Five Days in August: The Lasting Legacy of Yankees Captain Thurman Munson

By Erik Sherman

Five Days in August recounts events surrounding the day New York Yankees Captain Thurman Munson was killed in a plane crash. Days later teammate Bobby Murcer gave the eulogy for his friend in the morning in Ohio, then played that night at Yankee Stadium, defeating the first-place Baltimore Orioles by driving in all five runs before a national television audience.

Prior to his tragic death at the age of thirty-two, Munson put up numbers and achievements that would fill any Hall of Fame plaque. The pudgy catcher, named American League MVP in 1976, was the heart and soul of the Yankees when they won three straight pennants and two World Series titles. He was relatable to so many--the everyman from a working-class family and a player with a tremendous work ethic and competitive spirit that got every ounce of talent from his often-battered body.

A loving husband and father of three children, Munson always wanted to find a way to spend more time with his Ohio-based family. His answer: learning to fly his own airplane. After flying two of his own prop planes, he upgraded to a jet--a Cessna Citation. While practicing take-offs and landings, he crashed short of the Akron-Canton Airport. His death shocked not just the baseball world but an entire nation.

Munson remains beloved by Yankees fans and is remembered as one of the toughest, most admired athletes to play the game. Erik Sherman recounts Munson's last days with new insights from teammates Lou Piniella, Roy White, Ron Guidry, Graig Nettles, Reggie Jackson, Mickey Rivers, Goose Gossage, Sparky Lyle, Chris Chambliss, Jerry Narron, Fred Stanley, and Bucky Dent. Through heartfelt interviews with 1970s-era Yankees, opponents, friends, one of the two survivors from the crash, as well as conversations with Diana Munson and other loved ones, Sherman examines Munson's impact on the lives he left behind and his legacy nearly a half century later.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1496247760
• ISBN13: 9781496247766
• Release Date: May 2027
• Publisher: University of Nebraska Press
• Length: 216 Pages