The Corpse Smelled ‘Round the World

Ralph Branca, who made Bobby Thomson a household name, has died at the age of 90. Coming into Oct 3, 1951, Branca was a 3-time All-Star, a former 20-game winner and a major part of why the Brooklyn Dodgers had built a 13 ½ game lead in the NL in August over the New York Giants. The Giants had gotten insanely hot – possibly thanks in part to back up catcher Sal Yvars stealing signs from the bullpen – and the Dodgers had faded down the stretch, forcing a 3-game playoff for the NL pennant. After the teams had split the first two games, the Dodgers had taken a 4-1 lead in the top of the 8^th of Game 3. Two singles, a double and poor defensive positioning had led to a run scoring and brought the winning run to the plate in the form of Thomson. Despite the fact that Thomson had hit a game-winning HR off Branca in the first game of the playoff, Dodgers’ manager Charlie Dressen figured lightning wouldn’t strike twice and brought Branca back. You may recall broadcaster Russ Hodges’ exclamation “The Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the pennant!” if you are trying to remember what happened next. Yvars later said that he had told Thomson what pitch was coming for the fateful HR, which Thomson denied, while admitting he had gotten the signs for his first 3 at-bats that day. A back injury in spring training in 1952 significantly limited Branca’s effectiveness, and he was out of baseball at the age of 30, playing in an Old Timers Game at Yankee Stadium in 1956 when his velocity caught the Dodgers’ attention and they brought him back for one final inning. Other career highlights include being one of the few Dodgers to stand alongside Jackie Robinson as he broke the color barrier on Opening Day 1947; becoming the first player in major league history to be ejected from a World Series game in which he wasn’t playing for bench jockeying the home plate umpire in Game 7 of the 1952 World Series; running the Baseball Assistance Team, a non-profit organization that provides financial aid to baseball players in need, for more than 17 years; and not stopping his daughter from marrying one of the biggest jackasses in baseball history: Bobby Valentine.