Bobby Thomson, who hit the legendary home run dubbed “The Shot Heard ‘Round the World” and inspired perhaps the most famous broadcasting moment in baseball history, has died. He was 86.
Thomson, who had been in poor health for years, died Monday night at his home in Savannah, Ga., the Associated Press reported.
The Brooklyn Dodgers were two outs from the 1951 National League championship when Thomson hit his dramatic home run, sending the New York Giants to the World Series and sending broadcaster Russ Hodges into hysteria as he repeatedly screamed into his microphone, “The Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the pennant!”
“Bobby Thomson will always hold a special place in our game for hitting one of the signature home runs in baseball history,” Commissioner Bud Selig said in a statement. “The Shot Heard ‘Round the World will always remain a defining moment for our game, illustrating the timeless quality of the national pastime.”
The Dodgers and Giants moved to California after the 1957 season, but Thomson’s feat never was forgotten in New York.
“A guy came up to me on the street just last week and said, ‘I still hate you!’ ” Thomson told the Los Angeles Times in 1981. “But he laughed when he said it. I still get a kick out of it … all those years, and people still remember it so well.”
The Giants had trailed by 13 1/2 games on Aug. 11, but they won 37 of their final 44 games — including 12 of their final 13 — to force a three-game playoff with their crosstown rivals.
The Giants won the first game 3-1. The Dodgers, with a lineup that featured future Hall of Famers Jackie Robinson, Pee Wee Reese and Duke Snider, won the second game 10-0.
On Oct. 3, in the decisive third game, the Dodgers led 4-1 heading into the bottom of the ninth. Don Newcombe, who had won 20 games that year and had held the Giants to four hits through eight innings, gave up three hits to the first four batters in the ninth, and Dodgers manager Charlie Dressen replaced him with Ralph Branca.
With a city on its collective feet, Thomson hit Branca’s second pitch for the home run that capped the “Miracle on Coogan’s Bluff,” a reference to the setting of the Giants’ home field, the Polo Grounds.
“‘I didn’t run around the bases, I rode around ’em on a cloud,” Thomson said after the game. “‘I felt as if I was actually living one of those middle-of-the-night dramas. You know, everything was hazy. I heard yells. I saw papers flying. I noticed people jumping through the air, but through it all, I just kept riding high on that cloud.”
Thomson, a three-time All-Star who hit 32 homers in 1951 and played for the Cubs in 1958 and ’59, lived in the New York area for years after his career and forged a friendship with Branca. The two often made joint appearances for charity.
The relationship was strained after reports the Giants stole signs during the 1951 season, although Thomson insisted he had no idea what pitch Branca was about to throw.