Master hurler Catfish Hunter’s presence on the mound struck fear in his opponents.
[17] An outstanding fielder, Munson committed only one error all season. In 1976, Hunter won 17 games, led the Yankees in complete games and innings pitched, and was again named to the All-Star team. Despite a packed clubhouse, Munson's final locker position was never reassigned.
Munson, however, was in a more precarious position. During his 15-year baseball career in the Major League, Hunter took part in eight All-Star Games, won 20 or more games five seasons in a row (1971-1975), and pitched in six World Series, coming away a winner five times. He is often referred to as baseball's first big-money free agent. Munson's number 15 is also displayed on the center-field wall at Thurman Munson Stadium, a minor-league ballpark in Canton. The youngest son of eight children, Hunter was born and raised in Hertford in northeast North Carolina. Born in Akron, Ohio, Munson was selected as the fourth pick of the 1968 MLB draft and was named as the catcher on the 1968 College Baseball All-American Team. Minor-league pitcher Jason Kosow portrayed Hunter in the ESPN miniseries The Bronx is Burning, which depicted the 1977 New York Yankees. [16] For the season, Munson batted .256 with one home run and nine RBI. He recovered in LaPorte, Indiana at the farm of Athletics owner Charles O.
[36] His number 27 was retired by the Oakland Athletics in a pre-game ceremony on June 9, 1991, the first in the franchise's 90 years.[35][37]. He had a heck of a sense of humor. The Yankees used the pair of Jake Gibbs and Frank Fernández at catcher for most of 1969. He was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1987. [6] When he turned eight, the Munson family moved to nearby Canton. Prior to the 1968 season, Finley moved the A's from Kansas City to Oakland. In 1976, Hunter became the fourth major league pitcher to win 200 games before the age of 31 and the only one since Walter Johnson in 1915, preceded by Cy Young and Christy Mathewson. Diana Munson threw out the ceremonial first pitch at Game 3 of the 1997 World Series in Cleveland. On August 1, 1980, the day before the first anniversary of the accident, the Yankees filed a $4.5-million lawsuit against Cessna Aircraft Co. and Flight Safety International, Inc. (the company who was training Munson to fly), with team spokesman John J. McCarty saying "we asked for $4.5 million because that is what Munson would be worth if the Yankees traded him." Before and after his induction, Hunter spoke highly of his experiences with both the Athletics and Yankees and his appreciation for both team owners, Charlie Finley and George Steinbrenner.
Munson received his first of seven All-Star nods in 1971, catching the last two innings without an at-bat. [29], While on approach for the fourth and final landing on a different runway (19), Munson did not extend the flaps and allowed the aircraft to sink too low before increasing engine power, causing the jet to clip a tree and fall short of the runway. [34], Along with Billy Williams and Ray Dandridge, Hunter was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown in 1987. [29], The day after his death, before the start of the Yankees' four-game set with the Baltimore Orioles in the Bronx, the team paid tribute to their deceased captain in a pre-game ceremony in which the starters stood at their defensive positions, save for the catcher's box, which remained empty. [2] The accident left Hunter somewhat hobbled and jeopardized his prospects in the eyes of many professional scouts, but the Kansas City Athletics signed Hunter to a contract. [7] He was taught how to play baseball by his older brother Duane, and usually played baseball with kids Duane's age, who were four years older. He responded by batting .302 with 17 home runs and 105 RBI to receive the American League MVP Award and lead the Yankees to their first World Series appearance since 1964. Munson's widow, Diana, also filed a $42.2 million wrongful death lawsuit against the two companies. With the score tied at 2–2 in the top of the ninth and runners on first and third, Munson attempted to score from third on Gene Michael's missed bunt attempt.
[1][2] A story circulated that Hunter's family gave him the nickname as a child when he went missing and was later found with a string of catfish; there is no truth to that explanation. He is survived by Diana[40] and their three children: daughter Tracy, daughter Kelly and son Michael. [15] Munson went two for three with a walk, one RBI and two runs scored. He batted .435 with three RBI and three runs scored in the American League Championship Series against the Kansas City Royals, and batted .529 with two RBI and two runs scored in the World Series against the Cincinnati Reds. Munson was born in Akron, Ohio to Darrell Vernon Munson and Ruth Myrna Smylie, the youngest of four children. Despite a .288 average, the wear-and-tear of catching was beginning to take its toll on Munson, and he was overlooked for the American League All-Star team. Hunter has been the subject of numerous popular culture references, including the Bob Dylan song "Catfish". Following the 1979 season and the end of his five-year contract, Hunter retired from baseball at age 33. He is also the only catcher in MLB postseason history to record at least a .300+ batting average (.357), 20 RBIs (22), and 20 defensive caught stealings (24). When Coach Morris Buttermaker (Walter Matthau) is trying to get Amanda Whurlitzer (Tatum O'Neal) to pitch for his Little League team, Amanda makes a number of outlandish demands (such as imported jeans, modeling school and ballet lessons) as conditions for joining the team. Munson responded by batting .302 with seven home runs and 57 RBI, and making 80 assists en route to receiving the 1970 American League Rookie of the Year award. Don't never embarrass nobody by comparing them to Johnny Bench." Hunter has been the subject of multiple popular culture references. On September 5, 2018, Hunter was inducted into the Oakland Athletics first Hall of Fame class, with wife, Helen, there to receive the honor. Munson's locker was moved in one piece to the New Yankee Stadium. Torrez hit Munson with a pitch in the first inning, gave up a single to him in the fourth, and threw a pitch up by his head in the sixth.
[1][26] Hunter won 63 games in his five seasons with the Yankees. [20], Munson made his second All-Star team and won his first of three straight Gold Glove Awards in 1973. The Yankees won three straight pennants with Hunter from 1976 to 1978. ", On August 6, the entire Yankee team attended Munson's funeral in Canton. [20] Hunter was also a competent hitter, with a career batting average of .226; in 1971 he hit .350 with 36 hits in 38 games. At the end of July, the Yankees were still in fourth place at 57–48 (.543), fourteen games behind Baltimore. He grew up on a farm and excelled in a variety of sports at Perquimans County High School.
Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, for your co-operation. He played linebacker and offensive tackle in football as well as shortstop, cleanup batter, and pitcher in baseball. Hunter is mentioned in the 1976 film The Bad News Bears. But he told great stories. James Augustus Hunter (April 8, 1946 – September 9, 1999), nicknamed "Catfish", was a professional baseball player in Major League Baseball (MLB). After Hunter's death, former teammate Reggie Jackson described Hunter as a "fabulous human being. [3] He had won 161 games for the A's, 131 in seven seasons in Oakland and 30 in his first three seasons in Kansas City.
[21] He left the game with a bruised foot and was eventually placed on the 21-day disabled list with the injury, not pitching again for the Yankees until May 5. [18] He also only allowed nine passed balls all season and caught 36 of a potential 59 base stealers for a 61% caught stealing percentage. All proceeds from the weekend benefit ALS research. Munson's World Series championships in 1977 and 1978 made him only the second catcher in baseball history, at the time, to win a Rookie of the Year Award, an MVP Award, a Gold Glove Award, and a World Series title during his career. Frequently homesick, he had a well-known desire to play for the Cleveland Indians in order to be closer to his family in Canton,[25] and was also considering retiring at the end of the season. In 2004, the Oakland Athletics began the Catfish Hunter Award. [39] The suit was eventually settled out of court. Munson was not wearing the available shoulder harness restraint, only a lap belt, which contributed to the severity of his injuries. The Yankees had lost three in a row, and were in fourth place, eleven games behind the Baltimore Orioles in the American League East heading into the All-Star break in 1979. From 1965 to 1979, he was a pitcher for the Kansas City / Oakland Athletics and New York Yankees. Munson was selected by the Yankees with the fourth overall pick in the 1968 Major League Baseball draft. From 1965 to 1979, he was a pitcher for the Kansas City / Oakland Athletics and New York Yankees.Hunter was the first pitcher since 1915 to win 200 career games by the age of 31. During the off season, the Yankees dealt Fernández to the A's. Munson is buried at Canton's Sunset Hills Burial Park. In 1974, Munson was elected to start his first of three consecutive All-Star games, going one for three with a walk and a run scored.[21]. [1][7][8] Hunter recalled being scared after he was declared a free agent. As Red Sox pitcher John Curtis let his first pitch go, Munson broke for the plate. Bob Dylan wrote the song "Catfish" in 1975.
[1][9][10][11][12] He had been courted by 23 of the 24 teams, including the A's but not the San Francisco Giants,[13] and refused higher offers from the San Diego Padres and the Kansas City Royals. It occurred on June 18 against the Baltimore Orioles when opposing catcher Andy Etchebarren knocked Munson unconscious on a play at the plate, dislodging the ball.
He became the Yankees' starting catcher late in the 1969 season, and after his first complete season in 1970, in which he batted .302, he was voted American League (AL) Rookie of the Year.
Hunter was the first pitcher since 1915 to win 200 career games by the age of 31. [1], In 1990, Hunter was inducted into the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame.
He was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1987. Two school buildings, which house several schools including Henry Lou Gehrig Junior High School, have since been built on the street.[38]. [2] the song was later released by Dylan, Joe Cocker and Kinky Friedman. In the summer of 1967, Munson joined the Cape Cod Baseball League, where he led the Chatham A's to their first league title with a prodigious .420 batting average.
[19] One particular incident that typified their feud, and the Yankees – Red Sox rivalry in general, occurred on August 1, 1973 at Fenway Park. Hunter won his Opening Day start on April 7, 1977, limiting the Milwaukee Brewers to three hits over seven shutout innings in a 3–0 victory. In recognition of this achievement and his subsequent professional achievements, the Thurman Munson Batting Award is given each season to the league's batting champion.
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