One of the greatest sports legends of all time is Babe Ruth’s called home run shot in Game 3 of the 1932 World Series against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field.

But did he really call the home run shot or was he pointing at something else?

Video (taken by an ammeter filmmaker Matt Miller Kandle, Sr.) shows that Ruth did point towards something two pitches before he blasted the famous home run. But no one is quite sure if he was pointing at centerfield, pitcher Charlie Root or the Cubs’ bench. (Reports say Ruth had been jarring with Cubs’ players all game, so he might have just been angrily pointing in their general direction.)

So how did the story grow?

• Ruth’s second home run in game 3 probably would have been merely an exclamation point for the 1932 World Series and for Ruth’s career, had it not been for reporter Joe Williams. Williams was a respected but opinionated sports editor for the Scripps-Howard newspapers. In a late edition the same day of the game, Williams wrote this headline that appeared in the New York World-Telegram, evoking billiards terminology: “RUTH CALLS SHOT AS HE PUTS HOME RUN NO. 2 IN SIDE POCKET.” Williams’ summary of the story included, “In the fifth, with the Cubs riding him unmercifully from the bench, Ruth pointed to center and punched a screaming liner to a spot where no ball had been hit before.” Apparently Williams’ article was the only one written the day of the game that made a reference to Ruth pointing to center field. It was probably due to the wide circulation of the Scripps-Howard newspapers that gave the story life, as many read Williams’ article and assumed it was accurate. A couple of days later, other stories started to appear stating that Ruth had called his shot, a few even written by reporters who were not at the game.

Regardless of whether or not Ruth actually did call the home run shot, the moment is legendary and will be a part of baseball history forever. In fact, most would probably agree that historical moments like this need to be a part of baseball’s past. The Babe is one of the most well known figures in sports and what kid hasn’t impersonated the Babe while pointing to his or her fence during a game with friends in the backyard?

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 22nd, 2008 at 9:20 pm and is filed under Baseball, Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.