Thurman Munson represented one of the most memorable Cape Cod League legends, batting .420 en route to an MVP award and a championship for Chatham in 1967.
But Bobby Valentine remembers the Yankee great’s Cape tenure by a little-known story involving Munson channeling his inner Babe Ruth.
Speaking with Sweeny Murti at the Thurman Munson Awards event, Valentine recalled the time when Munson called his own shot, and promptly delivered.
“He was going into his senior year, and I was going into my senior year of high school,” Valentine said. “I was a high school kid, my legs were shaking, it was my first game in Cape Cod. He happened to be the catcher.
I ended the inning with a pretty good catch in left center, now I’m the leadoff hitter…he looked at me and said ‘Good catch. By the way, stand over there next inning, I want to hit one over your head.’”
Valentine returned to his dugout after grounding out to shortstop, and asked a teammate who the heck the chatty catcher was behind the plate.
“This guy talks all the time,” Valentine’s teammate said. “He never shuts up.”
Munson backed up his words when he stepped up to the plate for his next at-bat. Valentine didn’t realize it was Munson when he stepped into the box, but he quickly realized that the opposing catcher was fulfilling his promise.
“It doesn’t register, catcher, whoever it is, until I’m running towards the fence on the first swing he took, and I stop at the fence and it goes over the fence for a home run,” Valentine said.
Valentine assumed it was a little-known story from Munson’s incredibly accomplished baseball career, but turns out, he was the missing piece for Munson to confirm the legendary moment, which he learned after speaking with Munson’s widow, Diana Munson.
“She said, ‘Thurman told that story a thousand times before and nobody believed him, because he couldn’t remember who the kid was who was hitting!’” Valentine laughed.
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