Shot Heard 'Round the World (baseball)

In baseball, the Shot Heard 'Round the World is the term given to the home run hit by New York Giants outfielder Bobby Thomson off of Brooklyn Dodgers pitcher Ralph Branca at the Polo Grounds to win the National League pennant at 3:47 PM EST on October 3, 1951.

As a result of the home run, the Giants won the game 5-4, and the series 2 games to 1. The playoff series had to be played because both the Giants and the crosstown-rival Dodgers finished the regular season with identical 96-58 records. The Dodgers had a massive 13 1/2 game lead on the Giants on August 11, but the Giants would amazingly win 37 of their last 45 games, while the Dodgers faltered down the stretch in September.

The Giants faced the New York Yankees in the 1951 World Series, losing to the Yankees in six games.

Thompson's walk-off home run came with one out and a count of 0 balls and 1 strike. It cleared the 279 foot (85 meter) wall in left field, and was especially unique because it did not travel high enough off the ground to go into the upper deck stands in left field, which were only 250 feet (76 meters) from home plate.

The home run was once voted as the greatest home run in baseball history. Two of the most memorable baseball media moments are also associated with the home run. Giants broadcaster Russ Hodges' call of the home run for WMCA radio is one of the best-known audio clips in baseball history. Also, legendary sportswriter Red Smith penned the following recap:

"Now it is done. Now the story ends. And there is no way to tell it. The art of fiction is dead. Reality has strangled invention. Only the utterly impossible, the inexpressibly fantastic, can ever be plausible again."