should thurman munson be in the hall of fame?

Question

here's a response to gordc: who else on that team is in the hall? reggie? who else? jim rice should definitely be in the hall as should mattingly i.e. kirby puckett... the hall of fame is basically a popularity contest... the writers are idiots and real baseball fans can tell who are the all time greats...

he was an mvp

Answer 1

Hell, yes! He was a great ballplayer when you add up totals and intangibles, and probably would have been better than his rival Carlton Fisk if he'd lived. Thurm was certainly better than Fisk at the time of his death. He should have been in the Hall a long time ago, except that a lot of sportswriters have fat heads and thin skins.

BTW, **** you, ops 1. . . .

Answer 2

This is the single-greatest injustice in all of professional sports, there is only one simple reason why the The Captain is not in the hall of shame, and that is that the asinine baseball writers hold a grudge against Thurm for his attitude towards them during his playing days, and those who do should long ago have had their right to vote for players rescinded. Yes, clearly Bench, and Fisk had longer playing careers but that has nothing to do with why they are in and Munson isn't--simply stated they kissed sportswriters as* and Munson never would.

Answer 3

This is a tough one because of Munson's tragic death. It's always tough to figure out how a player ranks under such circumstances. I was a little surprised Kirby Puckett went in so quickly, as I'm not sure he was a slam-dunk choice before the eye injury.

Munson obviously was a very good catcher during the Yankees' glory years, but he was about 32 when he died and was already past his prime offensively -- especially in terms of power. He never hit more than 20 homers, and never had more than 105 RBIs.

The Yankees of the 70's had a lot of "gamers" (Piniella, Chambliss, Nettles), but Jackson and Hunter strike me as the obvious Hall of Famers. I don't see anyone else on that team who should be in.

And you don't want to hear this, but the writers are hardly idiots. I couldn't complain about too many of the guys that made it in, although a few had some odd votes (like the ones who didn't vote for Ripken). Most of my complaints dealt with the veterans committee, which is now out of business.

Answer 4

Munson has a problem. He was on a team chock a block with Hall of Famers.

Munson also has another problem. If he goes in so should Mattingly, and especially Jim Rice.

Answer 5

No.

The extreme, career-ending injury was sad, but that sort of thing has happened to better players than Munson (his was fatal, unfortunately).

He was tuff, but being tuff for so long was wearing him down badly. His 1978 season showed this, and his 1979 numbers are equally bad. Even had he played longer, maybe switched to 1B or DH, or signed with Cleveland, I don't see that he was going to put up the sorts of seasons that really build a Hall-class career.

He had a good, three-year peak (1975-77), couple of other good seasons (1973 in particular), and collected the 1976 AL MVP, the 1970 AL ROY, and seven All-Star selections -- and that really is the right amount of league honoraria for Munson and his career. In addition, the Yankees have retired his #15. I don't see where he hasn't received due tribute, that only a Hall plaque could redress.

The writers got his candidacy correct -- due to his untimely death, he was placed on the ballot early, and his highest return was on his first ballot, a mere 15.5%. His name lingered on for the full 15 years but never grew. The various VC editions have not displayed greater interest. He was what he was, he played how he played, and it is time to move on.

Answer 6

Absolutely ,Thurman Munson should be an inductee into the hall of fame.He played a huge roll playing for the yankees as their man behind the plate calling the game. He was also an excellent hitter plus played great defence. ''not to mention having to put up with Billy Martain''! His life was cut to short in that airplane crash.Who knows what he might have accomplished had he lived?

Answer 7

Certainly. In 'the age of catchers', the 3 were Bench, Fisk, and Munson. The other 2 are in the hall. Munson died. The hall should be about who was great, not who has eye-popping numbers. (For 10 years, for a catcher, his ARE.) The writers will never consider it. They only know 23 year career numbers.

Answer 8

Well I hesitate to do so, but will play Devil's Advocate. Undoubtedly Munson was one of the big three catchers of his decade (unless you want to go the Sparky Anderson route that says no one was in Bench's category).

He was a perennial all-star, put up legitimate numbers, and was a captain of a team that won two World Series.

It is tragic his career was cut short. But unlike Roberto Clemente and even Kirby Puckett, I am not convinced Munson had put up the career numbers yet to warrant HOF consideration- to be honest not even close. And I'm not sure it is fair to give him baseball's highest honor on projections, or what was likely.

So based on all of the evidence of what Munson did, and compared to the current standard necessary to make the HOF, I have to say no.

Answer 9

Munson is my favorite catcher of all time. I was a catcher and wore his number. I tried to be as tough defensively as he was.

Unfortunately, his untimely death cut his career too short for the sportswriters to consider him. Although the toughest SOB behind the plate his offensive numbers are not as impressive.

Gotta go now, The Bronx is Burning just started.

Answer 10

No. I don't think so. Career .292 hitter with only 113 HRs and 701 RBIs. I know his career was cut short, but I think that with the numbers he put up while he played doesn't warrant him to be in the hall.