I'm not big on baseball history beyond the Baltmore Orioles and Hank Aaron. Like I don't know who Willie Mays made the catch against, I don't know what position Mickey Mantle played and I don't know what year Ted Williams hit .400.
Yet one baseball story I have known about for most of my life is how Bobby Thompson hit that series winning home run against the Brooklyn Dodgers. I know because my father told me many times. And everytime, the same comically sad ending.
My dad was thirteen years old when Thompson made his mark on sports history. He was hurrying home from school along the streets of Baltimore, anxious to find out if his beloved Brooklyn Dodgers won the 1951 National League Pennant. He was a Dodgers fan because of Jackie Robinson.
He stopped off at a pool hall just in time to catch history in the making.
That home run broke my Dad's heart. Sixty years later, he still feels the pain.
He called me tonight and asked if I'd heard the news.
"I don't know whether to laugh or cry. I just heard that Bobby Thompson died," he said.
Why laugh or cry? My amiable, easy going, God fearing dad explained.
"I don't get to call him a motherfucker," he laughed. "I don't have anybody to hate. Not even Joe Namath* hurt me as bad as he did. That really really hurt. That hurt hurt hurt."
Unleashed! Pops shared what he really felt in the moment when Ralph Branca's pitch became Thompson's shot heard round the world.
"When I heard 'The Giants win the pennant,' I said "Oh nooo! Goddamn, hell, shit, poop, poop dick, pussy. Every curse word I knew."
Wow. Sixty years later and the wound is still fresh. We hung up the phone laughing about his lingering pain. My dad called back a few hours later to say that the news of Bobby Thompson's death inspired vivid recollection of nearly forgotten memories from his youth. He remembered things like when he first got into sports and a Count Basie song that was inspired by his hero Jackie Robinson.
Peace to Bobby Thompson and his family. What an electrifying and crushing sports moment that touched the lives of so many who were alive in 1951.
*Namath's Jets upset our beloved Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl 3.
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