In the public eye, sports superstars are as much celebrities, as they are athletes. As a focal point of public admiration and passion, these superstars' stories can become larger than life. Unlike any other sports figure up until this time, Babe Ruth walked in the shoes of a legendary athlete and celebrity. The public adored him. Babe seemed larger life. Over time, from when Babe was active on the playing field until the Boston Red Sox's World Series win in 2004, the stories that have surrounded the Babe have also become larger than life. And in some ways, the Babe has become almost a Paul Bunyan-like figure whose stories have become a part of American lore.
The Curse of the Bambino
It's Saturday, October 1, 1932 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. It's a bright and sunny day. It's Game 3 of the World Series between the New York Yankees and the Chicago Cubs. And the grandstands are jam-packed with nearly 50,000 fans.
The Yankees are back on top of their game after a three-season drought of titles and accolades. In this Series, the Yanks are managed by Joe McCarthy, the manager who had been fired by the Cubs after the 1930 season. On this day, the Yankees are up 2 games to none over the Cubs in the Series. And, it was in this game, that one of Babe's biggest legends is born -- The Called Shot.
Before the start of the game, the tension between the teams is high. "Trash-talking" of the day is at its peak between the two teams. Both the Cubs players and their fans are particularly focused on hurling taunts toward the Babe. Some of the comments are pretty tough.
During batting practice, a few particularly crazed fans are throwing lemons at the Babe, being cranked up by all the events and press preceding this game. Both the Babe and Lou Gehrig are giving it their all in batting practice, hitting an impressive nine and seven balls respectively into the outfield seats. During this time, Babe says "I'd play for half of my salary, if I could play in a dump like this", suggesting that the park was easy for hitting homeruns.
And then, the game begins. In the 1st inning, Babe smacks a three-run homerun, while Lou Gehrig blasts a single homer in the third. The score is 4-1 in favor of New York. But by the fourth inning, the Cubs have fought back and the score is tied 4-4.
It's now the 5th inning with the Yankees batting, one out already against them. The Babe steps up to the plate. The animosity coming from the Cubs dugout is clear. The "smack" toward the Babe is loud. And, Babe takes a strike from Chicago pitcher Charlie Root. Then two balls, followed by another strike. The count is 2-2.
The Babe steps up to the plate for the next pitch, but then steps back out of the batter's box for a moment and apparently gestures toward center field. And the "smack" is silenced as the crack of Babe's bat is heard and he smashes a big, booming homerun over the wall near the flagpole in center field. Some say it was the longest homer ever hit out of Wrigley Field.
And in those moments, with emotions and agitation among teams, players and fans running high, this particular turn at the plate and the ensuing homer created the legend of Babe's Called Shot. Was it truth, rather than legend? Was Babe pointing at the spot he planned to land his homer or was he pointing at Root? Or was he simply gesturing in general? No one really knows for sure.
But the legend was born. And likely was written in stone that same day, when the sports editor for Scripps-Howard newspapers wrote the following headline that appeared in the New York World-Telegram: "Ruth Calls Shot as he Puts Home Run No. 2 in the Side Pocket." From there, the story got picked up elsewhere and other reporters reiterated on the theme of the Called Shot.
On the day after this legendary homerun, some say that Gehrig said "What do you think of the nerve of that big monkey, calling his shot and getting away with it?". While Chicago's Root said, "If he had made that gesture, I would have knocked him down with the next pitch." Babe, being the press-savvy player that he was, was relatively quiet about it. He didn't deny the Called Shot and, yet, he didn't really talk about it much either.
Other players and eyewitnesses to the events of that day were split, with some confirming the Called Shot and others saying the Babe simply pointed to the Cubs dugout. In the 80's and 90's a few 16mm films from fans were discovered, with one seeming to confirm the truth of the legend and the other refuting it.
At the end of the day, we'll probably never know for sure. But, as Betty Hoyt, widow of Babe's former teammate and long-time friend, Waite Hoyt, had said, "You know, so many people said that he did it (pointed) and others said that he didn't, but Waite never doubted that it was true. Waite wasn't there in 1932 when Babe called that shot, but he said that he did see Babe call a shot several years before in a game where he pointed to a place where he was going to hit a homerun and he did. But Waite said 'I always believed that he did do it.'" You can listen to more of Betty Hoyt's perspectives in Section 09 Voices.
By the way, the Yankees went on to wrap up a win of Game 3, as well as Game 4 earning them their third World Series sweep in five years.
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The next legendary Babe story occurs a number of years before the Called Shot in 1932. In this instance, it's 1926. The Yankees are about to play against St. Louis in the World Series. A man named Sylvester gets in touch with the Yankees organization and makes an unusual request. He explains that his son, Johnny, is gravely ill with a rare blood disease. He hopes that the Yankees can do something for Johnny, a big Yankees fan, to bolster his spirits in the hospital. The Yankees respond, apparently sending autographed baseballs and several other items to Johnny.
Game 1 comes around. In New York, the Yanks win 6-3, with the rookie, Lou Gehrig, driving in the final run in his World Series debut. Babe does not hit a homerun in this game.
Next up is Game 2 in New York. It's a tough game. Cardinals pitcher Grover Alexander pitches the entire game and New York loses 6-2. Again, Babe does not hit a homerun and even makes an error by missing a ball hit by Tommy Thevenow which turns into an inside-the-park homerun.
On to Game 3 at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis. While the Babe gets one hit, it isn't a homerun. Cardinal's pitcher Jesse Haines goes the distance and shuts out the Yankees by a score of 4-0.
By this point, Babe is aware of Johnny Sylvester's illness and makes a promise that he'll hit a homerun for Johnny in the next game of the World Series.
Up comes Game 4 in St. Louis the next day. It's October 6, 1926 and over 38,000 fans are at the game. The Yanks are down 2 games to 1 and they're looking for revenge. In this game, Babe smacks, not only one homer, but a total of three, contributing in a big way to the team's 10-5 win to tie the Series. One report even has the ball traveling outside the park and smashing through a car dealership's window.
And, while the Yankees would eventually lose this Series to St. Louis, on this day, at this park, in this game, the legend of Babe and Johnny Sylvester was embedded into baseball lore. After the season was over, Babe reportedly visited Johnny in the hospital, with the press following the story. Johnny eventually recovered from his illness. Babe and Johnny did have some interaction in later days, when Babe was sick and aging.
While the story already had that special Babe Ruth aura, the movie, "The Babe Ruth Story" in 1948, where Babe was played by the prolific actor William Bendix who had a physique that reflected Babe's and a new York accent, only cemented this and some of the other legends, such as the Called Shot, further. Although the movie has generally been considered to be one of the worst baseball movies ever made, it still served to reinforce many of the stories and legends about the Babe.
Flash forward to the 1980's. It's 1986 and the 40th Anniversary of the Johnny Sylvester story. The Babe Ruth Museum begins to receive many press inquiries to validate the story, so they begin to investigate. Well, the Museum eventually tracks down the real Johnny Sylvester, finding him as a retired banker living in Connecticut. When asked for some proof that these events actually happened, Mr. Sylvester showed Museum officials a baseball that he had. The ball had Babe's handwriting and signature on it. The ball said, "I'll knock a homer for you in Wednesday's game. Babe Ruth." That ball is now on display at the Babe Ruth Museum in Baltimore.
BRC notes that there have been many versions of this story that has Babe located in any number of places. For example, a number of writings cite that Babe visited the hospital to make his promise personally to Johnny the day before Game 4. However, that is highly unlikely, since Games 3 & 4 of the 1926 World Series were played at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis on October 5th and 6th, respectively. It would have been virtually impossible, in those days, for Babe to be in both New York and St. Louis in the course of that two-day span.
So, whatever the actual sequence may be, there is authenticated evidence of the interaction between Babe and Johnny that October of 1926. And, really, it may not matter in the end. Legends are often a mix of truth and lore. What is typically important about these stories is that they reflect upon their events and the character of the people in them.
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Going back even earlier in time than the Called Shot or the Johnny Sylvester story, we arrive at the legend of the Baby Ruth Candy bar. Is that legend? Or misconception? Or deception? Likely, it's somewhere in between all three, although we'll never really know.
The story goes like this. Back in 1916, the Curtiss Candy Company was founded in Chicago. The company's first candy bar was called the "Kandy Kake". The product was not overwhelmingly successful, so Curtiss went about refashioning it. And, with that in 1920, the "Baby Ruth" candy bar was introduced to candy-craving consumers.
That would be a pretty simple story, if it ended there. But, of course, it didn't. Adults and kids back then, just like today, were confused by the name and thought it was a candy bar related to Babe Ruth. After all, even in 1921, Babe already had gained a lot of fame in the baseball world. He had hit 54 home runs in 1920 and 59 during the 1921 season. These were incredible records at the time and he was in newspapers all over the country.
So, for many, Baby Ruth was Babe Ruth's candy, whether truth or not. Kids around the country purportedly sent the Babe their Baby Ruth candy bar wrappers in hopes of getting his signature.
But the Baby Ruth bar had nothing to do with the Babe. In fact, Curtiss Candy Company never swayed that the Baby Ruth bar was named after President Grover Cleveland's daughter, Ruth. Yet, Ruth died an unfortunate death in 1904 at age 12. Curtiss introduced the candy bar in 1920. The company did not even exist until 1916.
Why would they possibly name a candy bar for this young woman who had passed more than a decade-and-a-half before. Grover Cleveland was in office from 1893 to 1897. By the time the Baby Ruth bar was introduced, Presidents William McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt and William Taft had all served as President. And, President Woodrow Wilson was just finishing his second term.
So, it's no wonder that the popular opinion remained that the Curtiss story of the candy bar's name didn't hold water. The popular opinion remained that Curtiss conveniently circumvented the need to pay royalties to the Babe.
That would just be unfortunate. And it would probably be unfair, if the popular opinion was closer to the truth. But the story didn't end there. In 1926, Babe agreed to lend his name to a new candy bar from a new company. That candy bar was called Ruth's Home Run candy bar and it was manufactured by the fledgling George H. Ruth Candy Co. Ironically, one version of the wrapper for this bar had the following words printed on it: "Absolutely none genuine without the photograph and official signature of 'Babe Ruth' himself." That same version of the wrapper had Babe's signature printed on it in three places.
Curtiss Candy Company went to court to block this candy being made with Babe's permission and marketing efforts. They claimed that it infringed on their trademark established in 1919 for the Baby Ruth bar.
In 1931, Curtiss won their case. The court found that the newer candy bar that used Babe's name was too close in name to the Baby Ruth bar. And, with that, the commercial-side of the story ended. The Home Run bar was forced off the market. Yet, the legend stayed alive and continues today. Popular opinion remains that the Baby Ruth bar was named for a very famous and special baseball player.
It should be noted that the Curtiss Candy Company was eventually merged into or was acquired by a number of other companies. Baby Ruth's current owner, Nestle, is five companies removed from Curtiss. On June 6, 2006, Baby Ruth became the "Official Candy Bar of Major League Baseball."
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Go to the Curse of the Bambino
2008 is the last year of the existing Yankee Stadium, which has come to be known as "The House That Ruth Built". To learn more about the current Yankee Stadium and Babe's impact on this ballpark, please visit 
Babe Ruth was the first player to hit a homerun in an All-Star game (1934).
