Today In History

BABE RUTH’S CALLED SHOT - It is one of baseball’s all-time great mysteries. Did Babe Ruth really call his shot just before hitting a mammoth World Series home run? The undisputed facts of the events were as follows: It was October 1, 1932, Game 3 of the World Series in Wrigley Field, with the Yankees leading the Cubs 2 games to 0. In the top of the 5th inning, Ruth was at bat with the score tied at 4, facing Cub pitcher Charlie Root. The Cubs’ bench was heckling the Babe as he took strikes one and two. Now, at this point in time, fact and myth get a bit jumbled. Ruth made some type of outward gesture with his bat, but it is unclear whether the gesture was toward the pitcher, or the centerfield bleachers, as Ruth proudly proclaimed for many years thereafter. Either way, Ruth smashed the next pitch well beyond the centerfield fence, for one of the most memorable and debated World Series home runs of all-time. An interesting side note to this story is that on the very next pitch, Lou Gehrig, forever playing in Ruth’s shadow, also hit a home run, his 2nd of the game as well, knocking Charlie Root out of the game. But as was typical for Gehrig, his two home runs in the game paled in comparison to the legend of the mighty Babe’s called shot.