Includes index

Ladies' Day -- League of Nations -- Teenage tryouts -- Teenage rookie -- The Lip -- El Cheapo -- The year that changed the world -- The buildup -- "Polka dots and moonbeams" -- In the year of our Lord, Nineteen-hundred Fifty-one -- In the year of our Lord, Nineteen-hundred Fifty-one, the month of September -- In the year of our Lord, Nineteen-hundred Fifty-one, the month of October -- The white handkerchief -- The Coca-Cola catastrophe -- One Wollensak telescope -- How sweet it is -- The stigma -- Hellos and good-byes -- Improbably friendship -- January 31, 2001 -- A moment in time

Ralph Branca is best known for throwing the pitch that resulted in Bobby Thomson's "shot heard 'round the world," the historic home run that capped an incredible comeback and won the pennant for the New York Giants in 1951. Branca was on the losing end of one of baseball's most thrilling moments, but that notoriety belies a profoundly successful life and career. A Moment in Time details the remarkable story of a man who could have been destroyed by a supreme professional embarrassment--but wasn't. Branca came up as a young phenom, playing for the Brooklyn Dodgers during their heyday, the late 1940s, when they dominated the National League. A Moment in Time offers a rare first-person perspective on the golden era of baseball, opening a window on a world populated by legendary characters such as Jackie Robinson, Pee Wee Reese, Gil Hodges, Leo Durocher, Branch Rickey, and Walter O'Malley.--From publisher description