Topps Baseball Cards from the Golden Age

Bobby Thomson - The Flying Scot

August 18, 2010

Bobby Thomson, the "Flying Scot", is best known for his "Shot Heard 'Round the World", the home run that won the pennant for the Giants in 1951.  There is probably no one in the country who has not seen and heard the video of this momentous home run.  It is the most famous home run ever.  It brought the Giants all the way from 13 games behind the Dodgers in August of 1951 to win the National League Pennant.

In his rookie year of 1947 he hit .283 with 29 home runs and 82 RBIs. 1951 was his best year with 32 home runs, 109 RBIs and a .309 average. He led the league in triples in 1952 with 14.

Bobby Thomson was a favorite of mine when he played for the Cubs in 1958 and 1959.  Prior to that he played for the Braves and looked much like his 1957 card shown here, which was my favorite card of him. He broke his ankle playing for the Braves in spring training and was replaced by a rookie named Hank Aaron.  Thomson later moved to third, but also played center and left while Aaron was in the lineup. On May 30, 1956 I saw Thomson hit 4 home runs in a doubleheader against the Cubs. Aaron only managed 2 home runs that day as did Ed Mathews.  The Cubs won the first game 10-9.  The Braves won the second, 11-9.

The 3-time all star had a stellar career hitting 264 home runs and driving in 1,026 runs over his 15 year major league career.

Bobby Thomson passed away on Monday August 16, 2010, a couple of days ago. He was 86. A legend passes on.

You can check out Thomson's stats at Baseball-Reference.com.

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