As others have said , the man was a great guy who had a fine career , and like you say it ' s unfair to remember reduce his memory down to one bad pitch . There have been way shittier pitches thrown in massive games Branca ' s was just maybe the most unfortunately timed . RIP . Is baseball the only sport where on a famous play , the losing player is remembered along with the winning player ? Maybe in US sports , I don ' t know . Internationally , though , it ' s far more common . Cricket perhaps unsurprisingly , given its status as baseball ' s weird British uncle has a few of these The Ball of the Century is the first one that jumps to mind . Soccer , too , most great goals , saves and tackles commemorate both the winner and loser .