I really don't wish to get into a debate over who should and should not be in Baseball's Hall of Fame. These debates are always lose-lose propositions.

     In my opinion, the Hall of Fame is exactly what it's title implies: The Hall of Famous, in this case, baseball players and officials. A person becomes famous for a lot of different reasons. One way a person becomes famous is through outstanding statistical records or achievements. But, that is not the only way. Contributing to winning teams, being the leader of a winning team, being an outstanding citizen in the community, and having influence are some other ways a person can achieve fame.

     There are players in the HOF who do not have the strong statistical records or achievements. However, they have attained "fame" through some other means and, thus, have been inducted. I have no idea whether this is right or wrong, but, it is the way the HOF operates. If the HOF were only for players who attained a certain statistical benchmark, they'd have to throw out about 50-75 guys and put in some different guys who have been overlooked for decades.

     An excellent book, written by Bill James, "Whatever Happened to the Hall of Fame?" presents a lot of thought on the entire process. I would suggest anybody who wants to argue whether someone should be in the HOF or not needs to read this book first.

     I have never really agreed with Mr. James on many issues, particularly those concerning Thurman. In his view, Mr. James feels that Thurman does not belong in the Hall because he did not play long enough and equated Thurman's fatal jet crash with a career-ending injury, which to me is just ridiculous!! There is a huge difference between a career-ending injury and being killed in a plane crash. One ends a career and one ends your life!

     There are other catchers who do not have the strong statistical records or achievements that Thurman has that are still in "The Hall." Four examples are Rick Ferrell, Roger Bresnahan, Ray Schalk and Mike "King" Kelly (though Kelly is not listed solely as a catcher).

     Let's compare Thurman's lifetime stats with these four catchers:

     Though he only had 113 lifetime homers, one must consider the ballpark he played in. Yankee Stadium was a wasteland for a right-handed batter when it came to hitting home runs. Forced to go to right field much of the time because of "Death Valley," he became a devastating opposite field hitter.

     During the 1970's, he was the best catcher in the American League. Though his career lasted for 11 years, the 7-time All-Star was established as one of the game's premier catchers. In three consecutive World Series appearances (1976-1978), Munson hit .529, .320 and .320 respectively.

     He started his career by winning the American League Rookie of the Year in 1970, batting .302 (just one of five seasons he hit over the .300 mark). He was a great defensive catcher and won the Golden Glove award three times.

     Thurman was the Captain and acknowledged leader on three straight pennant winning Yankee teams. A devastating clutch hitter, his lifetime World Series batting average was .373. It would have been interesting to see how he would have ranked with the great catchers of all-time if he had been able to play for another three to five years. As it is, his statistics still rank up there with the best!

     Many former ballplayers that I've had a chance to speak with have stated that Thurman should be in the Hall. Hall Of Famer Frank Robinson picked Thurman as the catcher for his All-Time team a few years back. But as I said in the beginning, the Hall Of Fame is is a rather strange animal! The criteria to get in seem to be different from one year to the next. My feelings are that Thurman will get into the Hall one day, when he becomes eligible by the Veterans Committee. This is just my opinion. I hope I am not wrong. If you were to ask any number of Yankee haters whether Thurman will ever get in, you will get an emphatic "NO" mixed in with a few expletives.

     Then again, if you were to ask Thurman if it ever mattered to him that he got into the Hall Of Fame, he would probably smile and say that "It's all B.S. anyway."