Babe Ruth Story-1926

[bphogarth]

Thanks, hope you enjoyed it.He was the town historian for awhile before he got sick.

[sledhead800rev]

Great story by a very interesting man! I could listen to him tell stories all day! Thank you!

[tomitstube]

great story, i remember reading about judge landis becoming the 1st baseball commissioner after the black sox scandal of 1919. landis was granted the authority to clean baseball up, which had a bad reputation. the white sox wasn't the only team gambling, barnstorming in the off season, etc. according to the landis story he butted heads with ruth on the barnstorming and suspended him at the beginning of the 1922 season. i got the notion the barnstorming stopped after the 1921 season.

[bphogarth]

He could recall a lot. When he was very young, his parents had an outhouse. It was his job to take the "chamber pot" out to the backyard and empty it into the outhouse.

He was so short that he could barely keep it off the ground and it of course would

splash around a bit.....not a fun job. The old man had many stories from his youth, some I was able to get on tape.

[mindfuqq]

I'm 25 can't remember things from when i was 12 i wonder how this man does.

[shaqpopcorn34]

@mindfuqq ...if you met Babe Ruth at 12 you would probably remember it

[bionicbigfoot]

Read "The Year Babe Ruth Hit 104 Home Runs". Transcending. Hard to believe, but the reality of Ruth superceeds that of his myth.

[bphogarth]

Thanks, he was still with it right until the end which was only 3 months later.

[JKubel25]

Wow, what a sharp memory and such a wonderful story!  Thanks for posting.

[bphogarth]

Thanks,

He was a high school teacher for the majority of his working life...baseball coach for a few years. His grandfather came from the area near Whitby in Northern England. They made the crossing in 1892.

[walshman316]

What a sweet old man and so articulate. I'm English so don't know a great deal about baseball but happened across this little gem when looking at "Lou Gehrig's disease" videos.

[lacrossucks]

aWE! OLD MEN ARE CUTE!

[kingz9916]

Thanks for posting this wonderful video.

[bphogarth]

Thank you. After he passed a writer in The Scranton Times wrote a story about his meeting with Babe Ruth. A woman wrote to the editor and said she heard the same story many times. She was the niece of the other boy (Billy) who was there. My Dad would get frustrated because people thought he was making the whole story up because he had no proof.

[telegalactica]

Facinating! Thank you for posting this!

[bphogarth]

Thanks, for the info. My dad was a big Yankees fan and coached the High School baseball team for a few years....before I was born

[brianwells456comcast]

I researched a bit and found out that the Babe hit two homers in an exhibition game in Scranton,Pa.on Oct.14,1926!He apparently had a little cabin in that general area that he would use occasionally for hunting and fishing during the off season.(The 650 foot drive that he smacked in nearby Wilkes-Barre during this 1926 exhibition is regarded as the longest homer ever hit)!Apparently Ruth played the next day(10/15)in Lima,Oh.and smashed 2 more homers,then hit 2 more on 10/17 in Montreal,Canada!!

[cubicleboy]

this is awesome. thanx for posting.

[brianwells456comcast]

This is a wonderful posting.This meeting would have been after the 1926 World Series not 1925.The Yankees were not in the `25 Series.Ruth was thrown out sliding into 2nd base to end the `26 Series.(he became the first hitter to hit 3 homers in one World Series game during the Series).During this barnstorming trip up to Scranton, Pa. he also went to Wilkes-Barre,Pa.where,while putting on a hitting exhibition,he blasted a pitch 655ft.on a field that still exists on the campus there!

[bphogarth]

@brianwells456comcast

Thanks, we stand corrected.

[bphogarth]

Thanks!

[ConduitEnding]

This is what youtube should have more of. Stories of a simpler time. Told by gentlemen like this

[isaacgil83]

LATIN People need SUBTITLES, please !! Thanks for the story!

[bphogarth]

Thanks, would have been his 97 th birthday on Wednesday the 1st.

[russphilly]

excellenT!

[bphogarth]

Thanks, Glad you liked it.

[steveryans2]

my dad did the same type of "video memoirs" with my grandma, she's still with us, but knowing that we'll have something similar after she goes is really just priceless. She has no ruth stories, but depression/WWi/WWII stories, etc. Everyone should do it with their elders

[corkbender]

That is a wonderful story. Thank you for posting it.

[bphogarth]

@corkbender

Thank you, It's gotten more views than I expected. But I heard this story a few times from him and I was luckey enough to get it in gear and get him on tape.

[JBodine67]

Sir,you have captured here, a story; which, needs to be told to the greater media.

Fantastic story for sure.Thanks for posting.I enjoyed it a lot.

[bphogarth]

@JBodine67

Thank you,

Just glad that I got him on tape before he passed. We have an audio tape that was done 10 years earlier, but that details other aspects of his life. I also have some great stories of his time in the Pacific in WW II.

[IIIIdepechemodeIIII]

looks like he's wearing football gear underneath that sweater. Nice guy though. I wish I had a grandpa. RIP to your father.

[bphogarth]

@IIIIdepechemodeIIII

Thanks, He probably had 4 layers of clothes on. He didn't weigh more than 100 lbs.

Smoking and drinking finally caught up with him.

[ElliotOffenTrachea]

It's amazing the similarities between Babe Ruth and Michael Jackson. Both loved young boys, were the most famous in their line of work, died young, were ridiculed as being either black or white, had scumbag fathers and had adopted kids.

[bphogarth]

Thanks,

Shot it on good old VHS tape 15 years ago.

[bphogarth]

Thanks,

That was pretty funny. The little town that we lived in was as un urban as you could get.

[ElliotOffenTrachea]

Did your Dad always wear his hat like that? The blue hat tilted to the right is just how the Crips wear it. Did your dad have any connections to the Crips?

[bphogarth]

Thanks Thomas,

I wanted to get his autobiography on tape for years and finally got around to it back in '95. I wanted to shoot some more stuff but within a few months after this he was really sick and I didn't want to remember him that way. Don't delay...get your relatives on tape especially if they have some great stories.

[thomaswolfgang81]

Great story sad to know that he passed only 3 months after. may he rest in peace. wish i had a video of my passed away relatives.

[bphogarth]

My old man related the story like it was no big deal. Then again it was 1925. Thanks for for the comments. I was just happy that I got around to geeting him on tape before he got really sick.

Thanks,

BH

[joebean14]

Two kids sitting on Babe Ruth's lap with the Babe wearing nothing but a jock strap and a brush burn oozzing blood??? What a weird scene that must have been. You'd think the Babe would have thrown on some pants before letting people come into his room and certainly before putting two kids on his lap...WOW!! Imagine that happening today...the Babe's career would be over....similar to Michael Jackson.

[pswiatek13]

great story - thanks for sharing!