Thurman Munson Was The 4th Greatest Catcher In Baseball History
Posted by Steve L. on August 20th, 2011 · Comments (5)
Well, he was if you look at it this way.
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Slightly deceptive, as most of the other catchers on the list, except Camapanella, were allowed to play through their decline phases, whereas Thurman died in the middle of his.
Still very revealing, especially the total WAR listing, in which Thurman is still a more than respectable 13th, despite a relatively short career (13th in WAR, 54th in games played at catcher).
@ Evan3457: Evan, as I recall there was serious question as to how much more catching Munson was going to moving forward. I remember reading at the time that he had painful cysts behind his knees and other assorted wear and tear injuries. More likely he would have had to change positions.
Thurman was signed through 1981, and he did play 1B his final few games of his career, so it was more than likely his career as a catcher was over. Given they traded Chris Chambliss in the following off season, perhaps he would have been the every day 1B in 1980 rather than the Yankees signing Bob Watson.
KPOcala wrote:
Exactly. His cumulative WAR would have increased very slowly, if at all, and therefore, his WAR/game played number would’ve dropped. That’s my point above
77yankees wrote:
I don’t know about that. Steinbrenner loved signing players no matter who he had on the roster. I think Munson would’ve spent most of 1980 behind the plate as well.