Ralph Branca is best known for throwing the pitch that resulted in Bobby Thomson’s “Shot Heard ’Round the World,” the historic home run that capped an incredible comeback and won the pennant for the New York Giants in 1951. A Moment in Time details his remarkable story of a man who could have been destroyed by a very public professional embarrassment—but wasn’t. He discusses the golden era of baseball and the legendary players such as Jackie Robinson, Pee Wee Reese, Gil Hodges, Leo Durocher, Branch Rickey, and Walter O’Malley.
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Host Leonard Lopate lets you in on the best conversations with writers, actors, ex-presidents, dancers, scientists, comedians, historians, grammarians, curators, filmmakers, and do-it-yourself experts.
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Comments [6]
Oops, forgot the link! http://www.7thart.com/films/Jews-and-Baseball-An-American-Love-Story
Actually, "thank you" in Hebrew is "todah" ("bevakashah" means "please" & also "you're welcome"). Oh, & "thank you" in Yiddish is "a denk."
PBS ran a movie earlier this year called "Jews and Baseball: An American Love Story." It includes interviews w/ Al Rosen, Kevin Youkilis, Shawn Green, Bob Feller, Yogi Berra, and even 1 w/Sandy Koufax (not all of them Jewish [I'm pretty sure]). Other players who were definitely Jewish were Moe Berg & Washington Senators 1st baseman Mike Epstein.
I never knew that Jackie Robinson belonged to a black race... I always thought he was a human.
Fascinating man // Nice to hear what he has to say, to have a better appreciation for him - other than just the one bad pitch.
And so glad to hear his response about current salaries: nobody is putting a gun to the owners' heads.
Not for nothing, but Mr. Branca was baptized Catholic, raised Catholic and is still a very devoted practicing Catholic. (I read he is the proverbial "daily communicant".)So he may be ethnically Jewish, like I'm Irish (2 grandparents) and Chinese (1 great-grandparent), but his is still religiously Catholic. Bottom line, he is a treasure who belongs to all of us. (p.s., St. Peter and the other apostles, St. Paul, etc., also had Jewish mothers, but if they could throw a decent curve would probably identify as Christians -- at least in the latter parts of their careers.)
Thank you in Hebrew...
bevakasha
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