Scots-born legend of US baseball dies aged 86

TRIBUTES were paid on both sides of the Atlantic yesterday to the Scots-born baseball player who hit the "shot heard around the world".

Bobby Thomson's game- winning home run for the New York Giants in a 1951 championship series is perhaps the greatest moment in the sport's history.

Thomson, who has died at his US home aged 86, delivered "the shot heard round the world" in the final innings of a match against the Brooklyn Dodgers.

Millions watched live as the home run brought the first nationally televised baseball game to a stunning climax, landing the National League title for the Giants and propelling them into the World Series.

Yet for a man who achieved success at the pinnacle of an American sport, Thomson - who emigrated with his family at the age of two - never forgot his roots. He returned to Scotland in 2003 to be inducted into the Scottish Sports Hall of Fame and attend the opening of the Edinburgh Diamond Devils' new baseball ground at Meadowhill, which the club named in his honour.

"He was the best Scottish player that ever played," said club president Jason Derr. "He was glad to see that baseball was being played in Scotland and spent time with us talking about the home run and signing autographs."

Thomson, who was born in Townhead, Glasgow, in October 1923, emigrated at the age of two when his father, a furniture maker, moved his family to New York. He excelled at football, but was spotted by a baseball scout and signed up with the Giants on a $100-a-month (64) contract when he left school in 1942.

Nicknamed The Flying Scot for his speed around the bases, Thomson spent 15 years in the major leagues with five clubs, including the Chicago Cubs and Boston Red Sox.