Jimmy Scott's High & Tight: The Marty Appel Interview

Tragedy is a word in sports reserved for the most horrible of events.  It's not a tragedy when a team loses the 7th game of the World Series on a bloop single that drives in the tying and winning runs.  That is incredibly disappointing, but not tragic.  Tragedy is not a torn hamstring, blown out knee or destroyed rotator cuff.  These occurences are terrible and painful, but definitely not tragic.

Tragic is Lyman Bostock's murder during the 1978 season.  Tragic is Angel's pitcher Nick Adenhart's hit and run death in the early-2009 season.  Ray Chapman's death in August, 1920 from a baseball thrown by Carl Mays is tragic for its place and result.  The 2007 death of Tulsa Drillers third base coach Mike Coolbaugh was tragic because of the dream still in front of him and the family left behind.  Donnie Moore's suicide, Danny Frisella's dunebuggy accident, Cory Lidle's plane crash, Lou Gehrig's disease - all of these are tragedies in baseball history.

August 2, 2009 is the anniversary of another tragedy: the death of former Yankees captain and catcher, Thurman Munson.  On that date, the plane Munson was piloting crashed just outside of an Ohio airport.  He died in the resulting smoke and flames.

In the Jimmy Scott's High & Tight Interview with writer and former Yankees PR Director Marty Appel, we hear the circumstances around Munson's death, based upon Appel's book, Munson: The Life and Death of a Yankee Captain.  We learn about the relationship Munson had with his father and how Darrell Munson almost made of mockery of the funeral.  Appel describes then-Yankees manager Billy Martin's feelings about whether the casket would be open or closed.  And there was also the quandry of MLB commissioner Bowie Kuhn.  Should he attend Munson's funeral and risk cries of racisim after he elected not to attend Bostock's funeral the season before?  Appel, who at that time was working for Kuhn, details the thinking and Kuhn's ultimate decision.

Backstory: Appel had written an autobiography with Thurman Munson in 1977.  Sales were lackluster, possibly because the book didn't spend chapters bashing Reggie or George or going too deeply into Thurman's early life.  How does a private man publish an autobiography?  Very carefully.

During those sessions between Appel and Munson, recordings were made, many notes were taken.  Flash forward nearly thirty years to Appel listening again to those recordings.  He realized the full story had not been told.  What happened during Munson's early years?  What was his father really like? 

If you read the Munson book, you'll notice three sections to it.  The first section is the early years.  The second section is the ticking time bomb; the countdown from July 12th through the August 2nd crash.  As you read, you feel the tension growing.  You sense that time is running out.  And there's nothing you can do about it.  The third section is The Aftermath.  The crash occured on a Thursday afternoon.  What happened after that, in the immediate days and the many Thursdays after?  Appel fills in gaps, transcribes a fascinating interview with Jerry Anderson, one of two surviving passengers in the plane Munson was flying, and describes how George Steinbrenner took control in a respectful and meaningful manner.  If you are interested in New York Yankees history, if you are interested in baseball history, if you are interested in a man who was often conflicted between love of family and love of flying, you will find Marty Appel's Munson: The Life and Death of a Yankee Captain to be well worth your time.

For a primer on Thurman Munson, on Marty Appel, and details about the book and the men, click on the interview below.  It brings more insight into the tragedy that was the death of Thurman Munson.  And it shows just why the word tragedy in baseball is saved for only the most important occasions.

THE MUSIC

Queensryche - Silent Lucidity

Phil Collins - In The Air Tonight

Paul Simon - Night Game

James Taylor - Fire And Rain

Elvis Costello - Accidents Will Happen

The Eagles - Journey of the Sorcerer

The Eagles - I Dreamed There Was No War

Alison Krauss & Union Station - Choctaw Hayride

Sting - Saint Agnes & The Burning Train

Sting - I Miss You Kate

Billy Joel - The Stranger