosen-stein, Spencer Ross, Bill Shannon, Corky Simpson, Tal Smith, Ted Spencer, Tom Villante, Larry Wahl, Michael Weissman, Bill White, and Pat Williams.
There were “off the field” friends in addition to his long-running friendships with the Canton residents he maintained contact with, including Phil Castinetti, Jack Danzis, Carmine DeNoia, Elliott Pollak, Bob Solomon, and the sons of Nat Tarnopol—Mark Solomon and Paul Tarnopol—who remembered the years Thurman lived with them.
The coverage of the accident and its aftermath in the
New York Times
, New York’s
Daily News
, the
New York Post, Newsday
, the
Canton Repository
, the
Cleveland Plain Dealer
, WCBS-TV, WNBC-TV, WABC-TV, WNEW-TV, WPIX-TV, and WINS radio was extensive and valuable, along with wire service coverage from the Associated Press and United Press International. We filled in some gaps with stories from the
Washington Post
and
Chicago Tribune
, and the
Tucson Citizen
reported on Thurman’s father a few weeks after the accident. The YES Network’s
Yankeeography
about Munson and ESPN’s twenty-fifth-anniversary coverage were valuable, as was ABC Sports’ coverage of the game the night of the funeral.
Statistics, cross-references, and assorted facts were found all over the Internet, but these sites were especially useful:
Wikipedia.com
,
Retrosheet.org
,
Baseball-reference.com
,
Baseball-almanac.com
,
VoteThurmanIn.com
,
thedeadballera.com
, and
Aviation-safety.net.
Sports Illustrated
and
Sport
magazine were also consulted.
Craig Hunter of the
New York Times
, a pilot, graciously gave me an afternoon to go through the accident report of the National Transportation Safety Board, and simulate, as I sat on his right, what the cockpit experience would have been like. Jerry Anderson, who was aboard the actual flight, gave me a great deal of time and guidance, and his ESPN interview from 2004 was provided to me by producer Willie Weinbaum, with Jerry’s blessing. Don Armen, Marion Rossi, and Adam Rossi, Jr., aided in compiling the facts in this portion of the book.
In addition, we went to the many hours of tapes that Thurman recorded for the autobiography project in 1977 to hear him tell his story in his own voice.
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