*Babe Ruth Thread*

[SHOELESSJOE3]

Grove on Thr Babe.

[SHOELESSJOE3]

We will never know the exact number of balls Ruth hit that left the field in fair territory but "hooked" foul and were called foul balls before the 1931 season.

The fact that there were less double decked stadiums early in his career made it more likely, more chance that balls passing the foul line inside the pole could hook foul and be called foul balls.

With just a wall alone or single decked parks the balls were allowed to travel a longer distance past the foul pole allowed for more distance to hook foul.

All hitters before 1931 suffered this same fate, Ruth more so because he hit for such long distances more consistently. The longer the distance the more chance to hook or curve into foul territory when landing.

[SHOELESSJOE3]

1925 not a good year for The Bam. Some wrote him off, he would never return to the form he was up until 1924.

[Sultan_1895-1948]

Here’s some info on that streak courtesy of SHOELESSJOE3:

Can't figure this one out, 3 major news papers but there was no box score for a double header played on July 3, another DH played on July 5 and a single game on June 29. So thats a total of 5 games with no box scores. Like you I thought he would have a high number of walks but it was lower than I expected. Here is what I have, remember there are 5 games with no accounting for. With the total of probable at bats being around 90+ ( thats low) assuming an average of 3 or 4 in those 5 missing games a few more hits could make a big difference in that batting average for those 26 games

AB-----------78
Hits----------36
Ba.----------.461
BB-----------16
Doubles------5
Triples-------4
Home runs---10

Joe,

Something is up here. According to the game logs that Ubi posted over in the stats section, Ruth went 0-1 with a walk in the first game of the July 5th double header and injured his wrist. That game comes after a 19 game hitting streak. Then there are 7 more in a row after that. Maybe his log is wrong. Who knows.

http://www.baseball-fever.com/showpost.php?p=1246125&postcount=1

[SultanOfWhat]

Here's Guy Bush, whom Ruth would victimize in hitting his last two home runs, in Pittsburgh on May 25, 1935. For good measure, they went 500 and 540 feet (Jenkinson). Picture is dated March 3, 1935, less than 3 months before he faced Ruth. What a sour puss.



Here's an interesting pic of Wrigley from 09 Oct 1929. Not sure if there were changes before Ruth's "called shot" 3 years later.



Here's a Wrigley scan from an old book I have (pic is from WS 1935). Note the Baby Ruth sign.



Small one:

[SHOELESSJOE3]

[QUOTE=SultanOfWhat;1519197]Here's an interesting pic of Wrigley from 09 Oct 1929. Not sure if there were changes before Ruth's "called shot" 3 years later.

Not much different in 1932. The pic you posted was probably from the 1929 World Series, oops I can see by the date it was WS time. You may already know, for those who do not temp bleacher were used during World Series. They are actually outside the park on the streets, Waveland and Sheffield Streets.
Not a big deal but I think the pic you posted is reversed. I say that because the buildings on the right side of the field across the street are closer together but on the left in your picture. For my own use, have to check that out.

Here another overhead, looks the same as yours only reversed, the ticket booth is on the right of the scoreboard.

The view from the outside, ticket booth would be on the right side looking from inside the park.

PS....... took a second look, let me think this one over, I could be wrong. In that overhead I posted in the right hand corner I see two letters in this order OC only they looked reversed, probably part of the word Corbis. This pic was sent to me so I can't be sure, reversed or not

[SHOELESSJOE3]

Joe,

Something is up here. According to the game logs that Ubi posted over in the stats section, Ruth went 0-1 with a walk in the first game of the July 5th double header and injured his wrist. That game comes after a 19 game hitting streak. Then there are 7 more in a row after that. Maybe his log is wrong. Who knows.

http://www.baseball-fever.com/showpo...25&postcount=1

OK Randy, little busy but will see what I can find. Could not open up anything in that UBI post, a problem but I'll check some box scores.

[RichardLillard1]

Joe,

That "bend" in the grandstand at Wrigley is on the first base side. It's your key to know if a picture is reversed or not, every time.

Hope this helps.


Richard

[SHOELESSJOE3]

Joe,

That "bend" in the grandstand at Wrigley is on the first base side. It's your key to know if a picture is reversed or not, every time.

Hope this helps.


Richard

OK Rich then I was correct the first time. The view I showed with the white line showing the flight of Babe's drive, thats correct. There is the bend first base side, I've always thought this is an accurate overhead.

Here it is again and I'll show what made me rethink that view.
Above the red line the leters 0C look to be part of Corbis reversed.

[SHOELESSJOE3]

Joe,

Something is up here. According to the game logs that Ubi posted over in the stats section, Ruth went 0-1 with a walk in the first game of the July 5th double header and injured his wrist. That game comes after a 19 game hitting streak. Then there are 7 more in a row after that. Maybe his log is wrong. Who knows.

http://www.baseball-fever.com/showpo...25&postcount=1

July 5, he slipped rounding 2b, hurt wrist.

[SHOELESSJOE3]

Another knock on Ruth by some who rank him as another Jim Thome if he were playing today and believe it or not some think he would be mired in the minor league in todays game. Looking at it that way no player back then could play with the big guys today, enough of that nonsense.

The knock that he would probably not put to use some of todays advancements, training, he would be the same old Babe Ruth.
Well the old Babe Ruth was among a few back then who were doing some training in gyms in the off season. Would more have done the same if in the same postition as Babe, maybe but that has nothing to do with him doing so.

He realized after that terrible 1925 season he had to get it together, get in shape. Most of us know the part Artie McGovern played, probably added a couple of seasons to The Babe's career. Some in the game wrote him off, he would never reach the pre 1925 level.

So he was in fact concerned about his condition and followed a tough regimen of training Artie set up for him, he did whip into shape.
Here are some bits on that.

[SHOELESSJOE3]

Appeared in a military paper, Stars and Stripes, Paris France.

[SHOELESSJOE3]

Not sure which tree it was, the park is gone but the tree is still there.
Home of the Atlanta Crackers at one time.

[SultanOfWhat]

Both Ruth and Mathews were lefty hitters, so it was probably the tree on the right. [Edited to add: it was; see below]

Another view of Ponce de Leon Park:



Wiki on Ponce de Leon park (also called Spiller Field):

"The park was known for a magnolia tree in deep center field. Balls landing in the tree remained in play, until Earl Mann took over the team in 1947 and had the outfield wall moved in about fifty feet[1]. During exhibition games, Babe Ruth and Eddie Mathews both hit home runs that became stuck in the distant tree."

More:

http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/n....jsp?id=h-2475

"The fence was 365 feet down the left field line, 321 to right, and 462 to dead center, where a giant magnolia stood. Spiller Field had the only ground rules in baseball history allowing for a tree in the outfield. (One year, during a preseason barnstorming tour, Babe Ruth and the New York Yankees came into town. Ruth and his fellow Hall of Famer Eddie Mathews are the only two men ever to have hit home-run balls into the magnolia.)"

Pretty much confirms it's the tree on the right, as it is closer to dead center (and probably 20 feet closer than the tree in left-center).



More:

http://urbanbaboon.blogspot.com/2007...leon-park.html

"The distinguishing feature of Ponce De Leon Park is that it was built around a large Magnolia Tree, which for much of its history was in the field itself in very deep right center (when they moved the fences in it stood outside the stadium. All that remains of the field is that majestic magnolia..."

The Ballpark project also says right center:

http://projectballpark.org/history/nal/ponce.html

Looks like a fielder would have to run up a very steep hill to play balls hit to deep center field.

Pic of the Babe taking BP in Wrigley during the '32 WS:



Yes, that aerial of Wrigley was reversed. The Corbis pic was flipped, but it was a corrective flip. You can see that there are no seats just to the left of the RF foul pole in pics of the famous moment:



That matches the aerial (aside from the ticket booth):

[SHOELESSJOE3]

Both Ruth and Mathews were lefty hitters, so it was probably the tree on the right.

Yes, that would be my first choice, on the right. I may have more info on this in a folder.