NY champs Nelson, Wilson honored at Thurman Munson Awards

NEW YORK -- After going virtual in 2021 due to the pandemic, the 42nd annual Thurman Munson Awards were live on Monday night at Chelsea Piers in New York City.

This year, two prominent New York baseball figures were honored: former Yankees reliever Jeff Nelson and former Mets outfielder Mookie Wilson. Seven-time Olympic gold medalist Katie Ledecky and soccer star Margaret Purce were also honored at the event.

As guests enjoyed a three-course dinner while overlooking the Hudson River, wine glasses clinked, money was pledged and an outpouring of appreciation for the late Yankees captain was expressed.

“I think some of what I became as a player in New York was from listening to people talk about Thurman Munson,” Wilson said in his acceptance speech. “They spoke of him as if he was still alive. And he touched a lot of people -- in the Yankees organization, in the city of New York. And I hope that I can live up to the legacy that he has set for all of us.”

The Thurman Munson Awards are presented annually to professional and Olympic athletes in honor of their sports accomplishments and community contributions. The event has been going strong since 1980, the year after Munson died in a plane crash at age 32.

Since its inception, the event has raised over $18 million for the AHRC New York City Foundation, which funds programs to support adults and children with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Munson’s widow, Diana, was not in attendance, but she has been an integral part of the Thurman Munson Awards for over 40 years. During that time, many prominent baseball players have been honored, including Yogi Berra, Mariano Rivera, Tom Seaver and Gary Carter. On Monday, two more pillars of New York championships added their names to that esteemed list.

Nelson debuted with the Yankees long after Munson’s time, but he, like Munson, was a multi-time World Series champion. The reliever was an essential piece of the Yankees’ late-’90s dynasty and won four World Series titles, in 1996, 1998, 1999 and 2000.

“You always look at guys on opposing teams and you’re like, ‘I wonder what that guy would be like as a teammate,’” Nelson said in his acceptance speech. “And hearing all the stories about Thurman Munson, he was a guy [that] I was like, ‘I wonder what that would have been like to be a teammate and throw to him.’ … He demanded excellence.”

Nelson has pursued many philanthropic endeavors over the years, but the one closest to his heart was the annual charity golf tournament he helped run while living in Seattle, which raised money for cystic fibrosis research.

“Randy Johnson and Jay Buhner started [the golf tournament] and then when Randy got traded, everybody kind of jumped in,” Nelson said. “Then I tried to help out Jay, and we always ran it, and it was such a great event. It was a great cause. … Cystic fibrosis is probably something that I tend to lean toward if I’m going to support a charity.”

Ten years before Nelson arrived in the Bronx, Wilson sparked some World Series magic of his own in Queens. He spent 10 years with the Mets from 1980-89, primarily as a center fielder. Wilson’s shining moment came in Game 6 of the 1986 World Series, when he tapped a ground ball that snuck under Red Sox first baseman Bill Buckner’s glove and changed the course of Mets history.

“I have to set the record straight,” said Wilson. “It was a slow roller up along first base. Some people say it was a hit. But the question is, would I have beaten him to the bag? Yes, I would have beaten him to the bag.”

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If any former Mets player is going to receive an award for community goodwill efforts, it’s Wilson. Since 2012, he has served as a Mets Ambassador and has worked with many organizations over the years, including the Manhattan VA Hospital, military bases and the Ronald McDonald House.

“A lot of the hospitals I’ve gone to [in the New York area had patients] that were from my area in South Carolina, but in VAs up here,” Wilson said. “So just sitting down and talking with them, listening to some of their struggles and knowing that you could put a smile on their face just by being there, that means a lot. And I will continue to do that as long as I am able.”

Several other New York baseball luminaries attended the event, including former Mets manager Bobby Valentine, former Mets pitcher Nelson Figueroa and former Yankees catcher John Flaherty. Early on in his speech, Nelson made sure to poke fun at Valentine, his former Subway Series foe.

“It’s an honor to be here, and I do have my 2000 World Series ring. Sorry, Bobby,” Nelson said to a chuckling crowd.

Wilson ended his speech with similarly good-natured comments, which reflected the evening’s jovial spirit.

“I’m gonna make this short,” Wilson said, “because the one thing you don’t do is give a Baptist preacher a mic. That’s a mistake right there.”