My Take
Thurman Munson is one of those players who makes you genuinely sad that baseball history cut him so short. He was the heart and soul of those late-70s Yankees dynasty teams — a gritty, blue-collar catcher from Akron who earned every bit of his 1976 AL MVP and those Gold Gloves through sheer competitive fire. His .292 career average, 701 RBIs, and seven All-Star selections in just eleven seasons tell only part of the story; the man was the kind of leader teammates followed without question. He was named the Yankees' first captain since Lou Gehrig, and that says everything. When he died in a plane crash on August 2, 1979, at just 32 years old, baseball lost one of its most compelling figures mid-prime. What he might have become is the real tragedy.
Overview
Thurman Lee Munson (June 7, 1947 – August 2, 1979) was an American professional baseball catcher who played 11 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the New York Yankees, from 1969 until his death in 1979. A seven-time All-Star, Munson had a career batting average of .292 with 113 home runs and 701 runs batted in (RBIs).
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Thurman Munson
- Name (Japanese)
- サーマン・マンソン
- Reading
- さーまん・まんそん
- Born
- June 7, 1947 – August 2, 1979
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Gemini / Boar
- Origin
- Akron, Ohio, United States
- Blood type
- Private
- Height
- Private
- Agency
- Private
- Occupation
- baseball player
2. Background
- Elementary school
- Private
- Junior high
- Private
- High school
- Private
- University
- Kent State University
Awards & achievements
- Rawlings Gold Glove Award
- 1976 Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player Award
3. Relationships
- Spouse
- Private
- Children
- Private
- Parents
- Private
- Siblings
- Private
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.