The 25 Most Legendary Home Runs in Baseball History | News, Scores, Highlights, Stats, and Rumors
Jackson Reed
Published Mar 24, 2026
The New York Giants and Brooklyn Dodgers were battling for the National League pennant throughout the summer of 1951. They played each other in a three-game playoff series to determine the National League Championship.
The Dodgers were leading Game 3 by a score of 4-2 in the bottom of the ninth inning. Ralph Branca, who coincidentally gave up a go-ahead homer to Thomson in Game 1 of the series, was brought in to pitch to Thomson.
On the 1-0 pitch, Thomson swung and hit a shot down the line in left field that just cleared the fence.
Here is a portion of the famous call by Russ Hodges, the Giants radio announcer at the time: “There's a long drive...it's gonna be, I believe...THE GIANTS WIN THE PENNANT!! THE GIANTS WIN THE PENNANT! THE GIANTS WIN THE PENNANT! THE GIANTS WIN THE PENNANT! Bobby Thomson hits into the lower deck of the left-field stands! The Giants win the pennant and they're goin' crazy, they're goin' crazy! HEEEY-OH!!!''
