Babe Ruth did indeed call his shot. Justice John Paul Stevens saw it happen.

From the "How Cool Is This" files:

John Paul Stevens Says Babe Ruth Called His Shot

How does he know? He saw it in person. Dude's old as dirt, and he's still never seen the Cubbies win it all.

The retiring Supreme Court Justice is turning 90 this month, and is basically the epitome of the elderly Cubs fan who won't live through a championship season. I'm pretty sure the child who first went to Wrigley Field before the Great Depression began never saw that one coming.

His first game was at the 1929 World Series, where he saw Rogers Hornsby and the Cubs lose game 1, and eventually the series, to the Philadelphia Athletics.

But it was three years later, in the midst of a 4-game sweep and the hands of the Yankees, that Stevens witnessed the birth of one of baseball's enduring — and unsolved — legends. Did Babe Ruth really call his shot?



So there you have it. If one of the foremost legal minds in the nation says it happened, it happened.

Link (w/ great pic of Justice Stevens throwing a pitch at Wrigley) : http://deadspin.com/5513502/john-paul-stevens-says-babe-ruth-called-his-shot

(I was torn over where to post this. The Sports forum seems more appropriate, but 1. This is about Justice Stevens, and 2. It's just really fucking cool, so GD it is)

( :) )

He is a conservative republican appointment, and still the most liberal member of the court. That's frickin' old.

Having seen Babe Ruth play is like having seen the Loch Ness monster as a polliwog.

They'll be saying that about having seen Pete Rose play before too long.

So, yeah, I've seen Pete Rose play. Mike Schmidt and Steve Carlton, too. I remember when Larry Bowa and Tim McCarver actually -played- baseball. There was also a Manny, a Bake, a Garry with two 'r's, and a *The Bull* in left field.

1980 was a great year for baseball. The next year there was a strike, and it was never quite the same for me. So, somehow your guess... saying Pete Rose, of all players... was extremely lucky, or clairvoyant. Very nice!

:thumbsup:

There's hope he will see the Cubs win the series. You should know that being from Red Sox country.

-Hoot

I'm just glad I didn't have to wait that long.

:)

Great thread.

Rec

I had the fortune to know a couple people who were at that 1929 game (sadly no longer with us)...actually interviewed a reporter in the 80s who not only saw Ruth point but also heard Ruth joke about it before the game. No, it wasn't a promise to a kid lying in a hospital bed, but Ruth ribbing the local media that had been relentless on him and he told them he was going to take one out to Sheffield Ave. (over the right field wall...natural, since he was left handed) just to give them something to write about other than his drinking and partying.

My late father spent his entire 84 years without seeing a World Series championship in Chicago...thus when it finally did happen in 2005, I could feel a warm hand on the shoulder and a "we did it". A shame that you have to be as old as Justice Stevens to remember the last time a World Series was played in the "friendly confines".

A few years ago, someone digging in his grandfather's attic found a reel of film. I have seen the clip. It shows him pointing to the spot where he eventually hit the HR. Should be on youtube someplace.

Just checked, it's there.

:hide::evilgrin::hide:

kidding....

:yoiks: