Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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A fond By Joe Scalers Special to the Gamecock TIJ 1!1 A- -1 'n i u iiKe 10 snare witn you my tribute to a man I've admired for his loyalty, his devotion, and his competitive spirit since 1969. The man is number 15, the /innfn;n M?... -vr?i captain ui 111c ixcw iulk Yankees for as long as I'll live, Thurman Munson. If there is one statement that can describe what Munson meant to the Yankees and the fans, it is what appeared on the scoreboard at Yankee Stadium this past Friday. It read: 4'Our captain and leader has not left us-today, tomorrow, this year, next...Our endeavors will reflect our love and admiration for him." Following the an nouncement, Yankee fans reflected Thurman's competitive spirit by not crying or giving him the traditional moment of silence, but rather by giving I ^ % W "I * .a m him a nine-minute standing ovation This i?s lmr** \*ro ? - * - -*M A V?AV/ *v/ ? V/ ff V had for this man. I remember Thurman Munson in 1969 very well. He came up from the minor leagues late in the season and at the time the Yankees were losers. I remember I laughed at him and wondered how the Yankees were ever going to be winners again with a oudev catcher named Thurman. Munson said he would show us and we laughed. Never did I dream then, that years later I would be stuffing close to 1,000 votes in the all-star ballot box for that pudgy catcher. You see, Thurman did show us, and it didn't take long. In 1970, Thurman was the American League Rookie-of-the-Year. He showed us with his cat-like speed when he would beat the batter out of the box on a bunt. He showed us with his quick release that picked runners off first and second base like flies and gunned ' ?PBP S ik ) I i* eg 1 ' ~ ' i v ' i ' rfi ' i nil Lmmm Thurman Munson 11 fr^TKi, UL l.\/ M. IIU down runners trvinf* to ? J ?0 -? steal. He showed us with his i clutch hitting, especially to the opposite field. Most of all, he showed us with the Hpciro onH huefln fV-?of morln uv/uij. unu ?1V40VAV^ tllUI lliaUC up for the grace that he lacked. To us bleacher bums, the poor fan who pays a dollar to sit on a wooden seat, Munson became a symbol for the little man, just as Billy Martin is. Thnrman alwavs wanfpH to be the best and he was very sensitive about this. During his whole career he was constantly fighting for recognition against Johnny Bench and Carlton Fisk. Honrth nloifoH An n mi Jinn*' i^vwv.ii piajrcu on a Williiti while Munson played on a loser. Fisk had three advantages over Munson. Fisk was attractive, played on a winner and had a short 1 off fiolH ir? tToniirnii Doflr fn 1V1I< 11V/1U 111 X' V.11 VV CI J 1 U1 IV LU hit against. When Thurman finally did win, he had to compete with his own vJr^r aliMwCaffTLiBg ? ^Bv -V^V i |V: 7 ^jjtt; . - v-Vv^:J ^; | 'f|l 0^r" 3 'mTH ^ ^ w ^pp I J* ^ i $ f ** Ik m ? , m Reprinted with permission from Sport magazine urmanlV teammate, Reggie Jackson, for recognition. The rivalry between Fisk and Munson will be forever remembered in baseball history. It was not that they hated each other but that each wanted to prove he was better than the other. This made the feud between the Yankees, the Red Sox and the fans more intense. A Clemson-Carolina game is nothing if you've ever oeen to a Yankee-Keel Sox game and watched the competition between Thurman and Fisk. This fierce competition spread from the field into the stands with the fans backing their favorite catcher with their fists in the grandstand or their pencil at the ballot box. This was baseball at its very best. SPORT magazine this year rated Munson tops in most of the categories for catchers. It's a shame the entire country didn't realize Munson's great talents. Munson was a sensitive man and refused to talk to the press. This fact depicted him as being unsociable. Ask the fans if this was the Munson they knew. He always went out of his way to talk to the fans and sign autographs. He refused to talk to reporters because if he was going to win any Students win By Chris Sosriowski Gamecock Staff Wrltar Two members of the USC Whitewater Canoe Club have won the National Whitewater Canoe Championships slalom course event, attaining a number one ranking in the | nation. The champions, John Zubizarreta, and Margie Carlisle, attended the Nationals July 27-28, on the Salmon River, Pulaski, N.Y., near Lake Ontario. Zubizarreta, a graduate student working on his doc torate in English, joined Carlisle, a senior physical education major, to overcome some twenty other teams in the C-2 mixed class, involving a team of two, male and female. [ Overall, there were some 600 competitors involved in the various classifications at the Nationals, including men's and women's single and double team events. The slalom category involved between 250 and 300 people, Carlisle said. The USC duo prepared for the Nationals by winning the Southeast National competition fi incAn ALUlOV/11 i? u l j i 1 ctwciius, 11 wuuiu ut; utiuaust; he earned them on the field. Thurman was a loyal man, both to his family and to the Yankees. In the end, his loyalty cost him his life. He asked to be traded several times so that he could be close to his family. If he had been traded he micrht ctill Ho oliiro UVAii MV/ UA1 V V/ tVVIUJ 9 but I doubt if he would have been happy in anything but Yankee pinstripes. Thurman belonged nowhere else but Yankee x Stadium. In fact, when his knees troubled him this year he said that he would nlav anv other nosition in L ^ ^ i order to remain a Yankee. Many now feel that the Yankees will fold for the rest of the season. I doubt that very much because that is not the Yankee way < i? en in 11 is> nut li it? way Thurman would have wanted it. If the Yankees go down, it will be like the world champions they are. We will all miss that grumpy looking man with the little kid inside him. We will always be grateful to Thurman for keeping up the winning tradition of the New York Yankees. If there is one thing 1 regret not doing while you were alive, Thurm, it's not stuffing the ballot box more. Fdilors note: Scalera is a student Supreme Court Justice and a longtime V Y. Yankee fan. t canoe finals earlier this year. They placed ? *: *1 ~i ! iuui m in uic i let 11 ui let 1 Ullcllllpionships last year, and are j tentatively looking forward to next year's competition. "You have to be aggressive and go for it," Carlisle said. Currently, Zubizarreta and Carlisle are keeping their paddles wet and their whitewater skills sharp for future competition as instructors at the Natahala River Outdoor Center in North j Carolina. The pair is contemplating participating in the National Deck Boat (kayaks, as opposed to open canoes) competition on ; the Savage River in Maryland j this September. Carlisle said that she would be returning to USC in the fall to continue her of I i/li ...I4U OIUU1CS <11111 WU1R Willi Lilt? Carolina canoeists, although Zubizarreta's plans at this time are indefinite. In any event, the champions will remain active and involved in whitewater until next vear. when it will bo time to defend their number one national ranking against competition from across the country.