Bobby Thomsom signed 8x10 With COA You can see the athletes signing here player signing Check out my other items! The "Shot Heard 'Round the World"Thomson became a celebrity for hitting a game-winning home run in a playoff game, off of Brooklyn Dodgers pitcher Ralph Branca, to win the 1951 National League pennant. The home run (nicknamed the "Shot Heard 'Round the World") is perhaps the most famous in baseball history.  Thomson hits the 'Shot Heard 'Round the World' This event was even more dramatic than it may seem to the modern sports observer, as league pennants were not routinely decided by playoff until 1969 and only occurred in years in which teams finished the regular season in a tie, as had happened in 1951. Prior to this, a league playoff for the pennant had only been necessary in 1946 (NL) and 1948 (AL). The home run was an exclamation point on a dramatic season for the Giants. Although some had considered them a pre-season favorite to win the pennant, they faltered badly in the early going. By mid-August, they were 13½ games behind the league-leading Dodgers. But the Giants went on a late-season tear, winning 37 of their final 44 games to tie the Brooklyn team on the final day of the season and force the three-game playoff. The Dodgers and Giants split the first two games. Thomson’s two run homer off Ralph Branca was the difference in the first game, as the Giants won 3-1. Brooklyn’s Clem Labine shut the Giants down in Game 2, by a score of 10-0. This forced the decisive contest on October 3 at the Polo Grounds. The Dodgers took a 4-1 lead into the bottom of the ninth inning, and the Giants' cause appeared lost. But Thomson's homer turned what looked like a certain defeat into a 5-4 victory. The moment was immortalized by the famous call of Giants play-by-play announcer Russ Hodges who cried, "The Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the pennant!" Waiting to hit behind Thomson in the on deck circle was a young man who would hit a few home runs of his own: rookie Willie Mays. The Giants' miracle run ended at the 1951 World Series. The Yankees swept the last three games to win the series 4-games-to-2. Thomson had a mild series, batting .238 without any home runs. Rumors that the 1951 Giants stole signs en route to the pennant were confirmed in 2001, when several players told the Wall Street Journal that beginning on July 20, 1951, the team used a telescope and buzzer wire to steal the finger signals of opposing catchers careless enough to not protect their signs.[1] Joshua Prager detailed the revelations in a book titled The Echoing Green: The Untold Story of Bobby Thomson, Ralph Branca and The Shot Heard Round the World. Giant catcher Sal Yvars told Prager that he relayed to Thomson the stolen sign for Branca's fastball. But Thomson denied that he had foreknowledge of the pitch he hit off Branca for the pennant-winning home run. | 
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