1951: When Giants Played The Game

Fifty years have now passed, yet it remains a baseball moment frozen for eternity. New York Giants slugger Bobby Thomson will seemingly always be a 27-year-old ballplayer in his prime, blasting a home run against the archrival Brooklyn Dodgers to vault his team into the World Series against the neighboring New York Yankees. Servicemen and servicewomen stationed in Korea were able to share in the moment via radio, helping to make it famous as "the shot heard 'round the world." It was the biggest baseball highlight in a year in which the game witnessed many significant moments and stories. Future superstars Willie Mays and Mickey Mantle would make their debuts with their respective New York teams early in the 1951 season, just as legendary Yankee hero Joe DiMaggio was embarking on his final big-league campaign. Baseball commissioner Albert "Happy" Chandler was being ousted from office, just as maverick owner Bill Veeck was bringing his entertaining antics back into the game as the new owner of the St. Louis Browns. All-time great hurler Bob Feller was tying a record for career no-hitters, while Yankee pitcher Allie Reynolds was tying a record for no-hitters in a single season. As baseball celebrates significant milestones in 2001 -- the American League's 100th anniversary and the National League's 125th -- there will be much reflecting on the game's glorious past. What better time to roll the clock back 50 years to 1951 and relive one of baseball's most noteworthy seasons, 1951: When Giants Played the Game.