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“The Giants Win the Pennant! The Giants Win the Pennant!”
I don’t know about you, but I still get chills up and down my spine whenever I hear Russ Hodges’ classic call of Bobby Thomson’s “Shot Heard Round the World,” which gave the 1951 pennant to the Giants. I know in recent years there has been controversy as to whether or not the Giants had some system in place to steal the catcher’s signals, so that their batters knew what pitches were coming. That may or not be true, but I still think this is one of the most thrilling moments in baseball history.
Throughout the first half of the 1951 season, the Dodgers led the National League by a large margin. As late as August 10, they were 12 1⁄2 games ahead of the Giants, and they were looking ahead to facing the Yankees in the World Series. And then the Giants suddenly caught fire, winning 16 straight games from August 12 to August 27, cutting their deficit down to six. The Dodgers still had a 4 1⁄2 game lead as late as September 20. The Giants proceeded to win their last seven games, and in the final game of the season, the Dodgers found themselves actually needing a win to tie the Giants. They narrowly escape with a 9–8 win over the Phillies in 14 innings — which included a fabulous play by Jackie Robinson in extra innings to save the game — as both teams finished with identical 96-58 records.
Next up was a three-game playoff to decide the pennant. For Game One, the Dodgers chose Ralph Branca as he had beaten the Giants twice in the regular season; while the Giants chose Jim Hearn. The Giants won the first game, 3-1, thanks to home runs by Bobby Thomson and Monte Irvin. For Game Two, the Giants had Sheldon Jones pitch so that they could save Sal Maglie for Game Three or the first game of the World Series. The Dodgers went with Clem Labine. The Dodgers bounced back to win the second game 10-0 thanks to four home runs. This set the stage for the deciding Game Three at the Polo Grounds. Maglie was on the mound for the Giants, while the Dodgers called on Don Newcombe. Both pitchers had winning records against the opposing team heading into the historic match-up. Newcombe had pitched a complete game the previous Saturday, then thrown 5⅔ innings in relief the next day in the last game of the regular season.
The Giants were down by three runs going into the bottom of the ninth, with the badly tiring Newcombe still on the mount for the Dodgers. Giants’ shortstop Alvin Dark singled to start the inning. At that point, the Dodgers made a crucial defensive mistake: With no outs, a runner on first, and a 3-run lead, the normal strategy would be to position the infield for a possible double play; but first baseman Gil Hodges played close to the base to hold the runner, leaving a large gap on the right side of the infield. Don Mueller then hit a single through that gap past a diving Hodges and Dark advanced from first to third. Up next was Irvin who chased the first pitch and popped out. At this stage, Newcombe attempted to take himself out of the game, only to have Jackie Robinson talk him into trying to finish the ninth.
Whitey Lockman followed with a double down the left field line, driving in Dark and advancing Mueller to third. Mueller slid awkwardly into the bag and broke his ankle, forcing the Giants to send in Clint Hartung to pinch run for him. This brought up Bobby Thomson with first base open but with Willie Mays (soon to be named the National League Rookie of the Year) on deck.
Dodger manager Chuck Dressen finally pulled the exhausted Newcombe and went to the bullpen, where Branca and Carl Erskine were warming up. Bullpen coach Clyde Sukeforth noticed that Erskine’s curve balls were bouncing short of the plate, and advised Dressen to bring Branca into the game. That decision has continually bewildered baseball historians: Branca had pitched and lost the first game of the tiebreaker on a Thomson home run, and had given up several regular-season home runs to Thomson, who had hit 31 for the year. In Dressen’s defense, few rested pitchers were available. In the last regular season game alone, the Dodgers sent seven men to the mound. It was the second questionable decision by Dressen that inning.
Branca’s first pitch was a called strike on the inside corner. His second pitch was a fastball up and in to Thomson, intended as a setup for his planned next pitch, a breaking ball down and away. But Thomson pulled the fastball down the left-field line. The ball disappeared into the stands near the left field foul line for a game-ending three-run home run, just above the 315 marker, with a helpless Andy Pafko watching the ball sail over his head. With one swing of Thomson’s bat, near-certain defeat had turned into victory and a pennant for the Giants.
Thomson ran the bases, then disappeared into the mob of jubilant teammates who had gathered at home plate. The stunned Dodger players all left the field, except Robinson. Recalling “Merkle’s Boner” 43 years earlier, he stayed and watched, to be sure Thomson touched every base before he too headed for the clubhouse.
The Giants’ had won the pennant…on “The Shot Heard Round the World!”
–Gary Livacari
All photos from public domain
Information: Excerpts edited from the “Shot Heard Round the World” Wikipedia page. Read more at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shot_Heard_’Round_the_World_%28baseball%29
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