Babe Ruth and "The Called Shot"

by Joe Persiner
@Brew_Mastr_Joe on Twitter


The debate rages on to this day.  Did Babe Ruth call his shot??  Most people (Yankee fan's especially) like to think so. I know Babe Ruth was a legend, but this event is clearly a myth.

In 1932, bleachers were pulled from the walls that ran the perimeter of the outfield and it was normal back then for patrons to stand on the same field the players were on.  To allow 50,000 people into Wrigley Field, they had built temporary bleachers on Waveland and Sheffield Avenues. This was before they built the brick wall, and the ivy that covered it (neither was built/planted until 1937).

It was game three of the 1932 World Series.  

Taking the mound for the Cub's was Charlie Root with legendary catcher, Gabby Hartnet behind the plate. Root, who was 15-10 in the regular season with 3.58 ERA, struggled in the first inning giving up two base hits to the first Yankee hitters. 

1932 World Series @ Wrigley Field

When Ruth came up to bat, he hit a home run into the right-center bleachers putting the Yanks up 3-0.  Two innings later, at the top of the third inning, Lou Gehrig hit a home run making the score 4-1. 

The Cub's ended up battling back with two runs in the bottom of the third inning and one in the fourth inning, tying the game at four runs a piece. At the top of the fifth inning is where the myth begins...... 


As Ruth walks up to the plate, he is verbally assaulted as people start throwing fruits and vegetables at him from the stands.  He takes his first strike. 

The Babe then watches strike two whiz right by him. This is where stories conflict. Some say this is where he pointed to the stands, a few have said that he was putting one finger in the air to show he still had one strike left. 
 
The Babe is batting left-handed and is still in his batting stance (feet shoulder width apart pointing toward the plate). If he was pointing to centerfield his elbow and arm would be at a much higher angle. Plus, if he really was pointing to centerfield, based on where this camera shot is, you wouldn't see him pointing because his fat head would be blocking his hand. 

The next pitch was a curve ball, which was blasted 440 feet into centerfield, all the way to the temporary bleachers built on Waveland and Sheffield.  

After the game, Charlie Root scoffed at the fact that the Babe called his shot saying, "If he pointed to the bleachers, I would have put one in his ear and knocked him on his ass."  

Ruth "pointing" to the Cub's bench

When the press asked Ruth if he called his shot, he said that he "wasn't pointing to any particular part of the ball park, just looking to give the ball a good ride." 

Over the years, the media-savvy Ruth began to change the story. 

In one interview he claims he "dreamt" of hitting that home run the night before." Another version of his story has him pointing at centerfield saying to Root "I'm going to hit the next pitch past the flag pole." 

The Cub's made it back to the World Series in '35,'38 and '45 and haven't won a pennant since.  

Since this mythical day, the Cub's are 5-13 in the World Series, winning their last World Series home game at Wrigley Field on October 8, 1945 against the Detroit Tigers.

Babe Ruth's (alleged) "Called Shot" has become folk lore in today's American culture.  It's every little league kid's dream to hold their bat in the air, and point to the very spot they plan on sending the ball.  We have Babe Ruth to thank for this.  

But I laugh.

It's all a lie.  Something created to make a man's legend (and ego) grow even further. He isn't known for his womenizing, over eating, showing up to games drunk. He is only known for one thing.

Hitting home runs.  

And he definitely solidified that with a 490 foot home run just pass the flag pole in where else, but Wrigley Field!

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