WHAT WOULD THURMAN MUNSON HAVE DONE?

When Yogi speaks, please have a tendency to listen… then laugh. But in a statement from Yogi yesterday, you knew he was being heartfelt. This is what Yogi Berra said of Jorge Posada:

"Jorge is a good, caring man and a real good ballplayer for a long time... It's nice he spent his whole career with one team, he's been a very proud and important Yankee. I wish him and Laura and their family only the best."

Sure, we here at Bleeding Yankee Blue have expressed similar view points, and Tom Verducci’s column (HERE) says it in a similar, yet different way as well, but coming from a living Yankee icon like Yogi Berra made everything about Jorge Posada’s upcoming retirement announcement even more special. Why? Because it comes from a guy who saw and played with some of the greatest baseball players of all time. Jackie Robinson, Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays, Joe DiMaggio. Yogi may have left the Yankee organization for a bit, but that’s because he’s Italian and stubborn and didn’t like George speaking out of turn. I get it. In the end though, we all knew he’d be back… it’s Yogi "Freaking" Berra for crying out loud.

Yogi watched Jorge Posada grow up in the Yankee organization. Yogi saw Jorge's heart first hand and knew how important it was that Jorge wear the pinstripes and represent... like he did. I know the love for each other was genuine... But reading what Yogi said of Jorge got me thinking… I started to wonder what Thurman Munson would have said and done if he were alive today.

I know it’s ridiculous because there is no way of ever knowing, but Jorge grew up idolizing Thurman and I would almost bet Thurman would have embraced it. Look, Thurman was a tough guy, but in my scenario, if Thurman were around, I believe he would been showing up at spring training, or making sure he was at Old Timer's Day, because he loved being a New York Yankee, just like Jorge. No doubt Thurman would have probably stayed home with his family a lot because he was so family oriented, but I would almost imagine Munson feeling finally comfortable with the fame of being one of the toughest Yankee catchers ever and I could almost picture him and Jorge together a lot; Munson teaching, mentoring and even, when it came to Posada’s tough decision of retirement, helping him through it as well. After the playoff loss this year, I almost see Munson going to the papers saying something complimentary of Posada and his terrific postseason this year and I picture him reminding fans that Posada's "tough" and "he'd be back!" It’s sad to think that life was taken from Thurman so quickly because there is no doubt in my mind he’d be around the Yankee Organization in some capacity and he would have been honored to guide Jorge Posada because of Jorge’s affection for Thurman’s abilities on the field. I know Thurman would have fell love with Jorge's heart, the same heart he had as a ballplayer and there is no doubt in my mind he would have found Posada very similar to he when it comes to family.

There I got again… getting silly. Don’t ask me why I was thinking about Thurman Munson reading a Yogi Berra quote complimenting Jorge Posada. It’s a stretch, yet, it makes sense to me. The next several days will be interesting. Jorge Posada is about to retire and leave us with 2 of the Core Four. We all knew it was coming, but damn, it went way too fast didn’t it?

Luckily though, it ain’t over till it’s over.

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