3. Thurman Munson
In 1970, Thurman Munson’s first year in the show, he took home the AL’s Rookie of the Year and he won the MVP in 1976 after slashing .302/.377/.432 with 17 home runs. He is the only Yankee to win both of those awards.
Munson was the first man to become team captain since Lou Gehrig and put together three straight yeats of a .300 batting average and 100 RBIs. In 1978, but he led his squad to its third pennant in a row and helped win back-to-back World Championships.
In tragic fashion, Munson’s life was taken in a plane crash on August 2, 1979. Owner George Steinbrenner ordered the retirement of his Number 15 immediately and a year later his Plaque in Monument Park was ready.
