The Baseball Book Club discussion

Ralph Branca, one of the last surviving Boys of Summer is dead at 90. He is most commonly known as the pitcher who gave up Bobby Thomson's Shot Heard 'Round the World, but should better be known as a man who befriended Jackie Robinson when they were young players for the Dodgers. Branca, who grew up in a multi-ethnic neighborhood, refused to sign Dixie Walker's petition to Branch Rickey not to have Robinson on the team. He ate with Robinson on the road, encouraged him to join in team activities and proudly stood next to him on the field on opening day. Branca once told a story about Robinson waiting until all the white players were finished showering before going in himself. Branca told him, "No, no--you're playing first base, you're part of this team. In the shower with me."

I don't post much here, but I thought a man who played a big, and unsung, role in that part of the history of baseball that crosses over into the history of America and of humanity should be acknowledged.

Thank you Scott for this terrific post.

That was a great post. I was actually watching the Ken Burns "Baseball" documentary the other night on PBS when the trailer came over about Branca's death. Interesting enough, it was during the Jackie Robinson segment. Lots of interesting stuff about Branca. Apparently he was one of more than a dozen kids born into a Catholic family. He used to appear with Bobby Thomson at public events years after throwing that pitch in '51 which surely changed his life forever. I remember him in cameo of a Billy Crystal movie a few years back. I nearly jumped out of my seat right there in the theater, and yelled, "Hey. That's Ralph Branca." Everyone thought I was nuts.

Alot of people forget that he was a great pitcher before 1951--won 21 games as a 21-year-old. He was never the same after the Thomson homer--either due to injury or shell-shock.

Scott wrote: "Ralph Branca, one of the last surviving Boys of Summer is dead at 90. He is most commonly known as the pitcher who gave up Bobby Thomson's Shot Heard 'Round the World, but should better be known as..." The shower scene was in the movie 42

Mike wrote: "That was a great post. I was actually watching the Ken Burns "Baseball" documentary the other night on PBS when the trailer came over about Branca's death. Interesting enough, it was during the Jac..."
When Branca found out that the Giants used an electronic buzzer for sign stealing, he became bitter for several years and that included that sentiment towards Bobby Thomson but when he realized the two could make a nice supplementary income by working together, they became very close friends. Still, Branca was annoyed that Thomson never admitted that he knew a fastball was coming on that infamous pitch. But in defense of Bobby, he said he often ignored the signal because it got in his head. No one will ever know now.

Mike wrote: "That was a great post. I was actually watching the Ken Burns "Baseball" documentary the other night on PBS when the trailer came over about Branca's death. Interesting enough, it was during the Jac..."
The film was Parental Guidance

Harold, I've heard that about Thomson ignoring the signal. I've actually read that a lot if hitters either would rather not know, or say it doesn't help. The latter makes sense since you only have a second to react.

Scott wrote: "Harold, I've heard that about Thomson ignoring the signal. I've actually read that a lot if hitters either would rather not know, or say it doesn't help. The latter makes sense since you only have ..."
Scott, the best book to read about that issue is https://www.amazon.com/Echoing-Green-... But Thomson did avail himself of the signals many times as well as several other notable stars. Some id not for the reason you state. It played head games for them.

Gene Mauch instructed his catchers to tell Pete Rose every pitch that was coming during a stretch where Pete was wearing them out.

Mauch must have loved busting Pete's chops and playing head games