Yankees News/Rumors: Diana Munson reacts to Kobe Bryant death, Sabathia fuming again, and the Rail Riders get a new manager.

Diana Munson reacts to Kobe Bryant’s death: Diana Munson can undoubtedly identify with Venessa Bryant, who is the wife of Kobe Bryant, who died Sunday along with their daughter Gianna, and seven others in the crash of a helicopter he owned while traveling to a basketball game.  Munson went through almost the same pain as Venessa is experiencing.  Both lost their husbands in an air crash, and both were left as single mothers with children that they had to explain that their daddy wouldn’t be coming home.  Bryant has the added pain of losing her 13-year-old daughter in the crash as well.  Munson lost her husband, Thurman Munson; the loved Yankee catcher in 1979 in the crash of his own Cessna Citation aircraft at Akron–Canton Airport in Ohio.  The parallels in the situation are uncanny, both deaths involved giant sports stars, both had a wife and children left behind, both died in the prime of their lives, and both died in crashes of aircraft they owned. 

When contacted by phone on Monday, Diana said:  “Sunday opened up a lot of wounds for me, It brought back that day very clearly. And it brought back a lot of feelings. Feelings I’ve tried to suppress for years. But it’s always there.”  She also recalled, “It was surprising for me, the reaction fans had, I look at the tapes from the fans at the Stadium from that night and you realize how much they loved Thurman, how much he meant to them and the impact it had, which I hadn’t fully understood.”  All of the  Yankees attended Munson’s funeral and returned just in time to play a Yankee game that evening.  That game was nationally televised.  Fans were still in shock over the loss of their Captain, many crying in the stands.  One of Thurman’s best friends, Bobby Mercer, hit the winning hit in the game in the ninth inning of one of the most emotional nights in Yankee Stadium history.   Munson in the conversation pointed out several similarities between Bryant and Munson, including the love of their families even to having their aircraft so they, despite their sports commitments they could still spend at much time at home as possible.

“I pray she is surrounded by love,’’ Diana said. “Her children will help her. Being a mom demands that you get back to life. I give my children [Michael and Kelly] so much credit for helping me carry on. They’re the reason I got up and wanted to go on. You have no choice. You’re still a mom. And faith is also important. When you’re by yourself, you have to dig the deepest and know that God is taking care of you.’’  Diana ended the phone interview by saying:  “I wish I could hug her and tell her everything is eventually gonna be okay, you have to take it day by day and let the memories you and the fans have sustain you.’’

Could Sabathia be fuming more?:  We all know from past reports that CC Sabathia was extremely angry over the Astros sign-stealing scheme that he believes cost the Yankees a legitimate shot at the 2017 world series.  Saturday at the Baseball Writers’ dinner at the Sheraton New York Times Square hotel. Sabathia was sitting two seats from the podium.  Justin Verlander was at the podium receiving his Cy Young Award.  After receiving the award, he made a speech.  In the statement, he stated:  “as everybody knows, they’re very technologically and analytically advanced,” referring to the Astros.  The comment drew a mix of boos, laughter, and applause.  Verlander’s intention is unknown, but Sabathia was infuriated by the comment.  Sitting between Sabathia and Verlander was Dodger Cody Bellinger, who did not look all that happy with the explanation either.  Sabathia, who just retired from the Yankees, was there to receive the  Long and Meritorious Service Award from the New York chapter of the BBWAA.  In his remarks, he did not refer to Verlander’s comment.

Rail Riders get new manager:  The Yankee’s Scranton Wilkes/Barre triple-A affiliate Rail Riders have a new manager in Doug Davis who was their bullpen coach last season.  The 57-year-old former major leaguer has been with the organization since 2017.  Davis played for the then California Angels and the Texas Rangers.  The Rail Riders have had four different managers in as many years despite going to the postseason in each of the four years.  The 2019 manger was Jay Bell, who quit the job at the end of last season to test the waters for becoming a major league manager.  Bell ended up taking a step down to manager the double-A Rocket City Trash Pandas of the Los Angeles Angels organization.