E18: The Legacy of Thurman Munson & Billy Joel Baseball Trivia

You can learn a lot about a team by the player it chooses to follow when things get loud. For my birthday special, I bring on my son Griffin Dynes (calling in from Denver) to talk about the toughest kind of baseball greatness: the quiet, gruff, unglamorous leadership of Yankees catcher and captain Thurman Munson.

We start with a quick New York detour through Billy Joel and a trivia question from “We Didn’t Start The Fire,” then we get to the heart of the story. Munson is the spine of the 1970s New York Yankees, a catcher who wins AL Rookie of the Year, takes home the 1976 AL MVP, earns Gold Gloves, and delivers huge postseason numbers on the way to the 1977 and 1978 World Series titles. We dig into what made him different from the flashier stars of the era, and why his style still feels like the definition of “captain.”

Griffin and Jerry also get into the rivalries that shaped Munson’s reputation: the Johnny Bench comparisons, the brutal Carlton Fisk clashes from an era when collisions at home plate were part of the sport’s identity, and the famous Reggie Jackson “straw that stirs the drink” quote that sparked real clubhouse tension. Then we tackle the question Yankees fans keep asking: with his accolades and impact, why is Thurman Munson still not in the Baseball Hall of Fame, and what do modern comps like Buster Posey mean for that debate?

We close with the hardest part of his story, the 1979 tragedy, and the powerful ways the Yankees honored him, from retiring number 15 to preserving his locker. If you care about baseball history, Yankees legends, and what real leadership looks like behind the plate, this one is for you. Subscribe, share the episode with a baseball fan, and leave us a review telling us where you land on Munson’s Hall of Fame case.

Email us at fungosandfastballs@gmail.com

Transcript

Birthday Setup And Guest Intro

Jerry 0:00

Hello, listeners, and welcome to a very special episode today of Fungos and Fastballs. Well, special for me, at least, because to reference the Beatles, Selena Gomez, and Fitty Set, it's my birthday. Well, it's not really my birthday, that's tomorrow. But a day earlier we are dropping my birthday episode, and as such, I get to pamper myself and treat myself to special things. And one of those things is having a special guest today, my son Griffin Dines, calling in from Denver to discuss a very special player that we'll reveal later. Hey Griff, thanks for coming. Hey, glad to be here, especially on such a special occasion. Minus one day.

unknown 0:42

Yeah.

Jerry 0:45

Well, if you've been following this podcast for the past 10 weeks of our existence, I try not to put it out there, but you probably have guessed, don't hold it against me, that I am a New York Yankees fan. You see our jerseys on today. And but I really have been trying to avoid Yankee-related topics for the most part, do a balanced podcast, cover a lot of different teams and players. And hey, if we haven't gotten to your favorite player or team yet, send us a message. But we will, I promise. But today, as I said, is my day. So we are going to cover a very special player from my youth, my favorite player growing up, actually. But first, before we get to him, I thought we'd have a little fun. The entire Dynes family, including my wife and producer, who's always here. There she is. Brooke.

SPEAKER_02 1:39

Hello.

Jerry 1:40

Is a very musical family, and we are going to have some fun.

Billy Joel Trivia And Baseball Clues

Jerry 1:44

And uh since we are talking about a New York team and will be going to New York again in the summer, we're going to talk about a musician associated with NYC, Billy Joel. I think I know the official answer. Billy's a little coy because he tries to be very supportive of New York in general. But do you guys want to take a guess who his favorite team is? Yankees, Mets, a non-Yankee, non-New York team?

SPEAKER_01 2:11

I would say between the Yankees and Mets, my guess would be the Yankees, due to him having probably a good taste in baseball.

Jerry 2:20

Well, don't alienate our Mets listeners.

SPEAKER_02 2:23

I might go for the Mets because Billy lives out on Long Island and it's a little closer than coming into Yankee Stadium.

Jerry 2:30

I think he does reference them in on in what is it? I think Stiletto, with he says, Pete Rose, Rosie knows you're such a credit to the game, but the Yankees grab the headlines every time. My understanding is that when he was young, he and his family were Brooklyn Dodger fans. Of course, the Dodgers left there in the 50s. And after that, he did kind of jump shift for the Yankees a little while, but as many Brooklyn Dodgers fans did when the Mets started up.

SPEAKER_02 3:02

Well Marvelous Marv. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

Jerry 3:04

Oh, we did have an episode on Marvelous Marv at the six story degrees of fungos and fastballs. He jumped to the Mets. So I think he leans a little more towards the Mets.

unknown 3:16

Okay.

Jerry 3:16

So we're going to have a little fun, as I mentioned. And because this is the podcast of baseball history and trivia, we're going to start a trivia question about the piano man. And that is he has an 89 song, 1989, We Didn't Start the Fire. And listeners, I hope you know it. But if not, Billy basically goes through about 118 historical and pop culture references. I've always joked one could totally get an expertise in the Cold War era if you read up on each of those references. I think there's actually a podcast that does one every episode. And we're going to say then, the question is in that song, how many baseball references are there? You want to get you want to guess a number?

SPEAKER_02 4:07

All right, so Griff, we'll work together on this.

Jerry 4:11

I think Brooke is ominously over my over my shoulder, probably looking at the answers. You've gotten two, yeah. Joe DiMaggio and Mickey Mannel. There's your m Yankee references, so one could be fooled into thinking about Billy Joel and the Yankees.

SPEAKER_01 4:35

I wouldn't know the other references off the top of my head. Not the biggest fan of the song per se. But but I'm gonna go with since I don't think there's just two, I'm gonna say my guess for four baseball references. Or smaller.

Jerry 4:50

You gotta guess guess, Brooke?

SPEAKER_02 4:52

Who's Johnny Ray in the song?

Jerry 4:54

Johnny Ray was a singer.

unknown 4:55

Okay.

Jerry 4:56

Oh man, now you're testing my knowledge in other fields besides baseball.

SPEAKER_02 4:59

Now you're distracting me. I think four sounds better.

Jerry 5:04

Harry Truman Doreste, Red China, Johnny. You like four? A very solid guess. Yes, yes.

SPEAKER_02 5:12

On the side.

Jerry 5:14

A very solid guess. There are actually five five. You got Joe DiMaggio, the great Dodgers catcher, Roy Campanella. He does say Brooklyn's got a winning team, referring to that 1955 Dodgers win over the Yankees. Seven-game World Series. Brooklyn's got a winning team, yeah. No, I didn't say players. I said baseball rapper. You heard me, fans. Mickey Mandel, of course, you got. And then the last one, California baseball, which referred, of course, to the move of both the New York Giants, New York baseball Giants, and the Brooklyn Dodgers following the 57 baseball season. That was not the first move west by teams. The Boston Braves had moved all south to Milwaukee, well, yes, west to Milwaukee in 53 before eventually going to Atlanta. Philadelphia Athletics had moved to Kansas City in 55, of course, in the late 60s, moving to Oakland. But he's referring to the Dodgers and the Giants. So five. So a little fun, a little fun we're having there. Hope you played a laund at home. If you don't know the song, that's a shame. It's a fun song. I'm not a big fan of the Fallout extension, the Fallout Boy song, where they redo it, but they use modern references, although they did have one baseball reference, the 2016 Chicago Cubs World Series. So with that in mind, let's start the episode today.

Meeting Thurman Munson The Captain

Jerry 6:45

Hello, and welcome to Fungos and Fastballs, the podcast of baseball history and trivia. I'm your host, Jerry Dines. Let's jump into today's episode. So I was born in 1968, and so my first seminal baseball memories came in those mid to late 70s. Great teams, great players of that era, the Reds, the Pirates, the Dodgers, and of course that great Yankees team that won two World Series in 1977 and 1978. And one cannot think of those 1970s Yankees teams without thinking of the great catcher and captain of the team, Thurman Munson, who was my favorite player growing up. Griff, of course, you were born much later. You didn't see the Yankees live back then, but I'm sure you've seen your dad wear his number 15 jersey. Yeah. Yeah. Yes, I have. Yeah, plenty of times. And by now, I'm sure you've seen footage and have some opening thoughts on Munson. Any any comments?

SPEAKER_01 7:54

Yeah, I mean, once again, not growing up in the time and really not really know much about the 70s Yankees aside from World Series and the bigger name and Reggie Jackson usually. Doing a lot of research, it was very interesting to see the statistics behind him and find out a cool a bunch of cool uh fun facts throughout it. So yeah. Did some did some little research on it and uh excited to have this talk.

Jerry 8:24

Yeah, uh going back to that era, of course, many people remember the the Reggie Jackson years, the great Reggie Jackson, you know, who who you know joined the Yankees 477. But he was a flashy player. He was just out there, but really the Yankees were filled with a lot of just hardworking, quiet players, some tough guys, you know, Greg Nettles and you know, the wonderful Roy White who was on the team for so long, and of course, none more than Munson, who was a Midwest guy, uh born in Akron, moved to Canton, lived in Canton throughout his Yankees tenure with his wife and three kids. And he was he really reflected the team. So if you were a Yankees fan, you kind of kind of liked that uh quiet, gruff, maybe a little grumpy attitude. You were certainly grateful of Reggie's contributions to to the to the team and those two World Series. And I used to love Reggie bars. You've never had a Reggie bar, right, Greg?

SPEAKER_01 9:26

No, what's in them?

Jerry 9:27

I was surprised that they are still on Amazon, and I am honestly thinking of getting a box. But they're they're kind of these clusters, or you know, like cow patties instead of bars. But they're chocolate with caramel and peanuts in them. And when they were introduced, I think uh Reggie hit a home run and everybody threw threw them on the field and and uh the game had to be stopped to clean them up. But they're they're pretty good. I'm gonna get them, Brooke. Along with the big league chew that we uh talked about that that episode recently. But yeah, uh it was Munson's aura. I mean, you you one might not have known he was a devoted family man, but on the field he was just tough. He was baseball smart, he had a great scowl, and a great team leader. He was named by George Steinbrenner, the owner, as Yankees captain in 1976. And this was the first time the Yankees had had a captain since Lou Garrick, who had retired in 1939, unfortunately due to health reasons. We've had Yankees captains since. I mean, people like Mattingley and Jeter, and of course Aaron Judge now. But back then it was like uh almost 40 years without a captain. And there was not really supposed to be uh a captain, but but uh Munson just had that clubhouse. And and Griff, I know you know that mustache.

SPEAKER_01 10:49

Yeah, I was uh thinking about honestly shaving shaving the mustache in honor of today's podcast.

Jerry 10:55

But yeah, every guy when he decides to shave the beard decides to oh let me see how things look with those 70s, 70s stash there.

SPEAKER_01 11:05

Yeah, but he had to kill one, and as you said, uh even his looks were definitely more rough around the edges. And as we'll talk about later, uh that definitely led to him being a little bit less marketable, I would assume, than some other players at the time who he would compete with and uh bash heads with.

Jerry 11:26

So he didn't get the uh the ad the ad revenue or have the uh certainly not the Reggie. Reggie definitely reported his flocked around. Munson was the quiet, quiet guy there. It was a great mustache era. Brooke wants to do an episode purely on mustaches, you know, goose gossage and you know, Raleigh Fingers and and all those guys. Even Mike Schmidt, you know, from the Phillies, you know, more shorter.

Rise To Stardom And October Stats

Jerry 11:50

We're on video, I can do this now. So some early history. We definitely want to get some history out of the way. Uh we talked about where he was born. He was a multi-sport player in high school, baseball, basketball, football. Originally in high school, he was a shortstop. He actually switched to catcher in his senior year. And he went to uh Kent State University, go Golden Flashes. He was drafted by the Yankees, played in the minors a year, and so impressed them that he uh he debuted in 1969. He played his entire 11-year career with the Yankees, and that wasn't an era of free agency. So many people were switching teams. So after starting in the 1970s, he became the starter. They had uh dealt uh catcher Frank Fernandez, uh well, in free agency went to the A's, and he won that AL Rookie of the Year, batting 302. The Rookie of the Year was first given in 1947, and at that time, Munson was the first catcher. There's only been three American League catchers to ever won: Munson, Sandy Alamar, Jr. in 1990, and of course Carlton Fisk, who I think we're gonna hear more about later, right, Gref? I'll definitely talk about it.

SPEAKER_01 13:02

And even with the winning rookie of the year, definitely some uh impressive uh stats just coming into the league with the 302 batting average, I believe, for his rookie year.

unknown 13:13

Yeah.

Jerry 13:14

Yeah. I mean it was it was he was incredible, and I was too young to remember him as a rookie, but certainly I remember his his just clutch performances in the playoffs. You know, he was in a total of three World Series, 76 when they lost to the big red machine of the Cincinnati Reds. And of course, in 77 and 78, they beat the Dodgers both times 4-2.

SPEAKER_01 13:38

Hopefully we can bring back some of that uh luck of beating the Dodgers to current times because Lord knows we need all the help we can get against the Dodgers.

Jerry 13:49

I'm still having uh kind of a little uh tr post-traumatic stuff from the World Series game five two years ago. Oh my gosh. What a uh don't even mention it. Well, in the playoffs, Thurman was clutch. In the 76th World Series loss, Munson actually hit 529, and then a record six consecutive World Series hits. Since then, it's been past record 1990. Billy Hatcher was seven. In the 78 World Series, he was 320, had eight hits, seven RBIs. So, I mean, in the postseason, a 357 average, 22 RBIs in 30 postseason games. Fantastic. And he really played well in the Royals, eliminating them from the American League playoff each time they went to the series. But stats kind of slow episodes down. I see Brooke getting a little antsy there. You know, she wants exciting stuff.

Catcher Rivalries And Home Plate Fights

Jerry 14:46

So let's go into Munson's tough, gruff attitude, and especially his beef. He had beef, and other people had beef with him. Griffin, tell me about some of the beef that you've heard about.

SPEAKER_01 14:59

Well, as we talked about with kind of his harder harder to portray in the media uh kind of way he was. Definitely had some beef with other big catchers at the time. So as you mentioned, him getting them getting beaten by the Reds. So definitely some beef with Johnny Bench, who I believe there was a quote saying that from one of the managers uh after the World Series of how was it you you make you he was making a m- someone was making a mistake trying to compare uh Munson to Johnny Bench because you never compare anyone to Johnny.

Jerry 15:34

Yeah, Sparky Anderson of the Reds. And I think he wrote a letter to Munson afterward, but I think he was just trying to defend his catcher. He loved Johnny Bench, Sparky Anderson. We should do an episode on Sparky, uh, Brooke. But it Munson uh despite the apology, Munson took it to heart. And you mentioned a couple of catchers. The other great cat, I mean, what an era for catchers, by the way, because you had Bench, you had Munson, and then you had Griff.

SPEAKER_01 16:04

Carlton Fisk, who uh plays for the rival Red Sox, and I definitely don't think that helped to take away from the tension between them. But as well with that, as you mentioned, he Thurman Munson won Rookie of the Year. And later on, Carl Carlton Fisk comes in and wins rookie of the year, but he does it unanimously. So I know that was definitely a little bit of a starting point for their rivalry to begin. But uh along with that, just Fisk was definitely more cleaner cut. I know as far as media, there were people that would, I guess, hype him up a little bit better than Thurman Munson, uh specifically some Red Sox commentators. And early on in his career, he got featured on Sports Illustrated uh two times to Munson, who had never been featured, despite very quickly making a name for himself in the MLB world. And probably could have related to him playing you know, getting to those two World Series to uh or win of the two World Series wins to prove everyone wrong.

Jerry 17:08

Well, I again you and I spoke beforehand, and I know you've seen the footage in 19 uh seventy three, August 1973, where Munson and Fisk, Munson then on the bases, Fisk behind the plate, had a little uh altercation. Do you remember that?

SPEAKER_01 17:24

Yeah, so I couldn't find the 1973 video, but there were plenty of pictures and stories about it where man, I think the first picture I saw is just Munson barreling into Fisk after a failed uh pfft bunt. So he was he just came barreling in, realizing he was gonna come out. And I think the picture is just Munson putting his forearms just straight into Fisk's face and knowing that uh hearing reading stories about it, he comes up and immediately just a brawl ensues. I think it was from what I heard, ten minutes long. And I know that eventually led to some other another fight later on, which they do have a video on from 1976. But I believe there was a quote from one of the pitchers who was saying that it was like watching two hookers fighting on 45th Street. Oh gosh. So I don't think that set well.

Jerry 18:24

We say that, bro. We say that. I don't think we paid for the podcast, the uh the graphic podcast. Yeah, I mean, you know, and you mentioned it was uh it was a a sacrifice squeeze, you know. So basically Gene Michael went up to the plate to bunt. Thurman was on third, I think Felipe Alu was on uh first, and basically, you know, i Thurman was running, and Gene Michael completely whiffed on the bunt, but Thurman was on his way. And rather than be like, all right, I'm out. This was the 70s. This is very different. Now you can't pile into pile into catchers like the Buster Posey injury uh years back. I mean, you could just go. Boom. And certainly people like Pete Rose and Thurman Munson did that. And it was a fun era. I I don't know if it was right, but it was still a fun era to be a kid and watch.

SPEAKER_01 19:15

Yes, and uh and as well with the video leading to the 1976 fight. That one is you can find it online, and I believe that it was Lou Piniella who was running into home plate, and again, Carlton Fisk gets run over. And uh man, I don't think I've ever seen the benches clear that quickly. Seems like everyone from both teams were out in the middle, and actually led to, I believe, was it Bill Lee, the pitcher? Bill Spaceman Lee. Yeah. Yeah. It led to him um getting body slammed and first walks away, but then comes back to to talk badly to some Yankees players, and then gets kicked on the ground and has to walk away with a torn ligament in his shoulder. So even some of these fights were changing the careers of some of these uh Red Sox and Yankees players.

Jerry 20:08

So pitchers should never get involved in fight. They they should stand by the back and pretend and just yeah, yeah, trash talk. So yeah, I mean this was this was a feature. And and just Munson as the team leader. I mean, first of all, to maybe to to get himself going, but also to inspire his team. In 75, uh playing the Orioles, the pitcher at the time was Mike Torres, and who would later become Munson's teammate and then also eventually become a Red Sox. We talked about him in the 1978 episode. But but Torres had uh had had gotten, I think, uh buzzed a buzzed a pitch by Thurman, and then the next time at bat, he blew kisses to Munson. And Munson just didn't like that. Uh maybe it was just a nice gesture, but uh Munson didn't take it as such. And of course, I find it hard to say it that way. Now, of course, that's the rival team, the Red Sox, and of course the the O's there. But but even within the team, the Yankees of that era was termed by the sparky Lyle book that would come out, the Bronx Zoo. And so there was some even tension in the clubhouse. So we get to Reggie.

Munson Versus Reggie Jackson Tension

Jerry 21:18

Mr. October. Mr. October. And they had some beef as well. Griff, you want to talk about that? Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 21:26

So before Reggie got brought to the Yankees.

Jerry 21:37

Yeah, they had just lost the 76th World Series against the Reds. Yeah, they needed something. They needed a little more pop.

SPEAKER_01 21:43

Yeah. Uh needed needed that extra extra spark for them. And uh so Munson actually spoke up with letting Steinbrenner know that, hey, like, you should go get this uh Reggie Jackson guy. And so they do. They they end up getting him uh off free agency and Around the time right after Reggie Jackson began to play for the Yankees, I believe he was quoted saying of how I don't want to misquote this and I have it written down somewhere. But he brings up, he says, I'm the straw that stirs the drink. And in a nine-page interview, then he proceeds to say, now Munton thinks he can be the straw that stirs the that stirs the drink, but he can only stir it bad. So immediately right off the bat, there was definitely some some sour uh relationship between them and another Yankees player at the time commented Munton was like maybe he was misquoted, and I believe Munson ended up saying, what, misquoted for nine pages? So he didn't take that as well, especially coming from his new teammate who he fought for, but of course led on to some great history to be made with two future back-to-back World Series.

Jerry 22:58

Yeah, you mentioned it was before he even started playing with the team. Reggie had, of course, helped was part of that killer athletics team that had won, you know, three three consecutive World Series in the early 70s. And and yeah, that that's that's quite a way to start your career with your new team. And all of those guys, they love Munson. So, you know, Jackson wasn't just insulting one guy. I mean, uh many people took it personally. And and uh I think you were very kind to to say uh what Munson has said with uh I think he he used a few expletives with d disbelief that that Jackson was misquoted. Jackson to this day does say that he was taken out of context. And I will say this: that years later, sports writer Mike Lupica asked Reggie who was the greatest player he ever played with, and without delay, uh Reggie said Thurman. Thurman.

SPEAKER_01 23:53

Yeah. After Monson's passing, uh Reggie was quoted saying that they probably would have won two more World Series had he not practically passed away definitely earlier than he should have.

Jerry 24:05

Yeah. Yeah. It was now now winning, of course, helped patch that clubhouse together. You know, they they would win there in 77 and 78. And of course, I think that Munson was able to overlook a lot of the differences in their characters and personalities when Reggie would do stuff like hit three home runs in in Game Six of the uh 77 series there. We mentioned the the he was in three World Series with two victories. You mentioned the 70, 1970 Rookie of the Year. He won American League MVP in 1976, and he was a seven-time All-Star, including six straight, also three straight gold gloves, you know, in the role, the defensive role as catcher from 73 to 75. So he he had these numbers, and if you take all the folks that have a rookie of the year and an MVP and World Series victories, you know, I mean, there might be like 30 guys, but uh uh 30 with just MVPs and Rookie of the Year is far less with World Series wins.

Hall Of Fame Case And Modern Comparisons

Jerry 25:13

Thurman Munson's not in the Hall of Fame. And that's something that has upset myself and a lot of Yankee fans because we think that shorter career really affected judgment. And also that voters probably look a little more at the home run numbers and the flash rather than maybe putting Thurman's candidacy in in the context.

SPEAKER_01 25:39

That definitely amazed me that he wasn't in the Hall of Fame, because as you said with all the accolades, it's and being statistically a great player in the in the postseason and batting well and being a great defensive player during the regular seasons as well that he played. Yeah, it was really crazy to see, of course, he wasn't in the the Hall of Fame. But as you mentioned, uh with a shorter career, sometimes the I guess the Hall of Fame voters are looking for longevity rather than just the height of you at your peak.

Jerry 26:11

Yeah, it'll be really interesting in a couple years when the the uh former Giants catcher Buster Posey comes up. He won three World Series instead of two, but also had that Rookie of the Year MVP and has very s very comparable numbers to Thurman, and uh he only retired after 12 years. So very similar length. I think Posey's gonna get in first ballot, which then brings up the Thurman question again of, hey, you know, similar numbers, similar short career. Why isn't why isn't Thurman in?

Family First And The 1979 Tragedy

Jerry 26:44

So well, despite the gruff, quiet exterior, Munson was a devoted family man. He had met his wife in grade school, he had three kids, and he was so devoted to them that he wanted to go back to Canton, and he actually got his pilot's license to go back and forth, and and his wife would say that he would come back two or three times a week a week, even just to put the kids to bed. Unfortunately, as he maybe got moved on to a jet, you know, his his flying skills maybe weren't what they should have been, and uh that led to his death, as Griffin pointed out. Griffin, that was August 2nd, 1979, you know, at Akron Canton Airport, and again, I'm sure you've read a lot about that too.

SPEAKER_01 27:30

Yeah, yeah, it's uh definitely tragic of how soon it happened, especially in his life, and and trying to achieve something to be closer to his family as well. Definitely I I heard read afterwards, and there's an interview of uh Steinbrenner talking about it, but he had the funeral in Ohio, and whenever it came up, all the Yankees, the entire team decided to decide to fly out, and everyone attended the funeral. And uh Steinbrenner questioned, like, hey, what happens if y'all don't make it back for the game? And they said, Well, we'll forfeit. And I think that really shows to us much of how he was as a captain, as a as a player, as a teammate, showing that that whole team wanted to be there after his passing and were willing to give up the game, uh even if it meant just being together as a team and celebrating him for the time they spent with him as a captain.

Jerry 28:32

Yankees fans were devastated. I mean, Thurman didn't have a great year in '79. He had actually contemplated retirement. He had floated out, maybe switching to the Cleveland Indians to be closer to home, but I don't think there was anything that uh that was really going to happen.

Yankees Legacy Number Retired And Locker

Jerry 28:49

Right afterward, the his number, number 15, was retired immediately by the Yankees. He would be given a monument in the monument park at Yankee Stadium, and his locker would be sealed off. It stayed in the clubhouse, number 15's locker, but no one was allowed to use it all the way until 2009. Derek Jeter had the next locker over. He said they would they would come in and see that empty locker, you know, every day, which which was quite a testament to what Munson meant to that team. With the new Yankee Stadium opening in 2009, they actually moved the locker to the Yankees Museum there. We've seen it, right, Griff?

SPEAKER_01 29:29

We have, yeah. So uh and obviously exactly in the way that uh it was at old the old stadium, uh, jersey's still hanging up. And just as you said, still chose the testament comparing who he was comparing that had it for almost thirty years in old the Yankee Stadium unoccupied, and then to to move it there and still have it on display for everyone to see. Really. It was powerful for the Yankees to do that for their captain. And uh, of course, someone who was very beloved by fans and

Bat Day Memory And Listener Sendoff

SPEAKER_01 30:03

and the team.

Jerry 30:03

Well, uh of course I don't want to end on a downbeat note, so I mean let's let's bring some interesting things about Munson up. Last week's episode, we actually talked about the brief failed attempt of the Yankees to introduce a mascot, Dandy, who had an odd resemblance to Thurman with the mustache, and uh he only lasted a couple of years there because after Munson's passing, I think he was quickly phased out. He also came up recently with ABS and pitch reviews this year. Munson was constantly touching his helmet, tapping his helmet, moving. It was one of his mannerisms when he went up to the plate. So the announcer Michael Kay, who does the Yankee games, was like, How would you know if he's protesting a pitch? Because he's always doing that. And then finally, I want to end with a story Griffin is very well aware of. I remember going to Bat Day at Yankee Stadium as a kid, and at that time they didn't give the little mini bats away. They gave full-size bats there, which, you know, again, in the 70s you were taking your lives in your own hand. And I got a full-size Thurman Munson bat. And oh my gosh, I love that thing. Back then we we were not as concerned about resale value and eBay. So I used to go out and play, you know, you know, in the streets with it, you know, and hitting balls. And my mom has it somewhere, but can't find it. I I'm I'm skeptical. She may have given it away to some neighborhood kid and just doesn't want to admit it. Griff, you tried to sneak upstairs and get it for me, right?

SPEAKER_01 31:40

I wasn't trying to get it. I was just trying to see what what your room was like. But that was very that was very short-lived. I mean uh But yeah, if you can if you can get it back, you can toss it in with uh your collection of World Series bats.

Jerry 31:52

Yeah, we can we're gonna hang those up. Yeah. I look I don't have the bat. That's all I know. And I know my mom doesn't throw away anything. So I gotta get that bat.

SPEAKER_01 32:06

I'll have to do another mission to sneak up there and uh I'll risk getting chewed out for it.

Jerry 32:11

Well, thanks so much, Griffin, for joining us today. I'm just delighted that he came on to to talk about again my favorite player growing up. We went a bit long, of course, but i it was it was a special episode to me. You know, thanks always to our listeners, uh including my sister Kelly, who um who uh probably isn't listening. She says she's got to catch up with episodes. So in about four months, this episode will surprise her when she gets that shout out. Uh but we're always happy you're listening, and I hope you keep listening and like us on your favorite podcast platform, subscribe. Uh this is Jerry Dyes with Griffin and Brooke, uh, heading back to the locker rooms today at Fungo's and Fastballs.