Ralph Branca
Ralph Theodore Joseph Branca (born January 6, 1926) is an American retired baseball pitcher who played 12 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), from 1944 through 1956. A starting pitcher, Branca played for the Brooklyn Dodgers (1944–53, 1956), Detroit Tigers (1953–54), and New York Yankees (1954). He threw and batted right-handed.
Early life
Branca was born in Mount Vernon, New York. Although Branca was raised Roman Catholic, in 2011 reporter Joshua Prager revealed in the New York Times that his mother was Jewish. His mother, Kati (née Berger), immigrated to the United States in 1901 from Sandorf, Hungary (now Prievaly, Slovakia). His uncle Jozsef Berger was killed at the Majdanek concentration camp, and his maternal aunt Irma died at the Auschwitz concentration camp in 1942. His father was John Branca, a trolley car conductor from Italy.
Career
Branca was signed as a free agent by the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1943. He debuted on June 12, 1944, with the Dodgers, and put up a 3.04 earned run average (ERA) in 1092⁄3 innings pitched in his rookie year.
'Ralph Branca' is featured as a movie character in the following productions:
42 (2013)
Actors: Jim Alderson (actor), Tucker Allen (actor), Evan D Anderson (actor), Loren L. Baker (actor), Jeremy Bales (actor), Michael James Barrett IV (actor), Chance Bartels (actor), Chance Beam (actor), Brad Beyer (actor), Tyler Bilyeu (actor), Lucas Black (actor), Ari Blinder (actor), Chadwick Boseman (actor), Frank Brennan (actor), Jim Alderson (actor),
Plot: In 1946, Jackie Robinson is a Negro League baseball player who never takes racism lying down. Branch Rickey is a Major League team executive with a bold idea. To that end, Rickey recruits Robinson to break the unspoken color line as the first modern African American Major League player. As both anticipate, this proves a major challenge for Robinson and his family as they endure unrelenting racist hostility on and off the field, from player and fan alike. As Jackie struggles against his nature to endure such abuse without complaint, he finds allies and hope where he least expects it.
Keywords: 1940s, african-american, athlete, baseball, baseball-game, baseball-hat, baseball-movie, baseball-player, baseball-star, baseball-teamGenres: Biography, Drama, Sport,
Taglines: In a game divided by color, he made us see greatness.
Quotes:
[from trailer]::Ben Chapman: Why don'tcha look in a mirror? This is a white man's game![from trailer]::Jackie Robinson: I'm not goin' anywhere! I'm right here!
reporter: Whatcha gonna do if one of these pitchers throws for your head?::Jackie Robinson: I'll duck.
Leo Durocher: If Robinson can help us win, then he is gonna play on this ball club!
[from trailer]::Branch Rickey: Jackie Robinson. A black man in white baseball.
Branch Rickey: Your enemy will be out in force. But you cannot meet him on his own low ground.
Jackie Robinson: You want a player who doesn't have the guts to fight back?::Branch Rickey: No. I want a player who's got the guts *not* to fight back.::Jackie Robinson: You give me a uniform, you give me a number on my back, I'll give you the guts.
Kirby Higbe: I got traded... to Pittsburg!
Ben Chapman: Hey, Stanky, what's it like bein' a nigger's nigger?::Eddie Stanky: I dunno, Chapman, what's it like bein' a redneck piece of shit?
Pee Wee Reese: Maybe tomorrow, we'll all wear 42, so nobody could tell us apart.
Branca, Ralph Filmography
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2013, role: actor
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2012, role: actor , character name: Legendary Judge
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2005, role: actor , character name: Bar Patron
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2002, role: actor , character name: Himself - Guest
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2001, role: actor , character name: Himself
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2001, role: actor , character name: Himself
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1994, role: actor , character name: Himself
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1992, role: actor , character name: Himself
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1990, role: actor
