“The catcher is the most important man in the game. He does the same kind of job a quarterback does in football. He directs the pitchers and calls the game for them. He must know the capabilities and weaknesses of each batter who comes to the plate. He also acts as kind of a field general because from his position he can oversee the entire field. Even more, he has the important duty of protecting home plate as the runner comes tearing in to try to make the score.”

However, his Yankees would not surpass the 90-win threshold again in those seasons. Amidst that stretch, George Steinbrenner would buy the Yankees from CBS, giving the franchise an ostentatious figurehead and an open checkbook. The Yankees began to see the fruits of new ownership in 1975, when the Boss signed Catfish Hunter to the first big-money free agent deal in baseball history and he won 23 games en route to a Cy Young runner-up finish.

It was the following season, with Munson entrenched as team captain, that the Yankees would take the next step, winning 97 games and taking the East. In a deep and formidable lineup, the 29-year-old almost always hit third and delivered, batting .302 with 105 RBI. That offensive performance, paired with his defensive ability and handling of a surging pitching staff, netted him the 1976 AL MVP, joining Yogi Berra and Elston Howard as the third Yankees catcher to do so.

Munson was a force in the ALCS against the rival Royals, hitting .435 in a series that came down to a decisive Game 5. In a back-and-forth affair that would end in a 7-6 Yankees victory, the Yankee captain collected two separate RBI base knocks that equated to the difference in the game. He was even better in the World Series, going 9-for-17, but the rest of his team would not follow as New York was swept by Cincinnati.

That offseason came with another encouraging announcement for Munson. Steinbrenner agreed to pay him $1.25 million over five years, making him the team’s highest-paid player. Munson disclosed at the time a verbal agreement that Steinbrenner would adjust the contract if needed to ensure he remained atop the team’s payroll no matter who they signed in the interim. It wasn’t much later that he learned of a free agent agreement that would pay veteran slugger Reggie Jackson between $3 million and $3.5 million over the same time period. This broken trust with Steinbrenner contributed not only to a rift in their relationship but the beginnings of a disdain for Jackson and a general calcification of Munson’s already ornery public persona.

The Yankees’ 1977 season would become the stuff of legend. Reggie and Billy fighting in the dugout at Fenway. Jackson’s infamous “straw that stirs the drink” interview. Billy refusing to bat Reggie cleanup. With the Bronx Zoo open for business, Munson may no longer have been the Yankees’ biggest star or most dynamic personality, but he continued to rake, hitting .308 and driving in 100 for the third straight year. It would be Jackson, who Munson had ironically nicknamed “Mr. October” early on the playoffs as he struggled, who rose to the challenge in the World Series, hitting three homers in the clincher and earning the derisive moniker in earnest. But Munson was his usual, reliable self, hitting .304 with a pair of homers to help the Yankees topple first the Royals and then the Dodgers for their 21st title.

The next year brought much of the same. Munson, now in his 30s, was slowed by a series of injuries, including sore knees, nerve damage in his thumb, and bursitis in his right arm. These issues sapped him of his power, as he hit only six homers, the fewest since his rookie season. Munson still hit .297 and appeared in 125 games behind the dish, providing a steadying force as the Yankees overcame a 14-game deficit and Martin’s mid-season departure to take the East in a thrilling, one-game playoff against Boston. In what would become known as the Bucky Dent game, Munson delivered a key RBI double in the seventh to provide some much-needed insurance.

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He kept it going in the playoffs, hitting .302 as the Yankees once again defeated Kansas City and LA to repeat.

On August 2, 1979, with the Yankees in the midst of a disappointing campaign and while dealing with knee injuries that were making it difficult for him to catch every day, Munson went to the Canton-Akron airport to work on landings in his new Cessna twin engine jet. After earning his pilot’s license in the 1977 offseason, aviation had become a passion and an avenue for more easily visiting his family back in Ohio during the season. While attempting his third landing of the day, the Cessna clipped three trees before crashing and setting fire, taking the life of its pilot.

The tragedy sent the baseball world into mourning. The brash Steinbrenner, famous for his aphorism that winning was second in importance only to breathing, could not help but puncture that façade.