Bobby Thomson, the man whose shot was heard ‘round the world in 1951, died Monday at the age of 86. But few know, or remember, that Thomson played minor league baseball in North Carolina.

Thomson, a Staten Island, NY native, played 29 games at third base for the Rocky Mount Rocks in 1942 at the age of 18. He batted just .241 but he had three key homers and 18 RBI.

When he was signed by the Rocks, the Rocky Mount Telegram newspaper, where I was sports editor years later, ran a story titled “This Bat Is Rocks’ Insurance.” Thomson’s first professional home run came in his first at bat at Rocky Mount’s Municipal Stadium. Not only was it his first home at bat, but it was the first pitch thrown to him.

Plus, he had his first big-time home run in Rocky Mount. Playing the rival Wilson Tobs in a seven-game playoff, the Rocks were down three games to none but managed to pull even at three games a piece. With the deciding seventh game in Rocky Mount, Thomson blasted a six-inning home run over the left field wall to open up a close game and give the Rocks the victory.

It was believed to be only the second time in pro baseball history that a team came from three games down to win a series. After the game, appreciative and ecstatic fans passed a hat and gave Thomson 11 bucks, which he probably needed at the time.

At the end of the season, he enlisted at the height of World War II. He served in the Air Corps from 1943 through 1945.

After the war, he continued his career and became a regular for the New York Giants in 1947. He was a star for years but he’s most remembered for the Oct. 3, 1951 home run in game three of a three-game playoff against the Brooklyn Dodgers.

Thomson came to bat in the ninth inning with one out, two on and his Giants down 4-2. On an 0-1 count, Thompson banged “the shot heard ‘round the world” as he homered off Ralph Branca for a three-run, game-and-series winner.

The Giants’ announcer Russ Hodges shouted the famous call, “The Giants win the pennant, the Giants win the pennant, the Giants win the pennant.” It was perhaps the biggest home run in major league history… but his first home run came in North Carolina.

ACC NEWS RELEASE – Defending National Champion North Carolina received four first place votes and was selected by the league’s head coaches to win the 2010 ACC Field Hockey Championship, as announced today by Commissioner John Swofford.

The Tar Heels collected 24 of the possible 25 points. First place votes were awarded five points, second place received four, etc., and coaches were not allowed to include their own teams in their predicted order of finish.

Maryland, the 2009 ACC Champion and national runner-up, came in second, picking up 21 points and one first place vote. Virginia took third place with 18 points, followed by Wake Forest (12) in fourth, Boston College (9) in fifth and Duke (6) in sixth. The Cavaliers received the final first place vote.

All six teams were represented on the preseason All-ACC squad, with North Carolina tallying a league-leading three honorees. Duke, Maryland and Virginia each had two representatives, while Boston College and Wake Forest each had one.

Eight of the 11 preseason All-ACC selections earned All-America honors from the National Field Hockey Coaches Association in 2009, including: Emily Kozniuk of Boston College; Rhian Jones of Duke; Katie O’Donnell of Maryland; Katelyn Falgowski, Jackie Kintzer and Kelsey Kolojejchick of North Carolina; and Paige Selenski and Michelle Vittese of Virginia.

O’Donnell, Falgowski, Kintzer, Kolojejchick, Selenski and Vittese were also named to the All-ACC team in 2009.

North Carolina comes off a 2009 campaign in which it went 20-2 overall and 4-1 in league play. The Tar Heels defeated Maryland 3-2 in the NCAA Championship game, earning the program’s sixth national title.

UNC’s Karen Shelton, the reigning NFHCA Coach of the Year, returns seven starters and 15 letterwinners, including Kolojejchick, who was named National Rookie of the Year by womensfieldhockey.com. UNC seeks its 17th conference championship and its first since 2007.

With players having to decide by mid-August if they are going pro or going on to college, Durham-based Baseball America did a piece on the winners and losers in college baseball as players decided to go pro.

Winners included Georgia Tech while North Carolina and Florida State were judged among the losers.

Aaron Fitt wrote about Carolina: “UNC is actually quite pleased with its haul, which includes a solid core in catcher Matt Roberts, lefthander Kent Emanuel and righty Jake Cole, plus good depth. But still, the Tar Heels entered Monday hoping to land one of their three remaining elite recruits—Stetson Allie, Sean Coyle and Ty Linton—and came up empty. Coyle, in particular, would have been a cornerstone player in the UNC infield, but the third-round pick signed with Boston for $1.3 million. The Tar Heels still wound up with a sure-fire top 25 recruiting class—and maybe a top 15 class—but heading into the day it had a chance to be an elite class, and it wound up falling short of that distinction.”

To read the entire piece, please click here.

Ty Linton was also a high school all-state linebacker in football and had been practicing with the Tar Heels.

Before coming to UNC, Linton said, “It’s always been a dream of mine to play at Carolina. And I’m going to be at Carolina unless life-changing money comes my way.”

Selected in the 14th round by Arizona, evidently he got that life-changing money as the Diamondbacks gave him a $1.25 million signing bonus.

UNC football coach Butch Davis said the football program is disappointed to lose Linton to the Diamondbacks.

“We are always going to recruit talented student-athletes and Ty was a very good two-sport prospect in football and baseball. He had an opportunity at Carolina to pursue his education while playing both sports,” Davis said.

“He was making significant progress in training camp and I believe he had a bright football future. After meeting with Arizona over the last few days, Ty and his family felt it was in his best interest to pursue a professional baseball career. We wish him the best of luck.”

The neverending drama surrounding quarterback Brett Favre took another turn minutes ago when he boarded a plane for Minnesota.

Reportedly, he has told a few fellow Minnesota Viking teammates that he is coming back for one more season – at least.

Whether the deterioration of Kentwan Balmer’s situation with San Franciso was related to the NCAA investigation of UNC is hard to tell.

Balmer didn’t show up for practice last Monday or Tuesday. Tuesday was the day former UNC player Cam Thomas told The News & Observer’s Joe Giglio that Balmer had paid for the trip Thomas and Marvin Austin took to California in 2009.

Naturally, reporters were eager to ask Balmer what was going on. But by Wednesday, Balmer was a permanent no-show at the 49ers camp. The view from here seem to connect the NCAA investigation and Balmer’s reticence, but that might not have been the driving factor. Balmer, a No. 1 pick in 2008, couldn’t crack the 49ers starting rotation and apparently was unhappy with his status. San Francisco coach Mike Singletary said it was a “personal matter” and didn’t go further.

San Francisco traded Balmer to Seattle Monday for what the Sacramento Bee reported was a mere 6th-round pick. That’s awfully cheap for a decent defensive lineman and former first-rounder.

“We have strong connections to the 49ers and it is our understanding that Kentwan is ready to play football and in need of a fresh start,” Seahawks general manager John Schneider said.

Sounds like he does. But if he thinks he’ll just move on to Seattle and dodge questions, he’s in for a surprise.

CHAPEL HILL – Donte Paige-Moss has added nearly 40 pounds of muscle from a year ago. But his new strength is only one change for the Northside product as he enters his second football season at the University of North Carolina.

Paige-Moss said some setbacks last season led to a more mature attitude as he expands his role with the Carolina defense.

Paige-Moss, a sophomore, started his UNC career poorly by getting into a dorm-room fight last July. His true freshman season ended when he battled an N.C State player Nov. 28 and was suspended for the Meineke Car Care Bowl.

It was then, Paige-Moss said, that coach Butch Davis called him into his office to review what happened in Raleigh. “Coach Davis told me straight up that if I kept doing those things I wouldn’t be here in any more,” Paige-Moss said Thursday.

From then on, he said, “I changed my attitude on the field and off the field.”
Paige-Moss, sitting Thursday in the swank UNC football offices that overlook Kenan Stadium, knew what was at stake. He would have to harness the fighting instincts he had honed growing up in the Jones County town of Maysville, where he lived before transferring to Jacksonville as a high school junior.

“In that area, it was a lot of negative things,” he said. “Everybody didn’t make it out like I did.”

Many people he knew as a youth, he said, “are either locked up or dead.”

He found an outlet in football, and had a dominant career at Northside High. Scout.com ranked him the No. 1 defensive end prospect in the country, and SuperPrep and Parade picked him to their All-America teams.

“He’s a classic example of a guy who had phenomenal credentials.” Davis said recently. “Guys like him could literally dominate a high school game. He probably never played against somebody on the offensive line who was good enough to block him. But at this level, it’s not enough to rely on God-given ability.”

“That’s kind of the way it was,” Paige-Moss said. “In high school, you find your ‘fanatical freaks.’ But at this level, everybody was on top in high school.”

Paige-Moss started his UNC career as a talented pass-rusher, but he barely understood the subtle skills required of a top defensive end. Since last season, he has added weight and focused on learning how to play the run.

“Last year, what I had was raw talent that could be used for pass rushing,” said Paige-Moss, who is now 6 feet 4 and 269 pounds.

Paige-Moss had only five tackles in 2009. But he will be in UNC’s rotation this season as the backup at left defensive end.

Depth along the defensive line is important for UNC, since the NCAA is investigating the school for actions involving defensive tackle Marvin Austin. Quinton Coples is listed as the preseason starter at defensive left end, but Carolina is also playing Coples at defensive tackle. If Coples starts at tackle for Austin, junior Michael McAdoo will switch from the backup at right defensive end to the starter at left defensive end.

Either way, Paige-Moss will be the No. 2 at left defensive end. Paige-Moss isn’t complaining that McAdoo might move ahead of him and is confident he’ll get plenty of time on the field this fall.

“Maybe last year, I’d be like ‘That’s my spot and I have to have it,’” he said. “But this year, with me more mature, I’m able to accept my role.”

That role could be a significant one as Carolina looks to build depth along the defensive line – and Paige-Moss looks to take advantage of his new muscle and maturity.

The Washington Redskins may have found its fastest player since Darrell Green in the person of Garner native Brandon Banks.

Banks, wearing the No. 16, returned a punt 77 yards for a touchdown in the Redskins 45-17 romp over the Buffalo Bills in preseason action. The Redskins, under new head coach Mike Shanahan, are looking for more production from the special teams, which failed to get a touchdown on any runback last season.

Banks stands just 5-foot-6 and weighs less than 150 pounds. Compare that to hall of famer Darrell Green who was 5-9, 180 pounds and called himself “itty bitty.” While it wasn’t as spectacular as Green’s famous hurdling 50-plus-yard punt return for a TD in the 1987 playoffs against the Bears, Banks blew by and through five or six defenders to remind Redskins’ fans of days gone by.

After getting in the end zone, Banks paid tribute to his fellow Triangle buddy John Wall, the Washington Wizards rookie, by performing Wall’s signature dance. To read more about the connection between the two and to watch the return, please click here.

Receiver Devin Thomas came into the game as the top kick returner while defensive back Phillip Buchanon was slated as the first-team punt returner. Neither distinguished themselves in the game. In fact, Thomas muffed the opening kickoff. (To be fair, Banks earlier dropped a punt as well.) And, depending on other roster desires, Banks, who is listed as a receiver, could fail to make the team because he doesn’t figure to play anywhere else except on special teams.

While it was just one return, if Redskins special teams coordinator Danny Smith goes by his own words, Banks has a good chance of making the team.

“I want a guy that’s sure-handed so we don’t have to worry about catching the ball. I want a guy with a quick first step, I want a guy with toughness, I want a guy with good vision, I want a guy with good balance, I want a guy that can make somebody miss, I want a guy that can take it the distance,” he said.

It appears Banks fits the bill except maybe being “tough.” Although former Redskins returner Brian Mitchell says “toughness” comes down to something besides brute strength or even the physical ability to take a hit. Mitchell says the one muscle they don’t test at combine is heart.

Banks, who went undrafted out of Kansas State, was a two-time all-conference football selection at Garner High School and was named to the USA Today’s All-USA high school track and field team in 2006.