1951 New York Giants
National League champions
League	National League
Ballpark	Polo Grounds
City	New York City
Owners	Horace Stoneham
General managers	Chub Feeney
Managers	Leo Durocher
Television	WPIX (Russ Hodges,Ernie Harwell)
Radio	WMCA (Russ Hodges,Ernie Harwell)
← 1950 Seasons 1952 →

The1951New York Giants season was the franchise's 69th season and saw the Giants finish the regular season in a tie for first place in theNational League with a record of 96 wins and 58 losses. This prompted abest-of-three National League tiebreaker against theBrooklyn Dodgers, which the Giants won in three games, clinched byBobby Thomson'swalk-off home run, a moment immortalized as theShot Heard 'Round the World.^[1] The Giants, however, lost theWorld Series to theNew York Yankees in six games.

The Giants had trained in Phoenix since 1947. In 1951, the team swappedspring training sites with theNew York Yankees, with the Yankees moving to Phoenix and the Giants training atAl Lang Field inSt. Petersburg, Florida. It was a one-year arrangement and the Giants would return to Phoenix in 1952.^[2]

• December 4, 1950:Tom Acker was drafted from the Giants by theBuffalo Bisons in the 1950 minor league draft.^[3]
• Prior to 1951 season (exact date unknown)
  • Dom Zanni was signed as an amateur free agent by the Giants.^[4]
  • Don Taussig was acquired by the Giants from theNew York Yankees.^[5]

Center fielderWillie Mays made his major league debut in a game against thePhiladelphia Phillies on May 25.^[6] He went on to win the 1951 National LeagueRookie of the Year Award.

OutfielderMonte Irvin led the league inRBI with 121. Five players on the 1951 Giants team went on to become major league managers.^[7]Eddie Stanky (1952),Bill Rigney (1956),Alvin Dark (1961),Wes Westrum (1965) andWhitey Lockman (1972).^[7]

In June, future NFL Hall of FamerAndy Robustelli was offered a tryout with the New York Giants. The Giants offered Robustelli a $400 contract to play with Class AA Knoxville.^[8]

After a slow start, the team went 50–12 over their final 62 games to complete one of the biggest comebacks in major league history. Longstanding rumors that the Giants engaged in systematicsign stealing during the second half of the 1951 season were confirmed in 2001. Several players toldThe Wall Street Journal that beginning on July 20, the team used a telescope, manned by coachHerman Franks in the Giants clubhouse behind center field, to steal the finger signals of those opposing catchers who left their signs unprotected. Stolen signs were relayed to the Giants dugout via a buzzer wire.^[9][10]Joshua Prager, the author of theJournal article, outlined the evidence in greater detail in a 2008 book.^[11] He noted that sign stealing, then as now, is not specifically forbidden by MLB rules and, moral issues aside, "has been a part of baseball since its inception."^[12]

At the end of the season, they were tied with their arch-rivals, the Dodgers, for first place in the League, prompting a three-game playoff for thepennant. The Giants had home field advantage for the series.

The first game of the series was played atEbbets Field.Jim Hearn started for the Giants againstRalph Branca for the Dodgers.Monte Irvin andBobby Thomson homered for the Giants, powering them to a 3–1 win.Andy Pafko hit a home run for the only Dodgers run.^[13]

The series moved to thePolo Grounds for game two.Sheldon Jones took the mound for the Giants against the Dodgers'Clem Labine. Jones was pulled in the third inning despite giving up just two runs, one of which was aJackie Robinson homer. However, the game went downhill from there, as the Dodgers abused relieversGeorge Spencer andAl Corwin for eight more runs, while Labine pitched a six-hitshutout for a 10–0 shellacking. Pafko hit his second homer of the series, whileGil Hodges andRube Walker added home runs of their own.^[14]

Game three was also held at the Polo Grounds.Sal "The Barber" Maglie was on the mound for New York, while Brooklyn called onDon Newcombe. After Maglie walked two batters in the top of the first, Jackie Robinson singled home the game's first run. The score remained 1–0 until the bottom of the seventh. In that inning,Monte Irvin led off with a double for the Giants. He was bunted over to third, and scored on asacrifice fly by Bobby Thomson.^[15]

In the top of the eighth, the Dodgers came roaring back with three runs off Maglie. A pair of singles, a wild pitch, and two more singles made the score 4–1 Dodgers. Newcombe sat down the Giants in order in the bottom of the eighth, whileLarry Jansen did the same in relief of Maglie.^[15]

In the bottom of the ninth,Alvin Dark led off with a single, andDon Mueller followed with another. After Monte Irvin popped out to first base,Whitey Lockman lined a double to left-center field, scoring Dark and putting Mueller on third. Dodger managerChuck Dressen summoned game 1 starter Ralph Branca in to relieve Newcombe, despite having only had one day's rest. On his second pitch, Bobby Thomson drove a pitch to deep left field for awalk-off home run to clinch the pennant for the Giants.^[15] This home run, hit at 3:58 p.m.EST on October 3, 1951, came to be known as the "Shot Heard 'Round the World".

The phraseshot heard 'round the world is from a classic poem byRalph Waldo Emerson, originally used to refer to the first clash of theAmerican Revolutionary War and since used to apply to other dramatic moments, military and otherwise. In the case of Thomson's home run, it was particularly apt as U.S. servicemen fighting in theKorean War listened to the radio broadcast of the game.

Thomson's homer, and the Giants' victory, are also sometimes known as theMiracle ofCoogan's Bluff.

Polo Grounds

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

October 4, 1951, atYankee Stadium in New York City

October 5, 1951, atYankee Stadium in New York City

October 6, 1951, at thePolo Grounds in, New York City

October 8, 1951, at thePolo Grounds in, New York City

October 9, 1951, at thePolo Grounds in New York City

October 10, 1951, atYankee Stadium in New York City

• Willie Mays: National LeagueRookie of the Year

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Sioux City^[16]

• 1951 New York Giants team atBaseball-Reference
• 1951 New York Giants team atBaseball Almanac

• New York Giants (baseball) seasons
• 1951 Major League Baseball season
• National League champion seasons
• 1951 in sports in New York City
• 1950s in Manhattan
• Washington Heights, Manhattan

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