On September 21, 2008, Yankee fans experienced their last game in the “The House That Ruth Built.”
The final home game for the Yankees included a pre-game ceremony that celebrated the history of the great stadium with a focus on many of its greatest players. The ceremony gave a special acknowledgement to the 85 years of Yankee history, starting with the first team to play in the Stadium - the 1923 Yankees, which included the Babe.
Babe’s Daughter, Julia Ruth Stevens, had the opportunity to throw out the last ceremonial first pitch in Yankee Stadium. It’s only fitting that Babe’s daughter would throw out the last pitch in “his” house. View the first pitch ceremony below:
Recently BRC found an article regarding Babe’s “Called Shot” (see the link below for the article). The New York Times interviewed the nephew of former Baseball commissioner, Kennesaw Mountain Landis, Lincoln Landis, who was 10 years old when he joined his uncle for Game 3 of the 1932 World Series between the Yankees and Cubs. Landis insists that Ruth pointed to Center Field and called his shot before hitting a home run:
“It was so vivid in my memory and, believe me, I remember very little of when I was 10,” Landis said. “But I remember this moment very clearly. It really frustrated me to read that there are those who questioned whether he called his shot. I thought, That’s horrible. To me, there was absolutely no question.”
Landis hasn’t bothered to share his thoughts on that famous event with the media, until now. At Lincoln Landis’ request, his son Tim, a baseball memorabilia collector, searched for photos of Kennesaw Mountain from Game 3 of the 1932 World Series. By chance, Tim found a picture of Kennesaw with his nephew, Lincoln. Tim purchased the photo for his father and Lincoln now had the proof he wanted in order to substantiate his claim that he was there and he did indeed see Babe amazingly and brazenly call his home run. It’s a good, fun article!
Recently, Babe’s daughter, Julia, was in Quincy, MA for the 14-year old Babe Ruth League World Series. While in Quincy she was interviewed by Fox Boston regarding her Dad. She also shared her thoughts regarding her baseball “affiliations”. To hear her stories and thoughts on “Daddy”, view the news clip before:
On June 22nd, Babe’s daughter, Julia, who is now 92, participated in a ceremony to unveil a plaque at the site of Johnny Sylvester’s home (if you don’t know the story about Babe’s visit to Johnny Sylvester when he was sick, you can read it here: http://www.baberuthcentral.com/Legends/#Sylvester). Julia’s visit to the site in Essex Fells, NJ was covered by WNBC Channel 4 in New York . You can watch an interview of Julia and John Sylvester Jr here:
Charlie Poekel, author of Babe & the Kid: The Legendary Story of Babe Ruth and Johnny Sylvester, and Julia Ruth Stevens, daughter of Babe Ruth, being interviewed by WCBS-TV New York. Julia reflects on her father in this news clip.
Watch this news clip of Sean Gibson (great grandson of Negro League Home Run King Josh Gibson) and Brent Stevens (great grandson of Babe Ruth) at the 2008 Civil Rights Game. Sean and Brent talk about their impressive great grandfathers, “what could have been” had they been able to play against each other professionally and the concept artwork they commissioned, “Josh and The Babe”.
A recent visitor to BabeRuthCentral sent us the following question: “I was discussing Barry Bonds with some friends and they mentioned that he has won 7 MVP’s. This caused me to look up the MVP winners list and I noticed that Babe Ruth only won once. How is this possible? I checked the voting for other years that he clearly was the best player and he didn’t even get a vote. To add to that other Yankee players were recieving votes in years that Ruth had monster years. (Example: In 1926 Ruth hit .372 and hit 47 homers and didnt recieve a single vote; Herb Penncock recieved the most Yankee votes) The same can be said for many of his seasons. So what’s the deal?”
Here’s the answer, as well as a follow-up question for everyone’s thoughts:
The original version of the MVP award was the Chalmers Award, presented by Hugh Chalmers of the Chalmers Automobile Company from 1911-1914. From 1915 - 1921 (during some of Babe’s most notable pitching and hitting years), the MVP award did not exist. From 1922-1929, the MVP award was reinstated and became the “League Awards”, during which time, Babe won only one award. Why? Because, according to the rules of the award at that time, a player was only allowed to receive the recognition once. This is why Babe did not come up in voting again until the rules regarding the award were changed in 1931 to what we know as the MVP today.
So, when you consider Babe’s impact and statistics throughout his career, how many years do you think he should have won the award if the MVP existed throughout his career and he was able to get it more than one year?
The all-star series in Japan opens tomorrow between MLB and Japanese players. This brings smiles at the thought of Babe’s barnstorming days bringing suspensions. Now MLB is trying to grow the game internationally and players in Babe’s day where discouraged for doing such a thing. Babe would have been the first to sign up for the World Baseball Classic (WBC) or this all-star series in Japan. He wouldn’t have been worried about getting hurt – no player in his day or the 40’s, 50’s 60’s would have given it a second thought. Look how they played the all-star game. Pride was at stake and I know it is a different time today and there is soooo much money involved. Not to mention America is concerned with rooting for a uniform. I’m not saying that is wrong because to be honest, I was worried about my players getting hurt and not being able to play for my team. Those decades I mentioned, they played baseball to play the game. It was a different time. Imagine if we had Babe around today to help promote the game. Perhaps baseball could be bigger than football. He was larger than life and people gravitated to Babe with that face – not handsome but like a big teddy bear. His smile was genuine. Picture Babe replacing Tommy Lasorda in those commercials to watch the post season. Tommy was great – I loved them but put Babe in there and it is magnetic. We need more energy in the promotion of the game.
When it was announced that New York Mayor Bloomberg approved a new stadium in the Bronx, I was bombarded with emotions. For a long time, I just kept telling myself, its Yankee Stadium, they can’t, won’t build a new one. I wanted to believe that, more like needed to. First reaction was, I want to handcuff myself to the stadium, I won’t let them tear it down. My friend’s 13-yr-old son who is a Yankee fan living in Philadelphia, said the same thing and I laughed because a young kid got how special that place is. His father takes him once or twice a year to see a game.
Yankee Stadium is sacred ground; the greatest baseball players roamed there, Ruth, Gehrig, DiMaggio, Mantle… the list goes on. I’m not old enough to have seen Yankee Stadium before the renovations in 1976. I was only 4 in ’76 and just getting into baseball then. The first thing I learned about the history of the game is Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb. I toured Yankee Stadium a few years ago and walking on the field, sitting in the dugout and seeing the plaque for clubhouse man Pete Sheehy, all I could think about was what the stadium must have looked like. What it must have been like to come and watch the Yankees play – Murderer’s Row, the last time Babe walked onto the field – the famous picture of him leaning on Bob Feller’s bat. Gehrig giving his famous “luckiest man” speech, the Yankee Clipper in he midst of his hit streak in 1941, The Mick hitting the façade that isn’t all around the stadium anymore, Yogi tagging Jackie Robinson at home plate, Don Larsen pitching the only World Series perfect game. My mouse pad has a picture of old Yankee Stadium on it. So many greats of the game from all teams played there – these stadiums are quickly disappearing. There are only three stadiums left where Babe played – Yankee, Fenway, and Wrigley. Think about that. In 2009, there will only be 2.
About 4 months ago, I went to a NY SABR chapter meeting and sat with Tony, who gives the stadium tours. He has worked there since a teenager and his father worked at the stadium. I asked him about a new stadium and he said it was time and I just looked blankly at him. He said the old stadium was gone – they took it away in the 70’s. He said the new stadium doesn’t resemble the old one at all. I’m sure there are many people who believe that. I lightened my feelings a bit. I don’t want to handcuff myself to the stadium any more but I still don’t want them to tear it down. I just feel like all the history is disappearing and no amount of statues are going to make it better or okay or fill a void. The new stadiums are tourist friendly mall parks. What is wrong with going to a stadium to watch a game? Do we really need swimming pools, slides, sand boxes, etc?
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What would Babe think if he lived amongst us today in the world of fast cars, Tivo, the internet, and cell phones? As a boy who grew up with nothing, we know he would love it all. The more the merrier. The bigger, the better. We’ll keep it to homeruns in today’s baseball. I believe Babe would get a kick out of everyone measuring up against him. In all these years, his star has not diminished at all. It probably shines brighter as the myth and legend grows as each decade passes. In 1999, he was named to the All Century and just this year he was named the Yankees Hometown Hero. It wasn’t even a fair contest because how could you not pick him? It was more like don’t bother even nominating anyone else. He is still the only player to have his own room in the Hall of Fame – as it should be. Just because when you think baseball, you think Babe Ruth.I’m taking steroids out of it for now, but I think Babe would embrace the players that have broken his records. One because he knows he hasn’t ever been forgotten and two because he knows that it is work and a feat to be proud of. With every ball that leaves the park, that is a young fan who wants to come back for more. Wouldn’t Babe want a chance to face the lower pitching mounds, the diminished quality of pitching, no more spit balls, the tighter baseballs, the thinner bats… Babe would still conquer today’s game. He probably wouldn’t be using that 48 ounce bat – when you picture Babe playing today – he would have his talent using today’s tools and elements.Imagine Ryan Howard or Albert Pujols hitting behind Babe Ruth? 1927 Murderer’s Row, look out. Have fun with this one putting Babe in different team’s lineups of today. Could Babe have helped the 2006 Yanks beat the Tigers? Could Babe have helped the Mets when their bats went cold? Babe probably could have put taken a ball and went out and pitched for Steve Trachsel of Jaret Wright and done a much better job.
