Branca’s Pitch

BRANCA’S PITCH

On October 3, 1951 Ralph Branca became a legendary figure in baseball history.  The 26-year old Brooklyn Dodger pitcher became infamous for losing the 1951 National League Pennant to the bitter rival New York Giants, by giving up the game winning homerun termed “The Shot Heard Round the World.” Jeered by once adoring fans and labeled a scapegoat for the rest of his life, Ralph never reclaimed his career.

BRANCA’S PITCH is a feature-length documentary following Ralph Branca’s journey to pen a memoir that finally tells his side of the story, to try and restore his fascinating, yet overlooked legacy in baseball’s “Golden Age” of the ‘40s and ‘50s.  Enlisting the help of acclaimed and best-selling author, David Ritz, an unlikely friendship forms. Ritz with sleeve tattoos covering both arms and flamboyant outfits is on a constant journey towards the heart of matters. While Branca is a conservative stoic of a bygone era, needing help to let out decades of pain on to the page. Their poignant exchanges are both endearing and humorous as Ralph begins to trust Ritz with not only righting his legacy but also sharing a secret held for over 50 years – that the New York Giants cheated. At times poignant, tender and humorous BRANCA’S PITCH is an exploration in personal mythology that calls into question the relationship between truth and memory.