Thurman Munson was a 1970s version of Buster Posey. When looking at their raw statistics, you might disagree. However, when you take into consideration that the 1970s were a more challenging offensive era, you might side with my claim. Both players were Rookies of the Year and MVP award winners. Both were leaders who turned around their franchises and won multiple World Series championships.
One of the beautiful things about modern statistics is the ability to compare players from different eras. Here are some of Thurman Munson’s modern statistics for his eleven-year career:
| Year | Age | Tm | G | PA | WAR | oWAR | dWAR | Pos | Awards |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1969 | 22 | NYY | 26 | 97 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 2 | |
| 1970 | 23 | NYY | 132 | 526 | 5.5 | 4.6 | 1.7 | *2 | MVP-19,RoY-1 |
| 1971 | 24 | NYY | 125 | 517 | 4.1 | 3.4 | 1.5 | *2/9 | AS |
| 1972 | 25 | NYY | 140 | 568 | 3.5 | 3.9 | 0.6 | *2 | |
| 1973 | 26 | NYY | 147 | 576 | 7.2 | 6.2 | 2.1 | *2/D | AS,MVP-12,GG |
| 1974 | 27 | NYY | 144 | 571 | 3.0 | 3.5 | 0.6 | *2/D | AS,MVP-26,GG |
| 1975 | 28 | NYY | 157 | 661 | 6.6 | 5.8 | 1.6 | *2D/3579 | AS,MVP-7,GG |
| 1976 | 29 | NYY | 152 | 665 | 5.3 | 5.4 | 0.7 | *2D/97 | AS,MVP-1 |
| 1977 | 30 | NYY | 149 | 638 | 4.9 | 5.1 | 0.7 | *2D | AS,MVP-7 |
| 1978 | 31 | NYY | 154 | 667 | 3.3 | 3.0 | 1.1 | *2D9 | AS,MVP-22 |
| 1979 | 32 | NYY | 97 | 419 | 2.4 | 2.1 | 1.0 | 2/D3 | |
| 11 S | 11 S | 11 S | 1423 | 5905 | 46.1 | 43.1 | 11.9 |
Here are some of Buster Posey’s modern statistics for the ten seasons he’s played:
| Year | Age | G | PA | WAR | oWAR | dWAR | Pos | Awards |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 22 | 7 | 17 | -0.1 | -0.1 | 0.0 | /2 | |
| 2010 | 23 | 108 | 443 | 3.9 | 3.5 | 0.8 | 23 | MVP-11,RoY-1 |
| 2011 | 24 | 45 | 185 | 1.3 | 1.1 | 0.5 | 2/3 | |
| 2012 | 25 | 148 | 610 | 7.6 | 7.3 | 0.8 | *23/D | AS,MVP-1,SS |
| 2013 | 26 | 148 | 595 | 5.3 | 4.7 | 1.4 | *23/D | AS,MVP-20 |
| 2014 | 27 | 147 | 605 | 5.4 | 5.6 | 0.4 | *23/D | MVP-6,SS |
| 2015 | 28 | 150 | 623 | 6.0 | 4.6 | 1.9 | 23/D | AS,MVP-9,SS |
| 2016 | 29 | 146 | 614 | 4.9 | 3.6 | 2.0 | *23/D | AS,MVP-14,GG |
| 2017 | 30 | 140 | 568 | 4.1 | 4.1 | 0.4 | 23/D | AS,SS |
| 2018 | 31 | 105 | 448 | 2.9 | 1.9 | 1.5 | 23/D | AS |
| 10 S | 10 S | 1144 | 4708 | 41.3 | 36.3 | 9.5 |
As you can see, they are remarkably similar. My primary point is that Munson and Posey were very similar players when compared to other catchers of their eras. Defensively, they are nearly identical. Offensively, Munson might appear to be inferior when looking at traditional statistics, but WAR shows us he was just as much above the average catcher offensively as Posey. In ten seasons, Posey’s WAR is 41.3; in Munson’s first ten seasons his WAR was 43.72.
| Split | G | GS | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | CS | BB | SO | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS | TB | GDP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 Totals | 97 | 96 | 419 | 382 | 42 | 110 | 18 | 3 | 3 | 39 | 1 | 2 | 32 | 37 | .288 | .340 | .374 | .714 | 143 | 15 |
Considering he was exiting the prime of his career, it’s not surprising Thurman Munson’s final APBA card is excellent. Unfortunately, Munson didn’t have the chance to wind down his career with sub-par seasons. His fate was sealed in the tragic plane crash that took his life on August 2, 1979. APBA seemed to be kind to Munson with this card. For the season, Munson hit a very respectable .288. I’ve got this card producing a .296 average. It’s further bolstered by a 36 and 38, which normally result in a re-roll and not an out for the batter. The main issue is the extra 8. If this card had the standard three 8s, it’d only produce a .272 mark. I guess APBA decided to error on the positive side when producing this card. Also, considering Munson only hit three homers and 18 doubles, it was kind to give him a 33-0. Personally, I don’t have a problem with Munson’s final card being a bit better than it should be. In an APBA kind of way, it’s a tribute.
Most baseball fans consider Buster Posey a future Hall of Famer. If his career were tragically cut short, he’d have an excellent shot to make it to Cooperstown. Unfortunately, that has not been the path for Thurman Munson. A couple of things have held him out of Cooperstown. First, he never reached 2,000 hits, though it seems highly likely he would have if he would have lived to finish his career. Second, he appeared on the Hall of Fame ballot in 1981…when eleven future Cooperstown inductees populated it. Munson, simply, got lost in the shuffle. I have high expectations for the 2020 Modern Baseball Era ballot. I hope it includes Munson, Lou Whitaker, Bobby Grich, Keith Hernandez, and Ted Simmons. They’re all deserving of a plaque in Cooperstown.
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