As Branca later related, another source of strength for him in dealing with his infamy were the words of a Jesuit priest, Pat Rowley, who was the second cousin of his soon-to-be-wife, Ann Mulvey, the daughter of one of the Dodger owners. In a sedan in the Polo Grounds parking lot after the game, Rowley turned to Branca, sitting with his fiancee in the back seat, and said: "It could have happened to anyone. You did your best." But when Branca repeated his "why me?" lament, Rowley said sternly: "The reason God picked you to throw that pitch was because He knew that your faith was strong enough to withstand the agonies that would follow."