[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 173 (Monday, November 14, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2031-E2032]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 COMMEMORATING BOBBY THOMSON, A BASEBALL LEGEND AND COMMUNITY ACTIVIST

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. JACK KINGSTON

                               of georgia

                    in the house of representatives

                       Monday, November 14, 2011

  Mr. KINGSTON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the life and 
accomplishments of Bobby Thomson, a baseball legend and pillar of his 
community.
  Bobby Thomson was born in 1923 in Glasgow, Scotland, the youngest of 
6 children and emigrated to the United States with his mother and 
siblings in 1925 to join his father in Staten Island, New York. He grew 
up in Staten Island and quickly became a baseball standout both in 
school athletic leagues and on the city's sandlots. After graduating 
from high school in 1942, he signed with the New York Giants for $100 a 
month.

[[Page E2032]]

  Despite his fledgling professional baseball career, Bobby Thomson 
left the Giants in 1943 to enlist in the Army Air Corps and trained as 
a bombardier in Victorville, California, and served until 1945. After 
leaving the Army Air Corps he rejoined the New York Giants and became a 
starter by 1947. He played with the Giants through 1953 with a batting 
average of .279 and an average of 25 home runs and 94 runs batted in 
(RBI) each season. He had a career-best season in 1949 with a .309 
batting average, 27 home runs, and 109 RBI.
  On October 3, 1951, Bobby Thomson hit what became known as ``The Shot 
Heard 'Round the World.'' It was in the the bottom of the ninth inning 
in the deciding game of a playoff for the National League pennant. The 
New York Giants were trailing the Brooklyn Dodgers two runs to four and 
there were runners on second and third. Thomson stepped up and 
proceeded to knock Dodger pitcher Ralph Branca's second pitch down the 
left-field line and over the fence for a game- and pennant-winning 
three run home run. The ``Shot Heard 'Round the World'' was so 
spectacular that it caused WMCA-AM broadcaster Russ Hodges to famously 
exclaim, ``The Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the pennant! The 
Giants win the pennant! Bobby Thomson hits into the lower deck of the 
left-field stands! The Giants win the pennant and they're goin' crazy, 
they're goin' crazy!''
  Forever the humble hardworker, Bobby Thomson continued his baseball 
career through 1963 and thereafter worked as a sales executive in order 
to, in his own words, ``stay home more with my wife and daughter and 
live a normal life.'' His integrity, work ethic, and positive outlook 
helped him excel in private business and led him to become involved in 
nonprofit foundations, such as New Jersey Arthritis Foundation, 
Tomorrow's Children Fund, and the Optimist Club. In 2006, he moved to 
Savannah, Georgia, to be closer to his daughter and he quickly made 
friends in the community due to his warm demeanor and he continued to 
live the life of a humble living legend, father, uncle, and 
grandfather.
  After a long and fruitful life, Bobby Thomson passed away during the 
evening of August 16, 2010, in his Skidaway Island home in Savannah at 
the age of 86.
  We commend Bobby Thomson on his outstanding baseball career and his 
famous three run home run known as the ``Shot Heard 'Round the World'' 
and express admiration for the devotion of Bobby Thomson to various 
charities and nonprofit foundations after his retirement from baseball.

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