United States Commemorative Postage Stamp, CTC, Celebrating the Century, 1950s, Commemorating Baseball, The "Shot Heard Round the World",

In 1951 the Brooklyn Dodgers and their rivals, the New York Giants, both finished the season at 96-58. The National League pennant race was decided between two teams in a best-of-three games playoff. Each team won one game; in the bottom of the ninth inning of the third game on October 3, 1951, the Dodgers were ahead 4 to 2. Ralph Branca of the Dodgers was on the mound, and New York Giant outfielder Robert Brown, Bobby Thomson, The Staten Island Scot, came up to bat. Branca got a first strike on Thomson, but Thomson hit the next ball: a three-run homer, the "shot heard 'round the world." The Giants won 5 to 4, and Thomson was mobbed at the plate. The Giants went on to lose to New York's third team, the Yankees in the World Series.

Celebrate the Century is a United States Postal Service limited commemorative stamp program that honors the most significant people, places, events and trends for each decade of the 20th century.

Issued May 26, 1999 at Springfield, MA,

First Day of Issue Cover, FDC, Mystic Cachet, Unaddressed, Ideal for Framing,

Cover in Removable Transparent Poly Sleeve and Mailed With Protection,

Made in the USA


Genuine First Day of Stamp Issued Cover Cancelled on the First Day of Issue Date by the U.S. Postal Service,