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‘The Shot Heard ‘Round the World’? We found Bobby Thomson’s Scottish family to see how true that is

It was called “The shot heard ‘round the world” – though the newspaper editors who coined it likely had no idea how right they were. While American baseball has never been shy about applying a global moniker to its domestic…

By Michael Clair · MLB Official

Published: Friday, 2 October 2026 at 5:50 PM

Key Things to Know

Bobby Thomson's Scottish cousins reflected on the legacy of his iconic 1951 pennant-winning home run.
Baseball Scotland president John Tafe noted Thomson's fame in Scotland is more of a novelty than folklore.
Thomson was born in a Glasgow tenement before his family emigrated to the United States.

The Story in 60 Seconds

Bobby Thomson's Scottish cousins shared their perspectives on the baseball player's legacy and famous 1951 pennant-winning home run known as "The Shot Heard 'Round the World." Thomson was born in Glasgow before emigrating to the United States at age two, eventually becoming known as "The Staten Island Scot." Second cousins Iain and Ken Thomson noted that while baseball is not widely followed in Scotland, their famous relative remains a unique part of their family history.

Ken Thomson, acting as the family historian, detailed their cramped early life in a Glasgow tenement building before Bobby's father emigrated to find work in New York. Though Bobby Thomson was inducted into the Scottish Sports Hall of Fame in 2003, his relatives acknowledged that his legendary status resonated far more strongly with American sports fans than general Scottish sports culture.

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