Will Thurman Munson ever be elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame?

llafoe · January 23, 2013 8:06AM

Inquiring Larry's want to know!

jackstraw · January 23, 2013 8:08AM

I think he should.

Ironmanfan · January 23, 2013 8:24AM

Hall of Decent

IMF

Stone193 · January 23, 2013 8:57AM

ROY, 1976 AL MVP, 7 AS games (10 full years), 3 Gold Gloves, really good post-season performance, 2 WS rings (3 appearances)

Not bad - but does his overall "stats" match up to other catcher HOF'ers?

lostdart58 · January 23, 2013 9:18AM

Hall of Lousy Signer.

mattinglymint23 · January 23, 2013 9:26AM

Should be but won't because he was a Yankee and didn't have enough productive years (just anticipating the comments we will get here)
But like mattingly his number is hanging up where it counts.

larryallen73 · January 23, 2013 9:35AM

He should be. Not his fault he died. My recollection is he was still at the top of his game when he died.

dtkk49a · January 23, 2013 9:44AM

If he deserves to be in, so do a lot of other players. He was the Yankee captain, but I don't know if that was enough to keep him as a Yankee once his contract expired. We will never know if he would have signed with Cleveland once his contract with the Yankees ended. He was not a Steinbrenner fan to say the least. He hated Reggie and he hated New York. That's why he was learning how to fly - so that he could fly back to Ohio when he wasn't playing.

That being said, he is still one of my favorite players and I have a bunch of his cards, including a bunch of PSA graded 71's

VitoCo1972 · January 23, 2013 10:38AM

His case gets worse every year. Sabermetrics would tell you that a .756 career OPS out of a power position isn't HOF worthy. Even his MVP year is (using modern stats) one of the weakest ever. George Brett led the league in hits, total bases, triples and batting average that year and his OPS was 80 points higher on a team that won it's division. I would argue that Munson wouldn't have won the award if he didn't play in NYC.

Hank36 · January 23, 2013 11:00AM

<< He should be. Not his fault he died. My recollection is he was still at the top of his game when he died. >>

I'm not so sure about that--he was 32, his offense had fallen off the year before, his knees were in pretty bad shape, and many agree that he wanted to be traded to Cleveland.

The thing with Munson is that he was worshipped by his teammates and detested by the media, which was likely a major factor in his not getting voted in during his initial period of eligibility. I certainly think he deserves to be in Cooperstown, although much of what made him great are the intagible things that don't show up in a line of stats.

GB5HOF · January 23, 2013 11:09AM

He never received more than 16% of the HOF vote in any of his 15 years on the ballot. No way he ever gets in.

He's Bill Freehan in pinstripes.

gemint · January 23, 2013 11:54AM

<< He never received more than 16% of the HOF vote in any of his 15 years on the ballot. No way he ever gets in.

He's Bill Freehan in pinstripes. >>

I agree with this, though slightly better than Freehan. He likely was past his prime when he died. Had he played out the string, he may have had 4-5 more seasons with mediocre production. That resume probably would not get him in. The only thing he has going for him is his position which traditionally hasn't been stacked with great hitters.

NVbaseball · January 23, 2013 12:27PM

<< He should be. Not his fault he died. My recollection is he was still at the top of his game when he died. >>

His slugging percentage and extra-base hits fell but a huge amount after he turned 30, his strikeout rate increased significantly. Hard to see that reversing as he continued to age

Joe Torre was far better and more deserving even without his success as a manager. Ted Simmons was definitely better. Bill Freehan is a good comparison, but the Tigers catcher ended up with a better career

orioles93 · January 23, 2013 12:31PM

very good, but not good enough for the hall.

royalbrett · January 23, 2013 1:05PM

<< His case gets worse every year. Sabermetrics would tell you that a .756 career OPS out of a power position isn't HOF worthy. Even his MVP year is (using modern stats) one of the weakest ever. George Brett led the league in hits, total bases, triples and batting average that year and his OPS was 80 points higher on a team that won it's division. I would argue that Munson wouldn't have won the award if he didn't play in NYC. >>

It has finally been recognized. Brett should have won at least two MVP awards. One could make the case for '76, '79, and for sure 1985.

Estil · January 23, 2013 2:12PM

<< Should be but won't because he was a Yankee and didn't have enough productive years (just anticipating the comments we will get here)
But like mattingly his number is hanging up where it counts. >>

As I've said before, Mattingly was literally one year short. Just one more year and he'd have his championship (not to mention the 1994 strike missing him a probable second title). Then he would've had no trouble getting into Cooperstown.

pclpads · January 23, 2013 3:00PM

<< He never received more than 16% of the HOF vote in any of his 15 years on the ballot. No way he ever gets in.

He's Bill Freehan in pinstripes. >>

+1 Being Yankee Capt. got Rizzuto in so there is always an outside chance. But if he played in Milwaukee or KC, we wouldn't be having this discussion.

jeffcbay · January 23, 2013 3:03PM

<< He should be. Not his fault he died. My recollection is he was still at the top of his game when he died. >>

Fun fact, I drive right past the spot where his plane crashed every day to and from work. Yay.

dennis07 · January 24, 2013 6:41AM

"Not his fault he died."

Unfortunately that statement is debatable

Thurman L. Munson, Cessna Citation 501, N15NY
Canton, Ohio
August 2, 1979

NTSB Number: AAR-80-02

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Executive Summary
About 1602 e.d.t., on August 2, 1979, a Cessna Citation piloted by Mr.Thurman L. Munson crashed short of runway 19 at the Akron-Canton Airport near Canton, Ohio. The pilot was practicing touch-and-go landings during a local flight with two passengers aboard. The aircraft first touched down in a relatively level, clear area about 870 f t short of the runway. The aircraft slid through a small clump of trees, hit a large stump, and came to rest on a road adjacent to the airport boundary fence. Fire erupted immediately after the aircraft came to rest. The two passengers escaped from the wreckage; the pilot was killed.

Probable Cause
The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of the accident was the pilot's failure to recognize the need for, and to take action to maintain, sufficient airspeed to prevent a stall into the ground during an attempted landing. The pilot also failed to recognize the need for timely and sufficient power application to prevent the stall during an approach conducted inadvertently without flaps extended. Contributing to the pilot's inability to recognize the problem and to take proper action was his failure to use the appropriate checklist and his nonstandard pattern procedures which resulted in an abnormal approach profile.

shagrotn77 · January 24, 2013 6:51AM

You could make a strong case either way. That he's gained so little attention from the voters, though, leads me to believe that he'll never get in.

jeffcbay · January 24, 2013 8:31AM

<< "Not his fault he died."

Unfortunately that statement is debatable

Thurman L. Munson, Cessna Citation 501, N15NY
Canton, Ohio
August 2, 1979

NTSB Number: AAR-80-02

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Executive Summary
About 1602 e.d.t., on August 2, 1979, a Cessna Citation piloted by Mr.Thurman L. Munson crashed short of runway 19 at the Akron-Canton Airport near Canton, Ohio. The pilot was practicing touch-and-go landings during a local flight with two passengers aboard. The aircraft first touched down in a relatively level, clear area about 870 f t short of the runway. The aircraft slid through a small clump of trees, hit a large stump, and came to rest on a road adjacent to the airport boundary fence. Fire erupted immediately after the aircraft came to rest. The two passengers escaped from the wreckage; the pilot was killed.

Probable Cause
The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of the accident was the pilot's failure to recognize the need for, and to take action to maintain, sufficient airspeed to prevent a stall into the ground during an attempted landing. The pilot also failed to recognize the need for timely and sufficient power application to prevent the stall during an approach conducted inadvertently without flaps extended. Contributing to the pilot's inability to recognize the problem and to take proper action was his failure to use the appropriate checklist and his nonstandard pattern procedures which resulted in an abnormal approach profile. >>

When the plane came to rest on the two-lane roadway (Greensburg Road), Munson was conscious and even asked the other two guys if they were okay. Munson's legs were pinned, and his neck was broken. The guys tried to get him out but the plane was filling with thick black smoke and they had to exit the plane. The plane became fully engulfed and he was killed by the fire. Sad story. One of his sons still lives around here and even owned a bar in town for a while (called Munson's) but it closed a few years ago.

nightcrawler · January 24, 2013 8:51AM

<< Munson was conscious and even asked the other two guys if they were okay. >>

That's the reason he's my favorite all time ball player. And one of the reasons I feel he should be in the Hall Of Fame also.

Anyone who's burning to death and his only concern is for his friends gets my vote for greatest guy ever.

RIP Thurman.

jeffcbay · January 24, 2013 8:56AM

<< 

<< Munson was conscious and even asked the other two guys if they were okay. >>

That's the reason he's my favorite all time ball player. And one of the reasons I feel he should be in the Hall Of Fame also.

Anyone who's burning to death and his only concern is for his friends gets my vote for greatest guy ever.

RIP Thurman.

>>

True dat... here is a video about it: Youtubes

jackstraw · January 24, 2013 10:18AM

I loved Munson and I can remember the exact spot I was when I heard the news.
That being said I heard he was a little harsh or a lot harsh to others? Someone
told a story about an autograph hunt year in and year out and Munson would never sign
for the kid and one year as he was getting on the bus the kid ran up and as Munson looked at
him he snorted a huge loogy and spat at his feet.........

fkw · January 25, 2013 7:04AM

NO!

Will Thurman Munson ever be elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame?

Comments