Ralph Branca and the Meaning of Life

Much ink has been spilled on Ralph Branca, Bobby Thomson, and the famous "Miracle at Coogan's Bluff" pennant playoff game in October of 1951. The present work is a novel approach to the history and context of this venerated game, never before attempted in such terms. This book considers that Dodgers pitcher and that uniquely dramatic game as actual metaphors for the human condition. In this thought-provoking odyssey, the author unpeels the metaphorical layers of this baseball onion by discussing the profound psychological effects of winning and losing in America; the concepts of shame, hope, injustice, failure, and luck; and Branca as a conflicted and complex, flawed yet sympathetic Everyman. And, finally, by comparing Ralph's situation--surprisingly and revealingly--to similar "crimes and punishments" in world literature, from Biblical icons Adam and Job to the protagonists of Sophocles, Hawthorne, Dostoevsky, Kafka, and Camus. This work of baseball history and analysis stands as the only endeavor of its kind, demonstrating the universality of America's game to the human condition.

Bob Mitchell, PhD in French and Comparative Literature from Harvard, has had careers as a French professor (Harvard, Purdue, Ohio State), an award-winning advertising creative director, and a teaching tennis pro. He is the author of 13 books, including a memoir, a collection of poems, two essay collections, and three novels about sports and life. He lives in Carlsbad, California.