The home run to Thomson overshadowed what was otherwise a very good big league career which began when he was only 18 during the 1944 season. Branca probably wouldn't have cracked a big league roster so soon if not for the Second World War which saw most of the game's great players off to war. But it wasn't long before Branca proved he could play with the big boys. Between 1947-1949, Branca was one of the NL's premier pitchers for a Dodgers team that won two NL pennants and during that period Branca was selected to three straight NL All-Star Teams. His best overall season was in 1947 when Branca went 21-12 with a 2.67 ERA and 148 strikeouts. His win, ERA and strikeout totals that season were all career highs.
But Branca was never the same pitcher after surrendering the home run to Thomson. He would only 16 more games over his final four seasons in the majors. By the middle of 1953, the Dodgers released Branca who had undistinguished stints with the Detroit Tigers and the New York Yankees before returning to Brooklyn to pitch one last game in 1956. Branca finished his career with a 88-68 record with a 3.79 ERA in a career that was nearly evenly divided between the starting rotation and the bullpen.
Despite the infamy associated with giving up the Shot Heard 'Round The World, Branca and Thomson became best of friends until Thomson's death in August 2010. I recall that during Ken Burns' PBS documentary Baseball, Branca said he went to speak to a priest to ask why this has happened to him. The priest said, and I'm paraphrasing, that G-d knew Branca had he strength of character to get through it. Branca's long and happy life is all the evidence we need that our worst moments need not define us.
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