Babe Ruth
Yesterday’s Greatest Myth-Maker
Happy Saturday Morning, Everybody!! ~ And what a great time again to ask the question that will never be answered for certain by even the deepest, blue history thinkers in the game. Even those who do affirm it say their words of support in the most whimsical ways ~ and with everything from a slight to widely spreading smile on their faces when they do.
Did Babe Ruth call his shot at Wrigley Field against the Cubs in the 1932 World Series? ~ Or was he simply pointing at Cubs pitcher Charlie Root, from the plate to the mound, as the two engaged in what we now call “trash talk” with each other prior to the next pitch that ended up flying high and deep off the Babe’s bat as a home run to deep right center ~ and giving birth to a visual communication that engrained the perception in the crowd ~ that they had just witnessed in totality ~ Babe Ruth predicting a home run to center field and them making delivery.
And remember too ~ all this hubbub arose from the mass visual memory of this event. The film you are about to see here ~ or probably already have seen ~ was taken by rare fan in the crowd with an early silent movie camera ~ but it only came to public attention some year in the past twenty or thirty. ~This thing was born and raised on the repetition of often reported memories of those eye witnesses who were there in 1932 to record mental perceptions of Babe Ruth predicting his home runs.
It is the film that brings us the follow-up shots of Babe waving his hand at pitcher Root again as he rounds first and heads for second in his home run trot. Even those motivations can be taken as either the Babe “rubbing it in” or as evidence that it was simply more gloat from the general trash talk that Ruth had decided to engage in with Root.
Ruth doesn’t start making big claims that he called his shot until he finds out back in the dugout after the bases trot that apparently everyone else thinks he did. Then he’s all over the affirmation as the primary source authenticator of that claim.
Enjoy the brief clip and the visual part of this story. It also includes some comment by Lefty Gomez, one of the great Yankee pitchers who was there that day. Plus, a handful of other prominent baseball writers chime in too.
In the end, you will be left with the question that only you can answer: Did Babe Ruth really call his shot in Chicago, or not?
Here’s the link:
Addendum: Reader Cliff Blau‘s suggestion in the comment section below is worth the additional look because of the light it sheds on the angle and direction of Babe Ruth’s arm-pointing. Check it out too at the following link once you’ve seen our suggested site film.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FwIlNSi3x7c
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Bill McCurdy
Principal Writer, Editor, Publisher
The Pecan Park Eagle
The Pecan Park Eagle 
July 28, 2018 at 2:49 pm |
Whether he called the shot or not, taking Root deep on the biggest stage in the enemy ballpark where everyone and their brother was jawing at him had to be extremely satisfying for Babe, and equally distasteful for Root.
As a side note, listening to the dialect from the New Yorkers, when they pronounce Babe’s last name, it often sounds like Charlie’s last name…
July 28, 2018 at 4:58 pm |
Charlie Root was a coach on the same team with Andy Pafko in 1951 (Cubs) and 1956-57 (Braves). I once asked Andy about Root’s view of the called shot, and Andy couldn’t have been more expressive about how much Root denied that it happened. Of course, Root’s views are well known, and this doesn’t prove anything, but it was interesting to hear about it from someone that close to him.
Bill Hickman
July 29, 2018 at 1:09 am |
You can’t tell anything from that video, but this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FwIlNSi3x7c
shows the pointing, and it looks to me like he is pointing at the Cubs’ dugout. He’s facing that way and his arm is at an angle, not straight out to his side as it would be if he were pointing at the OF fence.