One of my heroes has died

Bobby Thomson -- N.Y.Giant, the man who hit "The Shot Heard 'Round The World has died. He was 86.

"A right-handed batter with good power and excellent speed, Thomson was in his fifth full season with the Giants in 1951. He got off to a slow start, playing center field, then went to the bench in May when the Giants called up a 20-year-old rookie named Willie Mays. But Thomson was playing regularly again by late July, this time at third base, and he hit better than .350 over the final two months of the season.

In mid-August, the Giants trailed the first-place Dodgers by 13 ½ games, and the Dodgers’ manager, Charlie Dressen, had proclaimed, “The Giants is dead.” But they went on a 16-game winning streak, and they tied the Dodgers for the National League lead on the season’s final weekend.

The Giants won the playoff opener, 3-1, at Ebbets Field, behind Thomson’s two-run homer off Branca, the Dodgers starter. But the Dodgers romped, 10-0, the next day at the Polo Grounds."

I was at that second game. Though they were down 10-0, I refused to leave until the last out -- the bitter end. The next day, I came home from school, was watching the game on TV when my mother ORDERED me to go to the bakery to pick up some rolls for dinner -- I did not want to go -- but, I had to. Anyway, my mother said, the Giants have lost -- so go, before they close.

On the way home, carrying my paper sack of fresh rolls, it was as if the entire city ERUPTED! Windows were thrown open, people screamed and yelled. It was both background and foreground noise -- the Giants had won!

It was amazing to hear the news as a collective roar, a strange voice, cluster of voices, carried across the entire city, across the open air, like tribal drumbeats. I do not know if any church bells rang -- they might have, though I don't think so -- it was just news carried across the "ether".

The man who hit that mighty blast is dead. Another part of my youth is gone. I guess I am getting old.

Above my computer desk is a framed, "authorized" by MLB copy of a famous newspaper photo showing the home run, and a dotted line showing the ball's trajectory into the left field seats. It is autographed by both Thomson and Branca -- today I'm so happy I bought that. Reminders of bygone years fade in this "new" USA.