Will I love The Echoing Green?

I love the books that go behind the scenes and show us more of a story we thought we knew. This is one of those. Josh Prager pulls back the curtain on Bobby Thomsen’s "shot heard round the world" with startling revelations from his research.

I was left with mixed emotions and uncertainty about a feat that had initially appeared nothing but heroic.

A book about the most dramatic game in baseball history, ending with the home run hit by New York Giant Bobby Thomson off Brooklyn Dodger pitcher Ralph Branca to win the 1951 National League pennant, in which a major character was the Giants’ quirky stadium, the Polo Grounds. Years after the event, Prager uncovered a dark secret: the Giants had used the peculiar configuration of their ballpark, which included a clubhouse overlooking center field and home plate, to mount a telescope from which signs were stolen and passed on to Giant hitters. Thomson likely knew what was coming before Branca… show more.