Hooks & Runs · A podcast about baseball, music and culture.

269 - Ralph Branca: Baseball's Everyman w/ Bob Mitchell

·49 min·3 clips

Mitchell says Branca should have walked Bobby Thompson and even kept Gil Hodges from reaching base.

1. Hooks & Runs talks with Bob Mitchell about Ralph Branca and the 1951 Giants-Dodgers playoff game. 2. Craig and Rex introduce Bob Mitchell as the author of 13 books and Ralph Branca and the Meaning of Life, published by McFarland Press. 3. Mitchell says the episode is for explaining why a single pitch, “that damn pitch,” shaped his book and his thinking. 4. He traces his connection to the 1951 game to a Dumont 12-inch television set and to reenacting Bobby and Ralph with a pink Spalding ball on the stoop. 5. Mitchell says the 1980 visit to the Brancacci Chapel in Florence made him see Adam and Branca together in the fresco Cacciata dei progenitori dell'Eden. 6. He adds that Larry King’s 2018 interview pushed him toward writing the book, because King asked about Branca and the pitch in the green room. 7. Mitchell explains that Ralph Branca was a pitcher in the Brooklyn Dodgers rotation with Don Newcombe and Clem Labine. 8. He describes Bobby Thompson as a journeyman player born in Glasgow who had already homered off Branca earlier in the three-game playoff. 9. He says the Giants were 13 and a half games behind in August before rallying to tie the Dodgers after 154 games. 10. He recounts the ninth inning at the Polo Grounds, including Alvin Dark, Don Mueller, Whitey Lockman, and Clint Hartung running for Mueller after the ankle injury. 11. Mitchell argues that Branca should have intentionally walked Thompson and then faced the rookie Willie Mays. 12. He says Branca also should have held Gil Hodges closer to first base before the double by Whitey Lockman. 13. Mitchell describes Branca as an everyman, comparing him to Willy Loman, George Bailey, Adam, Job, Oedipus, and Joseph K. 14. He says Branca was a devout Catholic who asked his priest, “Why me?”, after the home run. 15. Mitchell contrasts American reactions to losing with European attitudes, citing George Brett, Lou Holtz, Boris Becker, and Samuel Beckett. 16. He says baseball’s strategy has changed because rivalries, bunts, hit-and-run plays, and repeated games against the same opponents are less common. 17. Mitchell speaks in a long, conversational style, with Craig and Rex interrupting to clarify innings, lineups, and historical details. 18. The exchange moves between baseball history, literary comparison, and Mitchell’s memories of travel, teaching, and music. 19. Listeners who like baseball history, literary analogies, and Ralph Branca should listen. 20. Listeners who want a short, stats-only baseball recap will probably skip it.

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