This lot is closed. Bidding ended on 5/11/2001.
Your first reaction upon seeing this incredibly lifelike wax figure of the late New York Yankee catcher Thurman Munson will be a double-take. It was meticulously handcrafted along with several other wax figures of baseball legends like Ty Cobb, John McGraw and Satchel Paige for
the American Baseball Archive, a museum slated to open at the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown,
New York in 1995. The museum's financial difficulties resulted in the repossession of these amazing works of art, which have never before been seen by the public. The hugely popular Munson was a natural choice as someone who embodied baseball tradition by playing his heart out game after game. Those who knew Munson, who captained Yankee championship teams in
1977 and ‘78 before being killed in a tragic plane crash in 1979, will appreciate the amazing detail that went into this likeness. Maintained in excellent condition, the figure stands 68", exactly Munson's height, and perfectly recreates his steel blue eyes, his unruly head of hair, bushy mustache and gruff expression. Clad in a regulation Yankee uniform, in full catcher's gear, with a catcher's mitt on his left hand and standing on a regulation-sized home plate, Munson has a ball in his hand ready to gun down a runner at second, looking so determined that your second reaction may be to duck