*Babe Ruth Thread*

[SHOELESSJOE3]

Shoeless, do you have any game recaps of July 11, 1918...Ruth against Cicotte.

Word is, Eddie was trying a "new strategy" against Ruth, keeping everything low and away and Babe ripped three doubles to left.

Yes, Eddie was going to keep the ball away from Babe, so I guess Babe took what he was given, outside pitches, 3 doubles all to left field.

Let me explain the cartoon.
Boston with a fair lead over Chisox, 4-0, one out, 9th inning, Chicago with bases loaded.
Babe playing first knocks down a hard liner, lunges at runner going to second and tags him out. Then slides to first base to complete the DP, game over.
That was some 5 game stretch for Babe, From July 8-July 12, played a hugh part in all Bosox wins, won with doubles and triples, July 12, double and two triples, in another game 10th inning triple wins game. The Boston Globe now call him Tarzan, Washington post, The Boston Terror.
BTW, he played first base in all 5 games.

[SHOELESSJOE3]

Ruth had his own radio program with his wife after he retired. I guess it was a sports discussion show, but all I know comes from a Bill Stern radio program I heard on XM where Ruth was a guest and talked about his own program for a bit. Anyone ever heard clips or know more about it?

Never heard that one but some years ago, listened to a bit of another Babe Babe radio program, The Adventures of Babe Ruth, you could actually listen to some of these.
Starts out with..."Play ball...Play ball with Babe Ruth... the US Navy brings you the adventures of Babe Ruth."
Stories with fictitious characters.

I think Googling Babe Ruth radio programs will take you there.

[Captain Cold Nose]

Never heard that one but some years ago, listened to a bit of another Babe Babe radio program, The Adventures of Babe Ruth, you could actually listen to some of these.
Starts out with..."Play ball...Play ball with Babe Ruth... the US Navy brings you the adventures of Babe Ruth."
Stories with fictitious characters.

I think Googling Babe Ruth radio programs will take you there.

Thanks. I also added Bill Stern and came up with this:

http://www.radiospirits.com/BILL-STERN-SPORTS-NEWSREEL.php

Maybe the 1946 show was the one I heard. I can't download the show from the computer I am on, though.

So far, what I've looked up doesn't shed any light on the show Ruth was talking about if it were. It sounded like he and Claire were both on the air, from what he was saying.

[SHOELESSJOE3]

Thanks. I also added Bill Stern and came up with this:

http://www.radiospirits.com/BILL-STERN-SPORTS-NEWSREEL.php

Maybe the 1946 show was the one I heard. I can't download the show from the computer I am on, though.

So far, what I've looked up doesn't shed any light on the show Ruth was talking about if it were. It sounded like he and Claire were both on the air, from what he was saying.

Looked for that Babe and Claire show, no luck. Maybe not available on the Internet.

[pheasant]

Ruth and Gehrig voices in 1927, after their famous season. The material is weak. But I get a kick listening to their voices from over 85 years ago. How many other recordings of Ruth and Gehrig are there? This is over 5 minutes long.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6p2WZufrzQk

[SHOELESSJOE3]

Babe opening day pitcher for Bosox.

1916, 4 hitter, beats Philadelphia 2-1. Pitched 8.1 innings.
1917, 3 hitter, beats Yanks 10 -3, complete game.
1918, 4 hitter, beats Athletics 7-1, complete game.
Babe knocked himself out of the box in that 1916 opener. One out in the 9th inning, gloved a hard grounder, DP ball but he made a bad throw to first base.

Hard to believe that one player could be so talented from the batters box and the mound.
I still wonder if his days on the mound added to his already great hitting skill. He saw the game like no other hitter did. There were some others who did some pitching and hitting but none piched as much as he did. Pitched in 140 games, 107 complete.
Did seeing so much of the game from the mound benefit him when he went to batting every day, couldn't hurt.

[SHOELESSJOE3]

Never really looked close at 1931 but........................36 years old, not the young Babe, that caught my eye.
Ba. .373--199 hits---46 home runs and his low in strikeouts, 51.
That was in 145 games, full season 200 hits for sure, hadn't done that in years. With another 6 or 7 games, wouldn't be a shock if he made that his 5th season with 50 or more, never accomplished.

Just for the heck of it, checked out the highest batting average for a 36 years old, starting in 1920 the live ball era.
Top two------------Zack Wheat .375 in 1924.
Babe---------------------------.372 in 1931. Source, Baseball Encyclopedia

So many times I think I've seen it all, he still amazes.

[pheasant]

The 1929-1931 Athletics are considered one of the best dynasties ever. Their pitching was amazing during that stretch.

Here's how Ruth fared against the A's dynasty during this time frame:

1929 22 games, 84 AB,13 runs, 6 HR, 21 RBI, 9 BB,.250/.323/.512
1930 18 games, 66 AB,22 runs,11 HR, 28 RBI,13 BB, .348/.456/.879
1931 20 games, 75 AB,17 runs, 8 HR, 17 HR, 15 BB, .387/.489/.760
Total,60 games 269 AB,52 Runs, 25 HR, 66 RBI, 37 BB, .324/.420/.702
Prorated, 162 g, 607 AB, 140 runs, 67 HR, 178 RBI, 100 BB, .324/.420/.702

In games in which Lefty Grove started(he finished most of them, but Ruth still faced some relievers), Ruth went 43-132 with 9 HRs and a .326 in 36 games. All of the HRs were against Grove.

As a matter of fact, from 1916-1935, Ruth hit winning teams very well. Against teams with a .500+ winning pct, he went .330/.463/.673 with 313 HRs in 3704 AB or 1 HR every 11.83 AB. That's not too shabby.

[Badge714]

FYI - my Badge714 ID. I've been asked several times about this. Years ago I bought into that old urban legend (see below) about Jack Webb's using Badge 714 at the beginning of Dragnet to pay homage to Ruth's 714 home runs. I've long known that it wasn't true, but I've always liked the story anyway.

Wikipedia:
Dragnet used Joe Friday's police badge, with the iconic numbers "714", as its title logo. It has been suggested that Jack Webb wanted badge 714 because he was a big fan of Babe Ruth, who slugged 714 home runs in his career; however, this is an urban legend. In My Name's Friday, the book-length history of Dragnet by TV commentator Micharl J. Hayde, it was asserted that Friday originally wanted the badge number to be "777," tripling the lucky number 7, but decided instead to add the last two digits together to get "14," thus making the badge number "714."

The 714 badge that Friday carried as a lieutenant during the final season of the 1951-59 series was ultimately used in real life by LAPD officer Dan Cooke (however the character of Joe Friday was never made a lieutenant though, preferring to remain in his sergeant's position). As a sergeant, Cooke had been assigned to be the LAPD's liaison with Webb during the production of the 1967-70 series. Just before filming started on the TV-movie that became the pilot for the revived series, Cooke found the badge that the LAPD had lent to Webb in 1958-59 season. However, Webb informed Cooke that he wanted Friday to be a sergeant in the revived series, and, consequently, would not need the lieutenant's badge from the original show. Cooke put the unused badge in a desk drawer and forgot about it. Years later, after being promoted to lieutenant himself, Cooke found the badge and asked for permission to use it.

[bluesky5]

Did Babe ever dabble with the 'spitball', emory ball, etc.

[SHOELESSJOE3]

Did Babe ever dabble with the 'spitball', emory ball, etc.

I doubt that one will ever be answered.
I would think most pitchers back then probably gave them a try back then, not to say they did use it in actual games, we know some did.
Were not banned in the years he pitched with the Bosox.

[Sultan_1895-1948]

Did Babe ever dabble with the 'spitball', emory ball, etc.

Never read of him using any trick pitches in games. Not by any author, in no articles or player accounts of his pitching. That's all we have to go on.

My feeling is that trickery and some form of "finesse" just didn't fit Babe's personality. The same mindset he had at the plate, I think was the same one he took to the hill... go right at 'em.

ps. One thing I don't think gets talked about enough, is not just how deadball hitters had to deal with trick pitches, but also the 17 grandfathered tricksters later on.

[Sultan_1895-1948]

The 1929-1931 Athletics are considered one of the best dynasties ever. Their pitching was amazing during that stretch.

Here's how Ruth fared against the A's dynasty during this time frame:

1929 22 games, 84 AB,13 runs, 6 HR, 21 RBI, 9 BB,.250/.323/.512
1930 18 games, 66 AB,22 runs,11 HR, 28 RBI,13 BB, .348/.456/.879
1931 20 games, 75 AB,17 runs, 8 HR, 17 HR, 15 BB, .387/.489/.760
Total,60 games 269 AB,52 Runs, 25 HR, 66 RBI, 37 BB, .324/.420/.702
Prorated, 162 g, 607 AB, 140 runs, 67 HR, 178 RBI, 100 BB, .324/.420/.702

In games in which Lefty Grove started(he finished most of them, but Ruth still faced some relievers), Ruth went 43-132 with 9 HRs and a .326 in 36 games. All of the HRs were against Grove.

As a matter of fact, from 1916-1935, Ruth hit winning teams very well. Against teams with a .500+ winning pct, he went .330/.463/.673 with 313 HRs in 3704 AB or 1 HR every 11.83 AB. That's not too shabby.

Very informative stuff.

43-132 for a .325 BA? Not too bad against Grove, although apparently Lefty stuck him out quite often. You speak of the relievers Babe faced in Grove's starts. Perhaps the numbers even out, since Grove appeared in relief against the Yanks (specifically to shut down Ruth) more than any other team.

Did you ever Ruth's 1915 pitching numbers?

I would like to add 1915 and 1918 to this post on the pitching page. http://www.baseball-fever.com/showth...341#post656341

[pheasant]

Very informative stuff.

43-132 for a .325 BA? Not too bad against Grove, although apparently Lefty stuck him out quite often. You speak of the relievers Babe faced in Grove's starts. Perhaps the numbers even out, since Grove appeared in relief against the Yanks (specifically to shut down Ruth) more than any other team.

Did you ever Ruth's 1915 pitching numbers?

I would like to add 1915 and 1918 to this post on the pitching page. http://www.baseball-fever.com/showth...341#post656341

Awesome post from 2006. I like his confidence. He believed he could win 30 games. I believe that he eventually would have done it. After all, he was only 22 during his last full season of pitching. I don't think he had peaked yet, which is scary. Imagine if he took care of himself like Gehrig did. Granted, he really buckled down after he almost killed himself in 1925. I really need to go back and read this thread from the beginning. The more I read about the Bambino, the more impressed I am. That would be great if you added those 2 years to your old post. I am really curious as to why he didn't pitch in the 1915 WS. Ruth's 14 inning victory in the WS at age 21 is arguably the greatest feat in WS history. It compares well to his pair of 3 home run games. Ruth really seems like a cartoon character.

[Sultan_1895-1948]

I really need to go back and read this thread from the beginning.

Shame on you for not having read through this thread

No, seriously, especially for the first handful of pages, I would love to add on. I left open spots for that. There are so many worthy posts but the thread has grown at such a rate, it would be a rather arduous task for one person to sift through and find the jewels.