Thomson and Branca Together Again Today

Bobby Thomson, the former New York Giant who hit “the shot heard round the world” on Oct. 3, 1951, and the Brooklyn Dodger pitcher he hit it against, Ralph Branca, will be together at noon today for the opening of a youth baseball and softball complex in Mira Loma.

The Big League Dreams Sports Park, located in Jurupa Valley between Riverside and Ontario near the intersection of the I-15 and 60 freeways, features replicas of Boston’s Fenway Park, Pittsburgh’s Forbes Field and the Polo Grounds in New York. Thomson’s historic home run, which came in the third game of a playoff and sent the Giants to the World Series, was hit at the Polo Grounds.

Also on hand for today’s ceremony, which goes from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and is open to the public at no charge, will be former Laker coach and Boston Celtic great Bill Sharman, who was on the Dodger roster that day but did not get into the game.

The new Big League Dreams park is similar to one that opened in Cathedral City in 1998.