Ralph Branca, who tossed the ball Bobby Thomson hit in 1951 for Major League Baseball's iconic "Shot Heard Round the World" home run, died Wednesday at age 90. Branca's pitch led to Thomson's three-run homer in the ninth inning that gave the New York Giants a 5-4 victory over the Brooklyn Dodgers in a playoff game at the Polo Grounds, costing Brooklyn the 1951 National League pennant and a trip to the World Series.
