A MOMENT IN TIME An American Story of Baseball, Heartbreak, and Grace

Baseball fans and historians know the importance of the “shot heard ’round the world”—Bobby Thomson’s home run, which culminated the New York Giants’ improbable pennant-clinching 1951 season. The man who threw the pitch, Ralph Branca, writes a gentle memoir of a family man and proud Brooklyn Dodger who spent years dealing with the pitch that defined his career. Traber Burns is perfect as narrator; his breezy, conversational style fits Branca’s tone and writing style. Burns comes across as passionately telling a story, not merely reading one. Fans of the era especially will appreciate Burns’s narration of the tarnished secrets of the fateful game. The book will bring new meaning to hearing the oft-repeated radio call: “The Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the pennant!” M.B. © AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine [Published: DECEMBER 2011]