RIP Bobby Thomson

[JimH5]

Former Giant and Brave, and the force behind "The Giants Win the Pennant! The Giants Win the Pennant", Bobby Thomson has died at age 86

 

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20100817&content_id=13548902&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb

 

I had the good fortune of meeting both Thomson and Ralph Branca at a signing a few years ago. Both guys were terrific. This is a sad day.

[topper09er]

And when Bobby Thompson broke his leg in spring training with the Braves he cleared a roster spot for Hank Aaron.

[JohnBriggs12]

And when Bobby Thompson broke his leg in spring training with the Braves he cleared a roster spot for Hank Aaron.

Eventually he did return to Braves lineup later in 54 and was their starter in 55 and 56 in LF, and was dealt at the deadline (which back then was June 15th) in 1957 along with Danny O'Connell and Ray Crone for Red Schoendienst. That deal was seen as key to the 57 championship run. Schoendienst was a huge upgrade over O'Connell and the departure of Thomson opened up LF for Wes Covington who at that stage was an improvement over Thomson also.

[Baldkin]

Deadspin re-posted Red Smith's story about the HR.... wish people would write like that these days...

[JohnBriggs12]

It came out several years ago that the Giants indeed had a guy in the scoreboard stealing signs and relaying them to Giant hitters during that incredible run that culminated in Thomson's HR.

 

I recently came across this blurb from the July 23, 1962 issue of Sports Illustrated (by the way if you've never accessed old issues of SI from the vault on their website, you should. It's a treasure trove of sports history):

 

"Last Saturday, Branca (the pitcher that allowed the HR) and Thomson were among those who returned to the Polo Grounds for a special "Oldtimers Day", a replay of the game Branca would like to forget and Thomson never will. A photographer asked Branca to pose with Thomson. "No" Branca snapped, ".....If you want a picture take one of the guy with the binoculars who was stealing our signs that day. There's your picture."