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Robert Brown Thomson (October 25, 1923 – August 16, 2010) was an American professional baseball player, nicknamed " the Staten Island Scot". He was an outfielder and right-handed batter for the New York Giants (1946–53, 1957), Milwaukee Braves (1954–57), Chicago Cubs (1958–59), Boston Red Sox (1960), and Baltimore Orioles (1960). His pennant-winning three-run home run for the Giants in 1951 is popularly known as the "Shot Heard 'Round the World", and is one of the most famous moments in baseball history. It overshadowed his other accomplishments, including eight 20-home-run seasons and three All-Star selections. "It was the best thing that ever happened to me", he said. "It may have been the best thing that ever happened to anybody." Sports Illustrated, Volume 133, No. 24 (December 27, 2010). Page 70.
Thomson grew up on Staten Island in New York City and signed with the New York Giants for a $100 bonus right out of Curtis High School in 1942.Goldstein, Richard. "Bobby Thomson Dies at 86; Hit Epic Home Run". The New York Times. August 17, 2010. On December 5, 1942, he joined the United States Army Air Forces and trained as a bombardier. His entire service was within the continental United States. He played semiprofessional baseball in the summer of 1945 while awaiting his discharge.
Although in mid-August, the Giants were games behind the league-leading Dodgers, they won 37 of their final 44 games to tie Brooklyn on the final day of the regular season, forcing a three-game playoff. The Giants won the first game 3–1 as a result of a two-run home run by Thomson (off Branca). Brooklyn's Clem Labine shut out the Giants in the second game, 10–0. The decisive contest, played on October 3 at the Polo Grounds, was the first major sporting event televised coast-to-coast in the United States.Longtime Tigers broadcaster Harwell dies at 92 (May 4, 2010). CBS Sports archive Retrieved November 10, 2011 The Dodgers took a 4–1 lead into the bottom of the ninth inning, but Giants shortstop Alvin Dark singled, advanced to third on a single by Don Mueller, and scored on a double by Whitey Lockman. With Lockman on second and pinch runner Clint Hartung at third, Thomson's walk-off home run turned looming defeat into a 5–4 victory. The moment was immortalized by Giants play-by-play announcer Russ Hodges's excited multiple repetitions: "The Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the pennant!"
Waiting in the on-deck circle to hit behind Thomson was rookie Willie Mays. The Giants' season ended, however, at the 1951 World Series; the Yankees swept the last three games to win the best-of-seven series, four games to two. Thomson batted .238 in the series with no home runs.
The bat from the "Shot Heard 'Round the World" is in the collection of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, New York. The uniform worn by Thomson on that day is apparently a part of a large private collection owned by Dan Scheinman, a member of the San Francisco Giants ownership group. Bobby Thomson's Uniform From The Shot Heard Round The World, Baseball Researcher blog, September 2011.
Although Thomson always insisted that he had no foreknowledge of Branca's pitch, Sal Yvars told Prager that he relayed Rube Walker's fastball sign to Thomson. Branca was privately skeptical of Thomson's denials, but made no public comment at the time. Later, he told The New York Times, "I didn't want to diminish a legendary moment in baseball. And even if Bobby knew what was coming, he had to hit it.... Knowing the pitch doesn't always help."Shaikin, Bill (August 17, 2010) Bobby Thomson, who hit dramatic 1951 home run, dies. Los Angeles Times Whether the telescope-and-buzzer system contributed significantly to the Giants' late-season 37–7 win streak remains a subject of debate. Prager notes in his book that sign stealing was not specifically forbidden by MLB rules at the time and, moral issues aside, "...has been a part of baseball since its inception". Sign stealing using optical or other mechanical aids was outlawed by MLB in 1961. Sal Yvars Dies at 84; Revealed Baseball Scheme. The New York Times (December 11, 2008), retrieved October 17, 2016.
The Braves traded Thomson back to the Giants during the 1957 season, and he was in the lineup for the club's final game at the Polo Grounds. The Giants moved to San Francisco for the 1958 season, but Thomson was gone, traded to the Cubs. He spent two seasons in Chicago before closing out his major-league career in the American League with the Red Sox and Orioles. He played one final season in 1963 with the Yomiuri Giants in Japan.
Thomson was a career .270 hitter with 264 home runs and 1,026 RBIs in 1,779 games. He was selected an All-Star in 1948, 1949, and 1952.
In the 1990s, over 40 years after his famous home run, Thomson received a letter from a Marine who had been stationed in Korean War in 1951:
After baseball, Thomson became a sales executive at a New York City paper-products company. He lived in Watchung, New Jersey, until 2006, when he moved to Savannah, Georgia, to be near his daughter Nancy and his grandchildren. He died August 16, 2010, at his home in The Marshes of Skidaway Island, a continuing care facility in Savannah. Obituary for Robert Thomson , Fox and Weeks: Funeral Directors. Retrieved August 21, 2010.
The UK Chapter of The Society for American Baseball Research is named the Bobby Thomson Chapter.
The Curtis High School Field in Staten Island was renamed Bobby Thomson Field in 2007.
Thomson was inducted into the Staten Island Sports Hall of Fame in the class of 1995.
Later years
In 1952, Thomson led the National League with 14 triples while batting .271 with 25 home runs and 109 RBIs for the Giants. In his final season with the Giants in 1953, Thomson hit 26 home runs and 106 RBIs, and a .288 average. That winter, he was sent to the Milwaukee Braves in a multiplayer deal. During his first spring training with the Braves in 1954, he suffered a broken ankle, which allowed rookie Hank Aaron to earn a place in the Milwaukee lineup. Thomson batted a career-low .232 in 1954.
Honors
Scottish baseball team Edinburgh Diamond Devils named their home Bobby Thomson Field. It was opened by Thomson himself in 2003, while he was in Scotland to be inducted into the Scottish Sports Hall of Fame.
See also
External links
Categories: National League All-stars, Baltimore Orioles Players, Boston Red Sox Players, Chicago Cubs Players, Milwaukee Braves Players, New York Giants Players, Major League Baseball Center Fielders, Major League Baseball Left Fielders, Bristol Twins Players, Jersey City Giants Players, Rocky Mount Rocks Players, United States Army Air Forces Personnel Of World War Ii, Major League Baseball Players From Scotland, Scottish Baseball Players, Scottish Emigrants To The United States, Sportspeople From Glasgow, Baseball Players From Staten Island, Semi-professional Baseball Players, 1923 Births, 2010 Deaths, Curtis High School Alumni, People From Watchung, New Jersey, Baseball Players From Somerset County, New Jersey, United States Army Air Forces Officers, Businesspeople From New Jersey, Military Personnel From Somerset County, New Jersey
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