plate umpire Larry Goetz for bench jockeying. Branca was only the second player in MLB history to be ejected from a World Series, and the first who was not actually in the game at the time. He did not make an appearance in the series. Branca began the 1953 season with Brooklyn, but was claimed off waivers by the Detroit Tigers on July 10, 1953. The Tigers released Branca in July 1954. After he pitched batting practice for the Yankees, the Yankees signed him, and used him in five games later in the season. Branca pitched for the Minneapolis Millers in 1955, but was released due to ineffectiveness caused by an arm injury. In 1956, Branca appeared at Old Timer's Day for the Yankees, believing his career was over. His pitching velocity returned, and he signed with the Dodgers for the last month of the season, making one appearance. In a 12-year career, Branca posted an 88–68 record with 829 strikeouts and a 3.79 ERA in 1,484 innings pitched. Later life Branca became friends with Thomson, a bond that lasted into each man's old age, including joint television and trade show appearances. Branca later learned from Detroit Tiger Ted Gray that the Giants had stolen the signs to the two pitches he threw Thomson. That rumor was confirmed in The Wall Street Journal in 2001, when Giant Sal Yvars admitted that he relayed to Thomson the stolen signs for Branca's fastballs. Joshua Prager detailed the revelations in a book entitled The Echoing Green: The Untold Story of Bobby Thomson, Ralph Branca and The Shot Heard Round the World. Thomson acknowledged to Prager that the Giants had stolen signs in 1951, but denied that he had foreknowledge of the pitch he hit off Branca for the pennant-winning home run. According to Branca, Thomson admitted to accepting the stolen signs during his first three at-bats of that game, but claimed that he did not do so in the final at-bat; Branca indicated that he did not believe Thomson's denials and remained convinced that Thomson was in fact tipped off on the fateful pitch. Branca ran the Baseball Assistance Team for seventeen years. Branca was a long time member of Westchester Country Club. He was born and raised in Mt. Vernon, New York where he was a member of the Westchester County Hall of Fame for approximately forty years. He was inducted into