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Most fans remember Ralph Branca for one single pitch. That happens when you give up one of baseball’s most dramatic home runs.

Branca was much more than that.

He broke in as an 18-year old in 1944. By the end of his age-21 season, Branca was an All Star and 20-game winner for a pennant-winning team.

The 1947 season was a memorable one for baseball, Branca, and America. Jackie Robinson broke baseball’s color barrier, won the Rookie of the Year Award, finished 5th in MVP voting, and led the Dodgers to the World Series.

Branca led the team in wins (21), and ERA (2.67), finishing second and third in the NL in the respective categories. He made the first of three straight All Star teams.

The Dodgers reached the World Series in 1947 and 1949 and finished second in 1950.

In 1951 they were hungry for a Fall Classic return. By August the Dodgers led the Giants by 13 1/2 games. Brooklyn appeared headed for their third World Series in five years.

The Giants had other ideas.

Leo Durocher‘s New York club won 37 or their last 44 games to catch Brooklyn. Later it came to light that an elaborate sign-stealing system helped fuel their run. The two teams finished tied atop the NL. A three-game playoff would determine the league’s World Series representative.

After Branca took the 3-1 loss in the first game, the Dodgers crushed the Giants. The season came down to a winner-take-call contest in the Polo Grounds.

The Dodgers led the October 3rd contest 4-1 heading into the bottom of the 9th. Dodger starter Don Newcombe was tiring.

A 20-game winner, he pitched back-to-back complete games on September 26th and 29th. On the 30th he came out of the bullpen to pitch 5 2/3 scoreless innings. After 32 innings in the last eight days, Newcombe was out of gas.

Giants shortstop and captain Alvin Dark led off the 9th with a single off of Newk’. Don Mueller singled to right and the Giants had runners on first and third. Newcombe got Monte Irvin to foul out before Whitey Lockman doubled down the left-field line. Dark scored and Mueller went to third.

Dodger skipper Chuck Dressen went to the bullpen and called on Branca. With first base open, Dressen directed Branca to pitch to third baseman Bobby Thomson rather than put the potential winning run aboard.

On deck behind Thomson was the ’51 Rookie of the Year Willie Mays who had gone 0-for-3 with two strikeouts against Branca the day before in the first playoff game.

Thomson took strike one. He slammed Branca’s next offering into the lower deck just inside the foul pole for a walk-off pennant-winning home run.

From the broadcast booth, Russ Hodges screamed, “The Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the pennant!”. Thomson’s long ball was dubbed, “The Shot Heard ‘Round the World”. It remains one of the game’s most memorable moments.

Despite pithing in 388 games as a pro, Branca is forever remembered for that single pitch. He shouldered the burden without complaint for the remainder of his life.

In spring of ’52 Branca suffered a back injury that limited him to just 61 innings. After posting a 9.82 ERA in seven games to start ’53, the Dodgers waived him.

Branca appeared in 40 more big league games from 1954-56 before retiring. In his 14-year professional career, Branca won 106 games including 88 at the big league level.

In the collection is this postcard signed by Branca. It shows a Mount Vernon, NY postmark. The date of May 30, 1952 is less than eight months after Branca threw his most memorable pitch.

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The reverse of the card shown in the previous image reveals a USPS postmark. Such postmarks give context to the signature and help to determine authenticity.

This one shows a cancellation mark from Branca’s home town of Mount Vernon, New York. The date is May 30, 1952 four days before he scattered six hits through 8 innings to earn the 79th win of his career. Less than 8 months earlier, Branca surrendered one of baseball’s most memorable home runs.

Vintage signatures from Branca’s playing career remain desirable.

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In this letter dated March 10, 2007, Bobby Thomson writes about the Giants sign-stealing in 1951 as well as his pennant-winning homer. Some 50 years after the homer, word emerged that the Giants stole the signs of the opponents’ catcher via a perch in centerfield.

Did Thomson know what pitch was coming when he hit one of the most memorable homers in the history of baseball?

He writes, “The New York Giants stole signs in the latter half of the 1951 baseball season. We did not steal signs during the playoffs.” The rest of the letter is well worth the read.

Though Thomson denies stealing signs in the playoffs, one must wonder why the Giants would stop the practice when it mattered most.

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The Brooklyn Dodgers scouted Bobby Thomson when he was a senior at Staten Island’s Curtis High School. They liked the youngster enough to offer him $125 a month to begin his professional career. Thomson refused, opting instead to play for his favorite childhood team, the New York Giants for $100 per month – a deal 20% lower than the Brooklyn offer.

It’s only fitting that he was wearing a Giants uniform ten years later when he hit the pennant-winning “Shot Heard ‘Round the World” against Brooklyn in one of the most-memorable homers in baseball history.

Thomson started playing professionally at age 18 in 1942 for the Giants’ Class D teams in Rocky Mount and Bristol. Before the season ended Thomson was drafted into the US Army Air Corps, remaining in service of his country until 1946. When he returned to civilian life, Thomson landed with the Giants Triple-A team in New Jersey. His first game there was against the top Brooklyn minor league club as Jackie Robinson broke professional baseball’s color barrier.

As centerfielder for the Jersey City club, Thomson hit 26 homers with 92 RBI earning a late-season call up in ’46. He parlayed his success in the 18-game cup of coffee and a strong showing in Spring Training to become the Giants everyday centerfielder the following season.

In the big leagues to stay in ’47, Thomson hit 29 homers, then made consecutive All Star teams in ’48 and ’49. Thomson hit 25 long balls and drove in 85 in 1950 then reeled off three straight 100-RBI seasons, averaging 27 homers. Overall he had eight seasons with at least 20 homers.

Though he enjoyed a 15-year big league career with nearly 7,000 plate appearance, it was a singular moment for which the three-time All Star will always be remembered. That came in the deciding Game 3 of the 1951 National League playoffs against Ralph Branca and the Brooklyn Dodgers. “The Shot Heard ‘Round the World” cemented Thomson’s baseball immortality.

In the collection is this Heilbronner Baseball Bureau information card filled out and signed by an 18-year-old Bobby Thomson in 1942. He would play in Class D for just 34 games in ’42 season before enlisting in the US Army Air Corps for whom he serve until the end of World War II. This card was signed a full four years before Thomson’s MLB debut.

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Louis Heilbroner was secretary for Cardinals president and co-owner Frank Robison when manager Patsy Tebeau resigned in the middle of the 1900 season. Robison offered the reigns to St. Louis third baseman, and future Hall of Fame skipper John McGraw who declined. Robison then named the 4’9″ Heilbroner manager, though McGraw ran the team.

The diminutive Heilbronner was in the dugout for the final 50 games of the year then never donned another big league uniform. Nine years later he founded Heilbroner’s Baseball Bureau Service, the first commercial statistical service dedicated solely to baseball. The Bureau sent out information cards like the one shown in this image.

Bobby Thomson filled out the front of this card as a teenager, a full four years before his big league debut. Shown here is the reverse of the card. Notice the August 22, 1942 postmark and the listing of the all Minor League teams for which Thomson played – Class D Bristol and Rocky Mount, and Triple-A Jersey City.