October 1, 1932, 90 years ago: Game 3 of the World Series is played at Wrigley Field in Chicago. There was bad blood between the New York Yankees and the Chicago Cubs, because the Cubs had acquired former Yankee shortstop Mark Koenig late in the season, he'd helped them win the Pennant, and had announced that, whatever their individual players' shares of the World Series money would be, he would get only half as much.
The Yankees, including Babe Ruth himself, publicly called the Cubs cheap, and there was some rough stuff in the 1st 2 games at Yankee Stadium. When Ruth and his wife Claire got off the train at Union Station in Chicago, Cub fans were waiting for them, throwing garbage at them, and spitting on them. Neither was naive: The Babe had been treated badly before, and Mrs. Ruth, under her maiden name of Claire Hodgson, was an actress, and used to rough customers. But this was over the line.
The Yankees took a 4-1 lead, including home runs by Ruth and Lou Gehrig. But the Cubs tied it up in the bottom of the 4th. Ruth led off the top of the 5th, and the Cub fans were abusing him like crazy. In the Cubs dugout, the "bench jockeying" was nasty as well.
Ruth was no stranger to this. Because of his large, wide nose and big lips, there had been suggestions that he was part black. Research into his family history showed him to be almost completely German -- in fact, because his grandparents were born in Pennsylvania, before moving to Baltimore, they were "Pennsylvania Dutch" -- ethnically Amish, if practicing Catholics.
But that didn't stop people from indulging in rumors, and one of the names he was sometimes called was "(N-word) Lips." On one memorable occasion, which may be apocryphal, he heard this particular insult, walked over to the opposing dugout, and said, "Listen, you guys, call me 'bastard' or 'cocksucker,' or whatever you want, but lay off the personal stuff, would ya?"
Charlie Root was pitching for the Cubs, and he threw a called strike. The Babe didn't like the pitch, and the Cubs' bench jockeying got worse. A home movie -- sadly, silent, and with all the crowd noise, we probably wouldn't be able to hear what the players were saying anyway -- shows Ruth waving he hand at the Cub dugout, a classic "Ah, go on, ya bum" gesture.
The way the story is usually told, including on a newsreel by Ruth himself, there were only 3 pitches in this at-bat. In fact, Root's next 2 pitches were out of the strike zone, and called balls. His 4th pitch was called a strike. The home movie shows Ruth pointing directly at Root -- twice. His arm is not extended. Contrary to legend, he is not pointing at a spot beyond the outfield fence, as if to say, "I'm going to hit the next pitch there."
But he is sending a message. Cubs catcher Gabby Hartnett claimed Ruth said, "It only takes one." Another source said Ruth said, "You got one more, kid!" (To the Babe, who was terrible with names, if you were a young guy, you were "Kid"; if you were older, you were "Doc"; and if he didn't like you, or sometimes even if he did, you were "You son of a bitch!") Gehrig, in the on-deck circle, told a reporter that what Ruth yelled at Root was, "I'm gonna hit the next pitch right down your goddamned throat!"
So, yes, Babe Ruth called his shot.
Root threw him one more pitch. The Babe crushed it to dead center field. Longtime Cub observers said it was the longest home run ever hit in Wrigley Field to that point. The now-familiar center field scoreboard wouldn't go up until 1937, and no player has ever hit it with a home run. Had it been there in 1932, the Babe's blast might have hit it.
The crowd knew that the Babe had made his point, and, like the Russian fans turning from Drago to Balboa in Rocky IV, switched sides, and cheered him.
The next batter was Gehrig, and he also hit his 2nd home run of the game. The Yankees hung on to win, 7-5, and completed the sweep the next day.
The Yankees, including Babe Ruth himself, publicly called the Cubs cheap, and there was some rough stuff in the 1st 2 games at Yankee Stadium. When Ruth and his wife Claire got off the train at Union Station in Chicago, Cub fans were waiting for them, throwing garbage at them, and spitting on them. Neither was naive: The Babe had been treated badly before, and Mrs. Ruth, under her maiden name of Claire Hodgson, was an actress, and used to rough customers. But this was over the line.
The Yankees took a 4-1 lead, including home runs by Ruth and Lou Gehrig. But the Cubs tied it up in the bottom of the 4th. Ruth led off the top of the 5th, and the Cub fans were abusing him like crazy. In the Cubs dugout, the "bench jockeying" was nasty as well.
Ruth was no stranger to this. Because of his large, wide nose and big lips, there had been suggestions that he was part black. Research into his family history showed him to be almost completely German -- in fact, because his grandparents were born in Pennsylvania, before moving to Baltimore, they were "Pennsylvania Dutch" -- ethnically Amish, if practicing Catholics.
But that didn't stop people from indulging in rumors, and one of the names he was sometimes called was "(N-word) Lips." On one memorable occasion, which may be apocryphal, he heard this particular insult, walked over to the opposing dugout, and said, "Listen, you guys, call me 'bastard' or 'cocksucker,' or whatever you want, but lay off the personal stuff, would ya?"
Charlie Root was pitching for the Cubs, and he threw a called strike. The Babe didn't like the pitch, and the Cubs' bench jockeying got worse. A home movie -- sadly, silent, and with all the crowd noise, we probably wouldn't be able to hear what the players were saying anyway -- shows Ruth waving he hand at the Cub dugout, a classic "Ah, go on, ya bum" gesture.
The way the story is usually told, including on a newsreel by Ruth himself, there were only 3 pitches in this at-bat. In fact, Root's next 2 pitches were out of the strike zone, and called balls. His 4th pitch was called a strike. The home movie shows Ruth pointing directly at Root -- twice. His arm is not extended. Contrary to legend, he is not pointing at a spot beyond the outfield fence, as if to say, "I'm going to hit the next pitch there."
But he is sending a message. Cubs catcher Gabby Hartnett claimed Ruth said, "It only takes one." Another source said Ruth said, "You got one more, kid!" (To the Babe, who was terrible with names, if you were a young guy, you were "Kid"; if you were older, you were "Doc"; and if he didn't like you, or sometimes even if he did, you were "You son of a bitch!") Gehrig, in the on-deck circle, told a reporter that what Ruth yelled at Root was, "I'm gonna hit the next pitch right down your goddamned throat!"
So, yes, Babe Ruth called his shot.
Root threw him one more pitch. The Babe crushed it to dead center field. Longtime Cub observers said it was the longest home run ever hit in Wrigley Field to that point. The now-familiar center field scoreboard wouldn't go up until 1937, and no player has ever hit it with a home run. Had it been there in 1932, the Babe's blast might have hit it.
The crowd knew that the Babe had made his point, and, like the Russian fans turning from Drago to Balboa in Rocky IV, switched sides, and cheered him.
The next batter was Gehrig, and he also hit his 2nd home run of the game. The Yankees hung on to win, 7-5, and completed the sweep the next day.
Ruth's Called Shot remains, along with Bobby Thomson's 1951 Pennant-winning "Shot Heard 'Round the World," one of the two most talked-about home runs in baseball history, more so even than the World Series Game 7-winning shot by Bill Mazeroski in 1960, or the home runs that broke Ruth's records: Single-season, 61 by Roger Maris in 1961, then 70 by Mark McGwire in 1998, then 73 by Barry Bonds in 2001; and career, 715 by Hank Aaron in 1974, then 756 by Bonds in 2007.
No comments:
Post a Comment