In April of 1986 I moved to Boston and the Red Sox began a magic season that saw them capture the American League pennant and then go on to the World Series where I believe something happened but I can’t quite recall what it was. This was an ideal time to be a Sox fan in the Auld Towne as Fenway Park was just as much a baseball shrine but wasn’t yet the tourist destination it has become – in other words you could still get relatively cheap and good seats for a game, especially if you knew someone at the ticket window. I did – and during that year I managed to see the pennant clinching 7th game of the championship series, the division clinching game where Roger Clemens ended up riding a horse around the field (remember when we all still liked Roger?) and a contest against the White Sox where I sat next to Jack Nicholson. (Me to my mother “Ma – I’m sitting next to Jack Nicholson at Fenway…” Mom: “That’s great Mike – make sure you get some golf tips”. Me (after a pause): “Ma, that’s Jack Nicklaus…”). Anyway – all of those games were great but from a pure baseball history standpoint nothing can top the game I saw on the 17th of May. That was “Old Timers Day” at Fenway and I got to see Ted Williams come to bat (I don’t care if it was an exhibition – that was something to see). I was also witness to the last time the three baseball playing Dimaggio brothers appeared on a ball field, Dom, Joe and lesser known Vince all were there. I also got a chance to see a bunch of sixty year old women act like teenagers at a Justin Bieber concert when a guy by the name of Tommy Holmes wandered past. It turns out Holmes had been one of the Boston Braves’ most popular players back in the forties and the ladies still remembered, even though the Braves hadn’t been in Boston since the early ‘50’s. They love their baseball in Boston.
One of the day's other highlights came when two men stopped right by my seat to pose for pictures together. There were a few people around who realised what they were seeing, but for the most part I think the crowd just thought these were another couple of old ballplayers who were there to fill out the rosters. I knew better, for few players were more closely linked in American literary, broadcasting, sporting and just general history than the two men who were chatting in front of me. Dom DeLillo’s classic book Underworld would concern their fateful meeting. The most played moment in sports broadcasting revolved around them. The most iconic event in baseball history, the “Shot heard ‘round the world” took place in 1951 as the result of their interaction. They were Bobby Thomson and Ralph Branca, forever linked by fate, standing a few feet away by the Fenway dugout.
Thomson was the batter who hit the famous home run that won the pennant for the Giants that year, in the final inning of the final game of a special playoff series that resulted from the fact the Giants had stormed back to catch the Dodgers in the standings in the last month of the season, tying them on the final day and bringing the battle down to this one, climactic, epic moment. Here it is as described by Russ Hodges:
https://www.youtube.com/
Thomson got the glory that afternoon, but Branca, as the pitcher who threw the ball, is a story to be equally admired. He was terribly affected by the event on the day. George Plimpton, in Ken Burns documentary “Baseball” describes him as being stretched out “like cordwood”, prostrate with grief on the clubhouse steps, a fact borne out by a famous photograph taken just after the game. There was so much concern for Branca that a priest was called to counsel him in the parking lot next to the stadium. “Why me, father, why me?” Branca asked. The priest could only say that God must have chosen him because he knew that he was strong enough to bear the burden of having thrown the pitch.
I don’t know whether God chose him or not, but Branca certainly bore the stigma with incredible grace. He and Thomson became friendly in the years after the events of 1951 (as evidenced by their joint appearance in Boston, 35 years later) and he never shied away from talking about what happened that day. Branca went on to be a beloved figure, establishing himself as a business leader, an ambassador for the game and one of the founders of a charity that helps players who have fallen on hard times.
There is another story that is perhaps even more telling. In 1947 Branca had his best year with the Dodgers, winning 21 games. He also befriended Jackie Robinson, who broke the color barrier that year and faced constant abuse in doing so. Branca lived near Robinson and the two would drive together to and from the games, a sign to all that Robinson was accepted by his teammates. On opening day, with Robinson having faced death threats and amidst fears of his being shot when he took the field, Ralph Branca made sure to stand, with his enveloping 6’4” frame, next to Jackie Robinson on the first base line when the teams were introduced. His brother asked “Ralph, what would have happened if someone took a shot at Jackie and hit you instead?”
“I would have died a hero” he replied.
Yesterday, at age 90, Branca did exactly that.
Rest in Peace, Ralph Branca.
One of the day's other highlights came when two men stopped right by my seat to pose for pictures together. There were a few people around who realised what they were seeing, but for the most part I think the crowd just thought these were another couple of old ballplayers who were there to fill out the rosters. I knew better, for few players were more closely linked in American literary, broadcasting, sporting and just general history than the two men who were chatting in front of me. Dom DeLillo’s classic book Underworld would concern their fateful meeting. The most played moment in sports broadcasting revolved around them. The most iconic event in baseball history, the “Shot heard ‘round the world” took place in 1951 as the result of their interaction. They were Bobby Thomson and Ralph Branca, forever linked by fate, standing a few feet away by the Fenway dugout.
Thomson was the batter who hit the famous home run that won the pennant for the Giants that year, in the final inning of the final game of a special playoff series that resulted from the fact the Giants had stormed back to catch the Dodgers in the standings in the last month of the season, tying them on the final day and bringing the battle down to this one, climactic, epic moment. Here it is as described by Russ Hodges:
https://www.youtube.com/
Thomson got the glory that afternoon, but Branca, as the pitcher who threw the ball, is a story to be equally admired. He was terribly affected by the event on the day. George Plimpton, in Ken Burns documentary “Baseball” describes him as being stretched out “like cordwood”, prostrate with grief on the clubhouse steps, a fact borne out by a famous photograph taken just after the game. There was so much concern for Branca that a priest was called to counsel him in the parking lot next to the stadium. “Why me, father, why me?” Branca asked. The priest could only say that God must have chosen him because he knew that he was strong enough to bear the burden of having thrown the pitch.
I don’t know whether God chose him or not, but Branca certainly bore the stigma with incredible grace. He and Thomson became friendly in the years after the events of 1951 (as evidenced by their joint appearance in Boston, 35 years later) and he never shied away from talking about what happened that day. Branca went on to be a beloved figure, establishing himself as a business leader, an ambassador for the game and one of the founders of a charity that helps players who have fallen on hard times.
There is another story that is perhaps even more telling. In 1947 Branca had his best year with the Dodgers, winning 21 games. He also befriended Jackie Robinson, who broke the color barrier that year and faced constant abuse in doing so. Branca lived near Robinson and the two would drive together to and from the games, a sign to all that Robinson was accepted by his teammates. On opening day, with Robinson having faced death threats and amidst fears of his being shot when he took the field, Ralph Branca made sure to stand, with his enveloping 6’4” frame, next to Jackie Robinson on the first base line when the teams were introduced. His brother asked “Ralph, what would have happened if someone took a shot at Jackie and hit you instead?”
“I would have died a hero” he replied.
Yesterday, at age 90, Branca did exactly that.
Rest in Peace, Ralph Branca.
No comments:
Post a Comment