The Captain & Me

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

By Ron Blomberg & Dan Epstein / Foreword by Diana Munson

Contact: Bill Ames, Triumph Books, 312-676-4256, b.ames@triumphbooks.com

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 ‘70s Yankees.

Now, more than 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 – The Captain & Me: On and Off the Field with Thurman Munson. By turns hilarious and heartbreaking, Blomberg offers a fascinating, unvarnished glimpse of an incredibly tumultuous time in baseball history. This is a deeply personal story of a friendship between two seemingly disparate teammates and of a human bond that ultimately transcends the game itself. Blomberg also highlights:

• Uproarious tales of clubhouse hijinks during the infamous Bronx Zoo era
• Nocturnal adventures on the road, and even rubbing shoulders with mobsters
• A player's eye view of the first-ever strike and lockout
• The introduction of full-scale free agency
• The dramatic escalation of the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry

Above all, The Captain & Me 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.

About the Authors:

Ron Blomberg spent eight seasons in the majors with the New York Yankees and the Chicago White Sox, and was twice voted "Most Popular Person in New York" during his playing days with the Yankees. He earned a place in Cooperstown, thanks to becoming the first designated hitter to make a plate appearance in an official MLB game (he walked with the bases loaded), and he was inducted into the National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 2004 and was elected to the New York Baseball Hall of Fame in 2021. He is the author of Designated Hebrew: The Ron Blomberg Story. 

Dan Epstein is the author of the 1970s baseball histories Big Hair and Plastic Grass: Baseball and America in the Swinging '70s and Stars and Strikes: Baseball and America in the Bicentennial Summer of 1976. He writes about baseball, music and pop culture for a variety of outlets, including Rolling Stone, Revolver and the Jewish Daily Forward. He lives in Greensboro, North Carolina.