(This story originally appeared in the August 2019 edition of Yankees Magazine.)
I wasn’t born when Thurman Munson died, and for most of my life, I kind of viewed him through a lens of a cynical outsider. It was easy to kind of dismiss him as a guy beloved on account of a tragic ending.
I had never really forced myself to look at how impressive he was on the field, what he meant to fans in life, not just in death, the way he operated in the clubhouse and on the field. For any cynicism I have had about Derek Jeter’s role as a Yankees captain, I think I was similarly blind, prone to undervaluing Thurman Munson.
So it was great to spend as much time as I did this summer researching him, leading up to an afternoon in Canton, Ohio, that I’ll never forget, when I spent time with his widow, Diana, and his son, Michael.
We met at Michael’s bar, then spent hours chatting. I learned more than I could have imagined. Diana was open about Thurman’s less-awesome qualities, candid about the ways that he could be a bully. I saw her pugnaciousness, the ways that she would push back against him.
But what I saw the most was the way that she carries on as Thurman’s legacy, a real living monument. She ripped open scars and told me about the worst moments of her life, but also spoke at length about her work to keep her late husband’s memory at the forefront. She continues raising money for the AHRC, continues showing up at Yankee Stadium on Old-Timers’ Day, so that the fans can cheer her for her husband.
During my time in Canton, and certainly around Yankee Stadium, I tried to find as many monuments to the late captain as I could. Along with a photographer, Barrie Schneiderman, I drove around town, to the stadium that bears his name, the street named for him, the large and impressive gravestone. We drove past the airport and the field where his life came to an end. In New York, we saw his locker, his number 15 on the backs of fans way too young to have cheered for him.
I tried to tell a big story here. The way that Diana has kept her husband alive in the 40 years since he died. It was a special story to tell, not the least because of how much I learned in the process.
https://www.mlb.com/news/remembering-yankees-captain-thurman-munson
