Summer of ’77 Steps Up To The Plate

Fran Healy was Thurman Munson’s back-up catcher in 1977, the summer New York City was gripped by the Son of Sam, a divisive mayor’s race, a citywide blackout, and one of the most bombastic and colorful Yankees teams of all-time.

MSG refers to Healy as one of the “Yankee greats” in the press release announcing Summer of ‘77, a new original documentary about that tumultuous season. While Healy played in only 27 games for the World Champion Bombers in ‘77 and hit a meager .224, he is a wealth of primary source material about the season and spoke candidly to B&C about what he thought of the way Yanks’ star Reggie Jackson was portrayed in the ESPN mini-series The Bronx Is Burning. Healy said Reggie was a “great teammate” and well-respected in the Yanks’ clubhouse.

A Yankee great? Maybe not. But Healy is known as one of the game’s all-time storytellers and baseball loves great storytellers just as much as they do great ballplayers.

MSG is airing a special telecast of The Bronx Is Burning with limited commercials on April 5 at 9 p.m. Each episode will be followed by an installment of Summer of ‘77. The new documentary offers up commentary from athletes, writers, politicians, and celebrities who share personal memories about life in New York in ‘77.

Fran Healy Talks Summer Of ‘77 from Broadcasting & Cable on Vimeo