The Called Shot
Babe Ruth's Called Shot refers to the home run hit by Babe Ruth in the fifth inning of Game 3. During the at-bat, Ruth made a pointing gesture, which existing film confirms, but the exact nature of his gesture is ambiguous. Although neither fully confirmed nor refuted, the story goes that Ruth pointed to the center field bleachers during the at-bat. It was supposedly a declaration that he would hit a home run to this part of the park. On the next pitch, he hit a "Ruthian" home run to deep center field, past the flagpole and into the temporary seating in the streets, the flight of the ball estimated at nearly 500 feet. A few reporters later wrote that Ruth had "called his shot" (a reference to pocket billiards), and thus the legend was born. Ruth, ever-aware of his larger-than-life public image, was quick to "confirm" the story once he became aware of it. Conflicting testimony and inconclusive film footage have placed the moment in the realm of baseball legends.
Read more about this topic: 1932 World Series
Famous quotes containing the words called and/or shot:
“The man who does not betake himself at once and desperately to sawing is called a loafer, though he may be knocking at the doors of heaven all the while.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“But this we know, the obstacle that checked
And tripped the body, shot the spirit on
Further than target ever showed or shone.”
—Robert Frost (1874–1963)