The Captain and Me: On and Off the Field with Thurman Munson

As back-to-back #1 draft picks for the New York Yankees, Ron Blomberg and Thurman Munson made for an odd couple. One was a good-looking, gregarious kid from Atlanta, who cheerfully talked anyone's ear off at the slightest provocation; the other was a dumpy, grumpy dude from the Midwest rust belt who was about as fond of making idle chit-chat as he was of shaving. Despite the surface differences, the two men would form a close attachment as they ignited a youth movement with the 1970s Yankees. Now, over 40 years after Munson's shocking death in a plane crash at age 32, Blomberg reflects and opens up about the beloved Yankees captain in an extraordinary memoir that reaches far beyond baseball. By turns hilarious and heartbreaking, Blomberg shares uproarious tales of clubhouse hijinks during the infamous Bronx Zoo era, nocturnal adventures on the road, and even rubbing shoulders with mobsters. He also offers a fascinating, unvarnished glimpse of an incredibly tumultuous time in baseball history, providing a player's eye view of the first-ever strike and lockout, the dramatic escalation of the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry, and the introduction of full-scale free agency. Above all, this is an illuminating remembrance of Munson as a player and as a person, filled with previously untold stories about his analytical-yet-hardnosed approach to baseball, as well as his kindness and generosity off the field.