R.I.P. Bobby Thomson

[Jim Koepke]

We know we are getting older when the people we admire to are put to rest.

I am not much of a sports fan, but the Russ Hodges call of "the shot heard 'round the world" still makes the hair stand up on the back of my neck. I was too young to hear it live, but it is one of the great moments of the national pass time.

Bobby Thomson... up there swingin'... He's had two out of three, a single and a double, and Billy Cox is playing him right on the third-base line... One out, last of the ninth... Branca pitches... Bobby Thomson takes a strike called on the inside corner... Bobby hitting at .292... He's had a single and a double and he drove in the Giants' first run with a long fly to center... Brooklyn leads it 4-2...Hartung down the line at third not taking any chances... Lockman with not too big of a lead at second, but he'll be runnin' like the wind if Thomson hits one... Branca throws... [audible sound of bat meeting ball]
There's a long drive... it's gonna be, I believe...THE GIANTS WIN THE PENNANT!! THE GIANTS WIN THE PENNANT! THE GIANTS WIN THE PENNANT! THE GIANTS WIN THE PENNANT! Bobby Thomson hits into the lower deck of the left-field stands! The Giants win the pennant and they're goin' crazy, they're goin' crazy! HEEEY-OH!!!'' [ten-second pause for crowd noise]

I don't believe it! I don't believe it! I do not believe it! Bobby Thomson... hit a line drive... into the lower deck... of the left-field stands... and this blame place is goin' crazy!

jim

[dennis thompson]

Jim
I was 7 years old & a Giant fan, I heard it live & was ,of course, thrilled. They showed it on ESPN this morning & I taped it to show my grandson (when he gets up at about noon). I have a friend who golfed with Bobby Thomson & he said he was the nicest & most humble guy you ever met, a true gentleman. He will be missed.
Dennis

[Jim Koepke]

Jim
I was 7 years old & a Giant fan, I heard it live & was ,of course, thrilled. They showed it on ESPN this morning & I taped it to show my grandson (when he gets up at about noon). I have a friend who golfed with Bobby Thomson & he said he was the nicest & most humble guy you ever met, a true gentleman. He will be missed.
Dennis

I have heard a lot of people say the same about Bobby Thomson.

One of my favorite often untold parts of this story is the nervous rookie who was on deck. I grew up listening with my oldest brother to him play for many years when the Giants moved to San Francisco. That rookie was one of the heros I grew up admiring, Willie Mays.

jim