Smallscreen News

Velocity 'Miracle Ball' brings vivid Baseball memories back Sept. 29, (VIDEO)

By April MacIntyre Sep 7, 2012, 15:36 GMT

Photo credit: AP, 1951 | The New York Giants\' Bobby Thomson, Larry Jansen and Sal Maglie celebrate their win over the Brooklyn Dodgers to clinch the 1951 National League Pennant.

Tune in alert for the definitive documentary on the fate of Bobby Thomson’s legendary 1951 Home Run Ball, "Miracle Ball," which premieres Saturday, September 29 at 8PM ET/PT with an Anniversary Encore on Wednesday, October 3 at 6:30PM ET/PT only on VELOCITY.

On October 3rd, 1951 New York Giants third baseman Bobby Thomson hit “The Shot Heard Round the World” - the walk-off home run against Brooklyn Dodgers pitcher Ralph Branca clinching the National League pennant and achieving one of the most dramatic moments in baseball and American sports history.

But the central artifact of the game - the home run ball - landed in the grandstand and vanished without a trace. 

For more than half a century, its fate became a tall tale of baseball lore to historians, collectors and fans alike. This fall, VELOCITY is officially revealing one of sports’ greatest mysteries with the definitive documentary on the subject. 

The world television premiere of the award-winning baseball documentary Miracle Ball, by director Brian Biegel, will air Saturday, September 29 at 8pm ET/PT with a special encore anniversary presentation on Wednesday, October 3 at 6:30PM ET/PT only on VELOCITY.

This event documents one man’s journey to search for sports history’s biggest treasure, on a quest that takes him back through time.  Follow director Biegel on his exploration to differentiate myth from fact and legend from truth.

After his father, Jack, finds a baseball at a thrift store with clues dating back to 1951, he believes it could possibly be the most coveted artifact in sports history.

Biegel becomes a man with a mission to prove its authenticity. Working with NYPD detectives, scientists, journalists, baseball historians and actual fans present at the game, no stone is left unturned in this ultimate hunt in the quest for the truth. 

Implementing forensic science, photographic evidence, and eyewitness accounts, the world will finally learn who walked out of the stadium with the legendary baseball and where it has been hiding for over six decades.

“The search for the Thomson home run ball is the greatest historical conundrum in sports;  but, this documentary is more than a story about baseball, it’s about dreaming the impossible.  It’s a story between father and son and history versus legend,” said Robert Scanlon, Senior Vice President of Velocity.  “Velocity is the perfect place for MIRACLE BALL because our viewers are extremely knowledgeable – they’re curators and collectors with an acute appreciation of history.”

"Having the opportunity to tell the story of Miracle Ball was truly a life-changing experience both as a filmmaker and as a person. Uncovering all the shocking clues and piecing together the unlikely evidence indeed was a first-hand look into the notion that truth is stranger than fiction," said director and author Brian Biegel.