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Did Babe Ruth call his shot?
Most people think so.
We're all aware Babe Ruth was a legend, but this is clearly a myth.
It was Game 3 of the 1932 World Series.
Cub's starting pitcher Charlie Root was on the bump with the future hall of famer Gabby Hartnet, behind the plate.
Root struggled in the first inning giving up two base hits to the first Yankee hitters. Babe Ruth came up to bat next and hit a home run into right centerfield bleachers.
Two innings later, Lou Gehrig hit a home run extending the lead 4-1.
The Cub's ended up battling back, tying the game at four runs a piece. An error by Babe Ruth cost the Bronx Bombers their comfortable lead.
The Sultan of Swat's futile attempt at a diving catch gave up a double to Joe Judge, who eventually crossed the plate, tying the game. This only riled the crowd further, as they turned their fruits and jeers toward the Babe.
At the top of the fifth inning is where the myth begins......
The aging slugger walks to the plate competing in his last World Series with his numbers in slow decline. He was now a defensive liability and the current "goat" of the inning.
Ruth was taunted(for the error in the 4th inning)by the crowd, and mostly by the Cub's bench.
He takes his first strike and makes a gestures with one finger.
The verbal assaults continued from both parties as the Bambino watched strike two whiz right by.
A second gesture is made, this time with two fingers.
By this time the barrage of insults continued. Cub player's who were in the dug-out were now slowly trickling out to gibe Ruth.
The next pitch was a curve-ball that was blasted 440 feet out of the ballpark onto temporary wooden bleachers built on Sheffield Avenue.
On his way around first base, he begins some sort of "sit down" motion with his left hand. As he rounds second base he begins to make another outward pushing motion with both hands. Perhaps playfully telling Cub player's to go back into the dugout. As he rounds third he just trots by like he's been there before.
Everyone agrees that Ruth received the brunt of verbal assaults from the Chicago Cub's bench, but instead of ignoring them, Ruth was simply taunting them through his words and gestures.
The nature of this debate isn't about a home run. It's about "what Ruth was gesturing"? Was he pointing at the Cub's bench? Center field? Maybe he was talking to Cub's pitcher Charlie Root? All eye-witness account's and video evidence of that moment remain inconclusive.
I originally wrote this blog to answer the question:
"Did Ruth really call his shot?"
Sadly, the answer to the question is merely just another question:
"Does it really matter?"
I don't think it does.
What it really comes down to is this:
The Chicago Cub's challenged The Bambino and he responded. And he responded in a big way. All that adversity that surrounded The Sultan of Swat was knocked out of the park with the baseball that sealed his fate in a mystical land we now call folklore.
They say you can measure a lot by a man and the way he responds to adversity.
It's the stuff legends are made from.
Truth be told, "the called shot" was just a way to get the majority of the public to spend 25 cents on a newspaper.
It was after all, just a story.
