MADness—the Blog

The 1932 World Series, Game 3:  the Cubs had tied it 4-4 with a run in the 4th, and the Yankees are up in the top of the 5th, one out, Babe Ruth at bat.  On a 2-1 pitch, Charlie Root, the Cubs pitcher, gets a called strike.  Babe Ruth then makes a gesture, and on the next pitch, a curveball, he hits a long home run to center field.

“The Called Shot” was the last hit for Ruth in a World Series game.  It’s never been resolved whether Ruth really “called” the shot.  Even though some photographs and film recorded the legendary event, none of it is conclusive.

There are eyewitness accounts, however, and one of the more notable fans in the stands that day was young John Paul Stevens, who appears to be nearing the end of his illustrious career as a justice on the Supreme Court [UPDATE 4/9:  Call me Nostradamus.  This morning Stevens has made it official:  he's retiring.]:

On a wall in Stevens’s chambers that is mostly covered with autographed photographs of Chicago sports heroes, from Ernie Banks to Michael Jordan, there is a box score from Game Three of the 1932 World Series, between the Yankees and the Cubs. When Babe Ruth came to bat in the fifth inning, at Wrigley Field, according to a much disputed baseball legend, he pointed to the center-field stands and then proceeded to hit a home run right to that spot. The event is known as “the called shot.”

“My dad took me to see the World Series, and we were sitting behind third base, not too far back,” Stevens, who was twelve years old at the time, told me. He recalled that the Cubs players had been hassling Ruth from the dugout earlier in the game. “Ruth did point to the center-field scoreboard,” Stevens said. “And he did hit the ball out of the park after he pointed with his bat. So it really happened.”

If you think that settles it, think again.  For decades many have argued that Ruth never pointed to center field.  That group includes Charlie Root’s wife (“Of course I didn’t see him point.  Nobody else saw him point, because he didn’t.  Charlie would have thrown it right at his head.”) to Keith Olbermann (“I’ve never thought it happened, and even Justice Stevens says that as a 12-year old, he would rule his own testimony irrelevant and unreliable”).

The legend of the called shot has been referenced in many movies about baseball, including a few covered in this week’s theme.  No movie, however, has given the story as much play as the 1948 biopic The Babe Ruth Story.  You think they might have settled it then, but something about that version seems a wee bit of a stretch.

Here’s a quiz question for you:  What is the most unbelievable part of The Babe Ruth Story?

a.  that the Babe had to remove a cabbage from home plate before his at bat
b.  that Cubs fans at Wrigley were “cheering their heads off” after Ruth’s go-ahead home run
c.  that William Bendix was supposed to be Babe Ruth
d.  that Charlie Root didn’t throw one at Ruth’s head
e.  that Babe Ruth really “called” the shot