Canton
Thurman Munson's locker is tie to Yankees past, and the future
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
By JOHN J. BURO
SPECIAL TO THE REPOSITORY
NEW YORK On the seventh floor of the Marriott Marquis Hotel last week, baseball players spoke fondly of a man they never had a chance to meet. It wasn't much of a stretch.
It didn't matter that Craig Biggio, Melky Cabrera, Jamal Crawford and David Wright, guest honorees at the 28th annual Thurman Munson Awards Dinner, were young boys or not even born when Munson died in a plane crash.
It was a clear day in August 1979 when something went horribly wrong at the Akron-Canton Airport. A Cessna piloted by Munson clipped some trees as he attempted to navigate the runway.
The jet burst into flames, and the New York Yankees captain was trapped inside. Two passengers survived. Munson did not.
The Canton native was just 32 at the time of his death.
Diana Munson, his childhood sweetheart, suddenly was a widow at 30. Her three children, none older than 9 at the time, would grow up without their father.
Cont...
Thurman Munson's locker is tie to Yankees past, and the future
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
By JOHN J. BURO
SPECIAL TO THE REPOSITORY
NEW YORK On the seventh floor of the Marriott Marquis Hotel last week, baseball players spoke fondly of a man they never had a chance to meet. It wasn't much of a stretch.
It didn't matter that Craig Biggio, Melky Cabrera, Jamal Crawford and David Wright, guest honorees at the 28th annual Thurman Munson Awards Dinner, were young boys or not even born when Munson died in a plane crash.
It was a clear day in August 1979 when something went horribly wrong at the Akron-Canton Airport. A Cessna piloted by Munson clipped some trees as he attempted to navigate the runway.
The jet burst into flames, and the New York Yankees captain was trapped inside. Two passengers survived. Munson did not.
The Canton native was just 32 at the time of his death.
Diana Munson, his childhood sweetheart, suddenly was a widow at 30. Her three children, none older than 9 at the time, would grow up without their father.
Cont...