Dodgers fans both young and old know this story well.
In 1951 the Brooklyn team held a 13.5 game lead over the New York Giants with 44 games left to play. Remarkably, this lead wasn't enough. The Giants would pull off a monumental run that saw them win 37 of their final 44 games to pull into a tie with Brooklyn at the end of the regular season.
Quickly, a three-game playoff series was scheduled to determine the pennant winner. The Dodgers would lose the first game at Ebbets Field, 1-3, then win game two at the Polo Grounds, 10-0. The third and deciding game, played in upper Manhattan, came down to the wire. With the Dodgers leading 4-1 in the ninth the Giants rallied to score four runs to win, 5-4 -- with the dagger to the heart coming on a walk-off three-run home run by Bobby Thompson off of Dodger hurler Ralph Branca.
With that the "Shot Heard 'Round The World" was born.
