Thomson’s home run actually occurred in the year before I was born, but the events of that early fall day and the frenetic call of Russ Hodges (“The Giants Win the Pennant! The Giants Win the Pennant!”) were analyzed and commemorated so regularly during my childhood and youth on sports shows, old timers events and by announcers during rain delays that many fans in my age group developed a strong, if derivative, familiarity with Thomson’s feat.

One reason that the Shot was so dramatic is that it capped an incredible comeback by the New York Giants. 13 1/2 games behind the first place Brooklyn Dodgers in August, the Giants went on a tremendous tear, winning 37 of their final 44 regular season games, including the last 7 in a row. The Giants and Dodgers finished in a flatfooted tie at the end of the 154-game campaign, and a three game playoff series was scheduled. The Giants won the first game 3-1, with Thomson hitting a home run off Dodger starter Ralph Branca, but the Dodgers won game two, 10-0.

In the decisive third game at the Polo Grounds, the Dodgers, behind star pitcher Don Newcombe, led 1-0 into the seventh, when Thomson tied the game with a sacrifice fly. However, the Dodgers scored three runs in the top of the eighth to take a 4-1 lead, which they took into the bottom of the ninth.

However, Alvin Dark singled to open the Giants ninth, and Don Mueller followed with another hit between first and second, sending Dark to third. After Monte Irvin popped up, Whitey Lockman doubled in Dark to make the score 4-2, with Mueller going to third, where he badly injured his ankle on the slide. Mueller was carried off and replaced by a pinch runner, and the Dodgers replaced the tiring Newcombe with Branca in relief.

When the game resumed, Bobby Thomson stepped into the box. Branca threw one pitch down the middle for a called strike. Then there was a sharp crack of the bat on the next pitch as Thomson hit a hard line drive that cleared the 315 foot sign in left field. Pandemonium broke out at the Polo Grounds (and the announcer’s booth) and the Giants had their 5-4 victory and an improbable pennant.

A few years ago, I went to a luncheon where Bobby Thomson was the guest speaker. He talked about his early life (he was born in Scotland) and baseball career and gave a great account of the famous day. He recounted that there was little love lost between the Giants and the Dodger players. He remembered battling as hard as he could to make contact against Newcombe in the seventh and just managing to drive the ball to the outfield. In the ninth, he had to get over the distraction about the injury to Mueller just before he faced Branca, with whom he later became good friends. He politely denied that the sign was stolen on Branca’s pitch, as has been alleged.

Obviously, there have been many other great moments in baseball in the almost 59 years since Thomson’s famous home run. But the fact that we still remember and celebrate these memories of yesteryear is a testament to the continuing hold of baseball on our national psyche.