centerfield
My daughter is doing a report on the history of the NY Yankees and the question came up about Babe Ruth's legendary centerfield point of the finger and whether or not a photo exists. I asked our local Sports Gurus at the BfloBlog and here is Kevin's most helpful response:
Long story short. You can’t find an actual photograph because it never happened. Even those most sympathetic to the Ruthian legend concede that at best, he called his shot by pointing into the Cubs dugout and saying “It only takes one to hit it.”
The best I can do for you is an article that's been around forever by Shirley Povich, a deceased Washington Post columnist who was at the game covering it:
His quote:
And so he did in the memorable third World Series game of 1932 in Wrigley Field when the legend of the "Called Shot" was born. The story went that Ruth, angered that the Cubs gave ex-Yankee Mark Koenig a miserly cut of the World Series money, deliberately pointed to a spot in right-center, thus telling pitcher Charlie Root he'd hit one out there. Ruth did, and the "Called Shot" became famous.
Not with me. I count myself as a reasonably accurate reporter, and having covered that game, I later re-read my account of it and there was no mention of a called shot. Neither did the Associated Press nor the Chicago papers mention anything about it. The only mention I could find was far down in the New York Times story, which mentioned that Ruth pointed at Root but gave only a vague reason why.
Years later, during World War II, Lt. Commander Bill Dickey, my housemate at Pearl Harbor, laid the story to rest for me after I asked him about the so-called "Called Shot." Dickey said, "Why spoil a good myth?"
This review of a Red Smith book may help:
Anyway, the Ruthian legend is fabulous. Consider how distorted the legend of one of the greatest ballplayers ever m ust be 70 years later, with very little video available to break those myths. Back then the NY media was very close to the Yankees, and coverage of the Babe was always meant to build his legend.
Legendary indeed.
Long story short. You can’t find an actual photograph because it never happened. Even those most sympathetic to the Ruthian legend concede that at best, he called his shot by pointing into the Cubs dugout and saying “It only takes one to hit it.”
The best I can do for you is an article that's been around forever by Shirley Povich, a deceased Washington Post columnist who was at the game covering it:
His quote:
And so he did in the memorable third World Series game of 1932 in Wrigley Field when the legend of the "Called Shot" was born. The story went that Ruth, angered that the Cubs gave ex-Yankee Mark Koenig a miserly cut of the World Series money, deliberately pointed to a spot in right-center, thus telling pitcher Charlie Root he'd hit one out there. Ruth did, and the "Called Shot" became famous.
Not with me. I count myself as a reasonably accurate reporter, and having covered that game, I later re-read my account of it and there was no mention of a called shot. Neither did the Associated Press nor the Chicago papers mention anything about it. The only mention I could find was far down in the New York Times story, which mentioned that Ruth pointed at Root but gave only a vague reason why.
Years later, during World War II, Lt. Commander Bill Dickey, my housemate at Pearl Harbor, laid the story to rest for me after I asked him about the so-called "Called Shot." Dickey said, "Why spoil a good myth?"
This review of a Red Smith book may help:
Anyway, the Ruthian legend is fabulous. Consider how distorted the legend of one of the greatest ballplayers ever m ust be 70 years later, with very little video available to break those myths. Back then the NY media was very close to the Yankees, and coverage of the Babe was always meant to build his legend.
Legendary indeed.
Posted by KT at 9:28 PM::
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1 Comments:
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