Ralph Branca's baseball life will always be defined by one pitch.
Branca, who gave up a home run to the Giants' Bobby Thomson, the "Shot Heard 'Round the World" that cost the Brooklyn Dodgers the 1951 National League pennant, has died at the age of 90.
His son-in-law, former major league manager Bobby Valentine, said that Branca died Wednesday at a nursing home in Rye, New York. No cause of death was given. Valentine announced Branca's death on Twitter.
http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/18120933/ralph-branca-former-mlb-pitcher-gave-famous-hr-dies
My dad, who grew up a Dodgers fan in Brooklyn, remembers that game as if it were yesterday. I'm glad for Branca, and for my dad that they won it all in '55 before they headed west. Rest In Peace, Ralph.
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