Ralph Branca

A great and fascinating obituary of Ralph Branca in today's Washington Post, the "goat" who gave up Bobby Thomson's "shot heard round the world."

Everyone knows Branca as the losing pitcher in the deciding game of the 1951 National League championship. And everyone knows he handled the infamy with class and grace for more than 50 years. But his life included far more than a journeyman's MLB career, including a 19 member family, a revelation of Jewish ancestry, family connections to the Holocaust, later revelations of rampant sign-stealing cheating in the bigs, and a friendly welcome to the integration of the Major League Baseball. A pallbearer at Jackie Robinson's funeral says so much about Branca's basic and long-lasting kindness and decency.