Books News

‘Miracle Ball’

By Jessica Schneider Jun 3, 2009, 12:51 GMT

The captivating, utterly improbable but ultimately true story of one man’s quest to solve sports’ greatest mystery: What happened to the most famous of all home-run balls–the holy grail of sports?October 3, 1951. Giants third baseman Bobby Thomson hit the most dramatic home run in the history of baseball. The moment occurred in the bottom of the ninth inning of a sudden-death playoff game between the New York Giants and ...more

“Miracle Ball: My Hunt for the Shot Heard 'Round the World” is the newest title authored by Brian Biegel with Peter Thomas Fornatale.

Biegel, a documentary filmmaker, has written what the AP describes as: “a fast-paced, fascinating tale that combines shoe leather, high-tech forensics and some healthy dollops of luck.”

The product description notes the mystery the book attempts to uncover:

“The captivating, utterly improbable but ultimately true story of one man’s quest to solve sports’ greatest mystery: What happened to the most famous of all home-run balls–the holy grail of sports?

October 3, 1951. Giants third baseman Bobby Thomson hit the most dramatic home run in the history of baseball. The moment occurred in the bottom of the ninth inning of a sudden-death playoff game between the New York Giants and their arch rivals from Brooklyn, the Dodgers. People across the nation watched on their new TV sets, and the home run became known as “the Shot Heard ’Round the World.”

But after clearing the left-field wall, the central artifact of the play–the ball itself–inexplicably went missing. The mystery of what happened to the legendary baseball has remained unsolved for a half century.

Until now.”

Published by Crown, the AP review provides some more details, as well as Amazon.