Bobby Thomson, RIP

[GA Russell]

Bobby Thomson has died.

I've been to Cooperstown a couple of times, and I've found his bat to be the most memorable item on display!

IMO, it wasn't what he did, it was Russ Hodges' call, that made him famous.

http://www.latimes.com/news/la-mew-bobby-thomson18-20100818,0,7687136.story

[BruceH]

Time rumbles on. RIP

[Dave James]

In its storied history, baseball has seen more than its share of miraculous and memorable moments, but none rise to the level of the "shot heard round the world." The setting, the long standing rivalry between the two teams and the almost insane passion of each team's fans; a field filled with future Hall of Famers the likes of Mays, Snider, Irvin, Campanella and Reese along with Russ Hodges' call for the ages...how could you ask for anything more?

[Quincy]

The home run is so big it has 2 great nicknames, the other being the "Miracle of Coogan's Bluff."

[AllenLowe]

....and the giants win the pennant....and the giants win the pennant....and the giants win the pennant....and the giants win the pennant.....and the giants win the pennant....and the giants win the pennant....and the giants win the pennant....and the giants win the pennant.....and the giants win the pennant....and the giants win the pennant....and the giants win the pennant....and the giants win the pennant....

dammit

[Dave James]

[Noj]

If I recall correctly from my "Fabulous Finales" video, the Giants were considered "mathematically eliminated" at the end of June, then went on some insane stretch drive to tie the Dodgers and leave it up to a single game to decide the pennant. Thomson had hit a go-ahead home run off the same Dodger pitcher in a crucial game a short while before the "shot heard round the world." Even as a Dodger fan, the highlight gives me chills. There's nothing like a walk-off home run in a big game, and that's easily some of the most passionate announcing ever. Russ Hodges was in the moment!

[AllenLowe]

same thing basically happened to the Dodgers in '62 after Koufax went out on injury. That year was HELL for a Dodger fan. '63, however, redeemed them for eternity.

[Dave James]

same thing basically happened to the Dodgers in '62 after Koufax went out on injury. That year was HELL for a Dodger fan. '63, however, redeemed them for eternity.

Allen,

I have a friend who can quote Sandy Koufax statistics and trivia ad infinitum. All you have to do is mention 1963 and it's like you've thrown water on the Wicked Witch of the West.

[AllenLowe]

I loved Koufax, used to go see him every time he pitched against the Mets, which for him was like shooting fish in a barrel - instant death for the opposition.

He also came from the same part of Brooklyn as my mother, Bensonhurst.

Edited August 17, 2010 by AllenLowe

[Dave James]

He also came from the same part of Brooklyn as my mother, Bensonhurst.

That's a weird name for a woman.

[paul secor]

One hit made Bobby Thompson immortal in the world of baseball, and perhaps beyond. Someone, can't remember who, said that people who are old enough remember where they were when Bobby Thompson hit the shot heard 'round the world and when JFK was assasinated. Perhaps that's a bit of a reach, but perhaps not.

[AllenLowe]

I wasn't born yet in '51, but I remember EXACTLY where I was when I heard JFK was shot.

[PHILLYQ]

IMO, it wasn't what he did, it was Russ Hodges' call, that made him famous.

Oddly, many of the people listening to the game probably didn't hear Hodges' call- the game was carried on(IIRC) three different TV stations and more than one radio station, but it's that call that endures.

In those days there were three great teams in NYC.

[JSngry]

Ralph Branca injured his back the next spring by falling off a chair and landing on a soda bottle (this from an old interview in Sport magazine, ca. 1965-66) & never was the same after that.

Even allowing for the possibility that he was drunk and landed on a beer bottle, that's still some pretty fucked up luck.

#13.

[Joe]

Met Thomson on a couple of occasions (BB memorabilia shows; my dad's thing.) Incredibly nice and gracious man. He had a great memory, and good spin a good yarn.

[ghost of miles]

Don DeLillo wrote a wonderfully evocative fictional recreation of the Giants-Dodgers game, published first as "Pafko at the Wall" in Harper's and then later as the first chapter of his novel Underworld.

[Dave James]

A couple more interesting tidbits:

In his 2009 book Miracle Ball: My Hunt for the Shot Heard 'Round the World, Brian Biegel & Pete Fornatale explore the mystery of the actual baseball involved in this historic sporting event (the ball has never been recovered). They determined that a Franciscan nun attended the game, recovered the ball, and kept it in a shoebox with her modest worldly possessions for more than half a century, before bequeathing that shoebox to her biological sister. Her sister then deposited the shoebox in a landfill, forever dooming the mystery of the "Miracle Ball" to an unresolved status.

In the movie The Godfather, Sonny Corleone (played by James Caan) is listening to Russ Hodges' commentary of the playoff in his car just before he is shot dead, half an inning before Bobby Thomson hits the home run. This is an anachronism, as Corleone was killed in 1948.

[Jazzmoose]

I wasn't born yet in '51, but I remember EXACTLY where I was when I heard JFK was shot.

Strangely enough, I don't. But I do remember exactly where I was the next year when Herbert Hoover died...

[PHILLYQ]

Branca again winds up on the short end- he and Thompson did a lot of autograph shows together. I would think Branca's autograph alone isn't worth much now.

[Neal Pomea]

As great as that call is, turn off the volume next time and just see Eddie Stanky charging across the field, jumping for joy all over Leo Durocher at third base! It has to be one of the greatest images of pure joy in sports that I can think of!

Edited August 18, 2010 by It Should be You

[AllenLowe]

"Pafko at the Wall"

just for the record, I believe that refers to Andy Pafko.

[Dave James]

Branca again winds up on the short end- he and Thompson did a lot of autograph shows together. I would think Branca's autograph alone isn't worth much now.

On the wall of my music room hangs a B&W picture of Bobby Thomson and Ralph Branca taken immediately after the playoff game. Branca is in a suit and Thomson is still in his game uniform. Branca is choking Thomson. The picture also includes individual autographs of both players as well as their 1951 Bowman baseball cards. I had this professionally framed and mounted several years ago. It's one of my favorite things.

[Brad]

It was a confluence of things: the Giants came from 13 back (one of the greatest comebacks ever), the moment (the ninth inning in a three game playoff series), the man and the call.

Let's not forget the rivalry: when Jackie was traded to the Giants after the 1956 season, he decided he'd raher retire than put on a Giants uniform.

Brooklyn was devastated by the loss. You still can't bring it up to old time Brooklynites. It was a classic season for the Giants (Mays' first season and he was in the on deck circle) that wasn't tarnished by losing to the team the Giants and Dodgers could agree on that they hated: the Yankees.