The Big Break

Sometimes one person's misfortune can be, or lead to, another person's good fortune. Bad news for one can be good news for another.

We never like to be on the bad-news end but only on the good-news end. And when it happens, as much as we hate it for the other person, inside we're glad for what his misfortune has done for us.

So it was in an incident that occurred on this date in 1954.

Bobby had already made a name for himself in professional baseball. He had already played six years for the New York Giants before he became a household name among baseball fans all across the nation.

But his biggest moment came in Game 3 of a three-game playoff between the Giants and the Brooklyn Dodgers.

Brooklyn had scored one run in the first inning. The Giants managed to tie it in the seventh, but the Dodgers answered with three more runs in their half of the eighth inning. The Giants went into their final at bat in the ninth down 4-1. Things didn't look good.

Alvin Dark led off the Giants' half with a single. He scurried around to third on a single by Don Muller. But then Monte Irvin had fouled out. Next, Whitey Lockman doubled down the left field line to score Dark and push Muller around to third. But in sliding into the base, Muller injured his ankle. He was taken out of the game, replaced by pinch runner Clint Hartung.

Coming to the plate was Bobby, and the Dodgers faced a big decision. On deck was rookie Willie Mays, who had gone 0 for 3 that day. Bobby, on the other hand, had been 2 for 2 already. He had tied the game in the seventh with a sacrifice fly.

It seemed like an easy decision. But the Dodgers made a pitching change. They replaced Don Newcombe with Ralph Branca. He would pitch to Bobby. No intentional walk to him.

Bobby, the veteran, awaits the pitch from Ralph Branca.

Branca's first pitch was a ball. The next one was high and inside, but Bobby swung and connected, hitting a line drive down the left field foul line that sailed into the stands. The Giants had won the 1951 pennant on one swing of the bat. Reporters called it "the shot heard round the world." And Bobby had made his name known in baseball history: Bobby Thompson of the New York Giants, the man who had beaten the Dodgers and won the pennant.

Bobby Thompson as a Milwaukee Brave

But after the 1953 season, the Giants traded Thompson to the Milwaukee Braves. That's how he ended up in spring training with the Braves in 1954. Again he was playing left field and looking forward to good season with the new team and a new manager, Charlie Grimm.

Now, on this date in history, Thompson was on first during the eighth inning of a spring training game. The Brave at bat hit a ground ball that was perfect for the opposing team to turn a double play, but Bobby was determined not to let that happen. He slid hard into second. His cleats snagged the turf. His ankle broke.

Thompson explained from his hospital bed, "I started my slide too late. It was terrible luck. Charlie Grimm had told me he was going to take me out the next inning."

He was out alright. And he would be out of action until the middle of the following July.

With Thompson out, Grimm had to find a replacement, but that wasn't too hard since the Braves had several young minor leaguers at spring training. He penciled onto his lineup card the name of one of those hopeful prospects, Henry, as his new left fielder.

Henry in his rookie season with Milwaukee

The next day, the rookie started in left field, and he went 2 for 4, including a homerun. He made his major league debut on April 23 that year. And during that season he hit .280, drove in 69 runs, and hit 13 homers. Unfortunately, he, too, broke his own ankle on September 5, cutting his debut season short.

Thompson returned to the lineup on July 14, but he would hit only .232 with only two home runs in 99 at bats the rest of the season. He would have a career total of 17 years playing with five different teams. His lifetime batting average was .225. Although he had 1,705 hits and drove in 1,026 runs, he had only 264 homers. Not bad, really, but certainly not among the superstars then or now. His claim to fame would always be that "shot heard round the world."

But Thompson's broken ankle proved to be the big break for the young rookie who replaced him in that spring training game. Henry, that rookie, wearing number 44, was Henry Aaron.

Hank Aaron hitting No. 715 to break Ruth's record

In contrast to Thompson's lackluster major league statistics, Aaron's were phenomenal. He would become known as "Hammerin' Hank," homerun king. In 23 years in the majors, he played for only two teams and had 3,771 hits, scored 2,174 runs, drove in 2,297 more, walked 1,402 times, stole 240 bases, and hit 755 homeruns (breaking Babe Ruth's record and setting one that would stand for more than 30 years). He ended his storied career with a lifetime batting average of .305. He has the most RBIs (2,297), the most total bases (6,856), and the most extra-base hits (1,477). He ranks third in the number of games played (3,298) and the number of hits (3,771). He was chosen the National League's Most Valuable Player in 1957, won three Gold Gloves, and appeared in 25 All Star games.

Twenty-eight years from when Hank Aaron replaced Bobby Thompson in left field, he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. It just proves that one man's misfortune did indeed turn into another man's fortune.

Hank Aaron's plaque in the Baseball Hall of Fame