*Babe Ruth Thread*

[SHOELESSJOE3]

A rare shot of The Bam.

[SHOELESSJOE3]

I guess it was hard to believe your eyes at times.

In 1920 they check out the balls.
In a game in 1927 (June 11) Cleveland catcher Luke Sewell held up the game and demanded that the umpire check Babe Ruth's bat after Babe hit the second of his two monster home runs. The ump looks it over, bounces it on the plate, looks it over from end to end. Sewell takes the bat and smells it, in digust hands it back to the ump who hands the bat to Ruth. They find nothing. Later Sewell says he smelled the bat looking for a smell of an adhesive, maybe a laminated bat.

It's not the ball.
It's not the bat.
It's The Bam, he's on the level.

[SHOELESSJOE3]

New York Times Aug 1920. It was also noted that after Ruth lined out to left in the 8th inning about 25,000 of the 35,000 fans started for the exits.

[SHOELESSJOE3]

The last thing the Yankee owners wanted to happen, losing their big meal ticket, the guy that was putting the fans in the seats at all the parks.

The policy:
Ruth was not to ski, no loss there he didn't care to.

Ruth was discouraged from flying but this was not enforced.

Ruth was not to do and horseback riding. I have see pictures of babe on a horse, one with Herb Pennock and one with Yankee owner Huston while he was still one of the owners.

Ruth was reprimanded more than a few times to slow down behind the wheel, his contract forbid speeding, how do you enforce that. I have seen almost a dozen articles where Ruth was charged with speeding, plus three accidents one a roll over with one passenger ejected.

Ruth was not to engage in any hazardous sports, basketball was one listed.

Ruth was not to engage in any extended hand shaking with large crowds, it was feared he might suffer a finger injury.

He could have been fined for violation of any of the above and more, it was written into the policy.

Obviously he didn't seem to care and the owners just looked the other way.

Often after the last out of the game Ruth would make a dash to the dugout pushing his way through dozens of fans, holding his cap high to prevent souvenir seekers from swiping it off his head. This was a nervous time for the Yankee owners.

Not much security back then. When he hit home run number 60 he carried his bat around the bases and a young boy met him at third base grabbing the bat, Ruth carried the boy and bat the last 90 feet.

I can only imagine the owner's fear when Ruth caught a ball dropped from a building...................and another that was dropped from an airplane from around 300 feet.

[hellborn]

I have copied this from the Ruth discussion thread, in case it was missed there.
------------------
My father's family nickname was Babe, as the youngest of 4 kids. He was born in 1917, so was about a generation younger than Ruth. We also had Babe Dahlgren and Babe Didriksen, who were younger than Ruth.
Did the nickname die out in the '30s and '40s? Was it because Ruth had made it his own, it was too strongly identified with one man?
Bill James suggested that Willie McCovey made "Stretch" his own in baseball, that it was a common nickname that became identified with one outstanding player and wasn't bestowed on young players anymore. Did Babe Ruth do this for the whole US society, for "Babe"?

[SHOELESSJOE3]

I have copied this from the Ruth discussion thread, in case it was missed there.
------------------
My father's family nickname was Babe, as the youngest of 4 kids. He was born in 1917, so was about a generation younger than Ruth. We also had Babe Dahlgren and Babe Didriksen, who were younger than Ruth.
Did the nickname die out in the '30s and '40s? Was it because Ruth had made it his own, it was too strongly identified with one man?
Bill James suggested that Willie McCovey made "Stretch" his own in baseball, that it was a common nickname that became identified with one outstanding player and wasn't bestowed on young players anymore. Did Babe Ruth do this for the whole US society, for "Babe"?

My opinion, no he did not. I think it was just a more popular name long, long ago.
I found more than a dozen, close to two dozen baseball players nicknamed Babe and almost all were from long ago. A number born around the same time as Babe Ruth and most of the rest born before 1920.

I would think the nickname went out with time. Not really sure if I answered your question. Do you agree with the fact that the nickname faded out over the years but is your question......was it because it seemed that it was Babe Ruth's nickname and should not be shared by others who came after him.

I can't say for sure no way to tell but I go back to my previous thought, no particular reason I think it just became less popular.

[hellborn]

SJ3, I think about how popular the nickname "Chick" was earlier last century, and it just seemed to fade away without having been attached to one particular prominent person...I guess there was a golfer named Chick Evans, but don't know if he was really famous.
I guess I'm probably asking for people's opinions more than hard facts, I suspect that you may be right...it may have just been a coincidence that the name faded after Ruth became a superstar.

[Sultan_1895-1948]

Bill, I'd like to get into consolidating this thread again.

[Bill Burgess]

Bill, I'd like to get into consolidating this thread again.

:applaud::applaud::applaud: :bowdown: :bowdown: :bowdown:

'Bout time, Randy. I have been wishing you would. Let me know if there is anything I can do to assist you, my great friend/ally.

I'll be here ready to assist.

[Sultan_1895-1948]

Thanks Bill. I just need the editing priviledges from Sean.

[SHOELESSJOE3]

SJ3, I think about how popular the nickname "Chick" was earlier last century, and it just seemed to fade away without having been attached to one particular prominent person...I guess there was a golfer named Chick Evans, but don't know if he was really famous.
I guess I'm probably asking for people's opinions more than hard facts, I suspect that you may be right...it may have just been a coincidence that the name faded after Ruth became a superstar.

I got 32 Chicks, most were from the 1910s-20s, about 20 of them from that time, only two from after 1970.

Babes, 19 of them.
Red, I knew this would be a big one but never knew this big, Red, 302 players named Red. Really not fair though, for sure most got the name because of hair color.

[Proctor, CF]

I got 32 Chicks, most were from the 1910s-20s

Babes, 19 of them.

Not bad, ShoelessJoe. Not bad at all.

[SHOELESSJOE3]

Bill, I'd like to get into consolidating this thread again.

I like that.

[SHOELESSJOE3]

Ruth Bit. The Bam doing some time, 4 1/2 hours.

When asked his name by the officer who pulled him over he said "Babe Ruth". "No, I want your real name he was asked". Thinking the questioner suspects him of being an imposter, he repeats, " Babe Ruth"..........OK.

Babe feels the rath of the judge, the same judge he stood before on April 7, told he gets no special treatment.

He then phones the Polo Grounds and has his uniform delivered to the jail.

[dbacksfan95]

Ruth Bit. The Bam doing some time, 4 1/2 hours.

When asked his name by the officer who pulled him over he said "Babe Ruth". "No, I want your real name he was asked". Thinking the questioner suspects him of being an imposter, he repeats, " Babe Ruth"..........OK.

Babe feels the rath of the judge, the same judge he stood before on April 7, told he gets no special treatment.

He then phones the Polo Grounds and has his uniform delivered to the jail.

HAHA
THATS GREAT