Bobby Thomson

St. James Encyclopedia of Pop Culture, Jan 29, 2002 by Steven T. Sheehan

In the 1970s, amid salary disputes and escalating ticket prices, Major League Baseball began to market itself through nostalgia, attempting to connect the contemporary game to a mythical past. Thomson's homer became the crowning moment of that myth. The shot heard round the world symbolized a time of innocence and purity, when players played for the love of the game, and the fans loved their players--a time when the tall, plodding, immigrant son of a cabinetmaker could swing a bat and become a hero.