Ralph Branca
| Ralph Branca | |||
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Branca in 1953
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| Pitcher | |||
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Born: January 6, 1926 Mount Vernon, New York |
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Died: November 23, 2016 (aged 90) Rye Brook, New York |
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| MLB debut | |||
| June 12, 1944, for the Brooklyn Dodgers | |||
| Last MLB appearance | |||
| September 7, 1956, for the Brooklyn Dodgers | |||
| MLB statistics | |||
| Win–loss record | 88–68 | ||
| Earned run average | 3.79 | ||
| Strikeouts | 829 | ||
| Teams | |||
| Career highlights and awards | |||
Ralph Theodore Joseph Branca (January 6, 1926 – November 23, 2016) was an American professional baseball pitcher who played 12 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), from 1944 through 1956. Branca played for the Brooklyn Dodgers (1944–1953, 1956), Detroit Tigers (1953–1954), and New York Yankees (1954). He was a three-time All-Star. In 1951, Branca allowed a walk-off home run to Bobby Thomson, known as the "Shot Heard 'Round the World".
Ralph Branca was born in Mount Vernon, New York, as the fifteenth of seventeen children. His father was John Branca, a trolley car conductor from Italy. His mother, Kati (née Berger), who was Jewish, immigrated to the United States in 1901 from Sandorf, Hungary (now Prievaly, Slovakia). His uncle Jozsef Berger was killed at the Majdanek concentration camp, and his maternal aunt Irma died at the Auschwitz concentration camp in 1942. Ralph was raised Roman Catholic.
Branca graduated from A. B. Davis High School, and attended New York University (NYU) for one year. He played college baseball and college basketball for the NYU Violets.
After Branca attended a tryout with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1943, the team signed him to a contract. He debuted in the major leagues on June 12, 1944, and put up a 3.04 earned run average (ERA) in 109 2⁄3 innings pitched in his rookie year.
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