The Case for His Induction into Baseball’s Hall of Fame

“He was the best there was at what he did.”

Howard Cosell – August 6, 1979

During his 11 year career, Munson established himself as one of the greatest catchers of all-time. Munson’s outstanding all-around play as well as his leadership contributed greatly to the Yankee championships. Without his presence in the lineup, it is quite possible that the Yankees would have gone from 1964 to 1996 without a championship. His performance in the playoffs ranks among the best of all time – not just for a catcher, but for all players.

Baseball author Peter Golenbock wrote: “Thurman Munson was the glue that held the Yankees pitching staff together during those championship years. He was a fierce competitor who was beloved by everyone on those teams. His greatness cannot be measured by batting average and home runs alone. Without him, the Yankees do not win those pennants and championships.”

Dan Honig wrote in his 1991 book “The Greatest Catchers of all time,”  that a writer covering the 1979 Yankees said, “ They were a team of stars but when Thurman died, they were a team without a heart.”

Thurman Munson was certainly among the dominant players in his era. His 11-year career matches up with the peak years of catchers that have already been  inducted into the Hall of Fame as well as those he played against using traditional baseball statistics.  Modern baseball analytics were not available when Thurman Munson played nor during the 15 years when he was on the BBWAA ballot. When his career is evaluated through the prism of modern analytics, Munson is perhaps the most undervalued and under-appreciated catcher in baseball history.