How factual is this film? What is stretched and what is condensed into fact... (example: Did he really hit 3 homers his last game with the Braves and then quit?)
I really don't know much about the man, and while I thought the movie could be a lot better, I wasn't sure what to believe and what liberties the filmmaker choose...
thanks in advance
Most everything is true and he really did hit 3 homeruns in his final game.
shareThat is true. But they give you the impression that it was the complete end, that he got out of baseball altogether. Which is not true. While he didn't play anymore, he did coach some before his death. He coached for the Brooklyn Dodgers for one.
A heart can be broken, but it still keeps a-beatin' just the same.
Interesting.
The artist formally known as Doc110894
No, he did not hit 3 home runs in his final game. Patently false. Don't comment on something stating fact if you don't know what you're talking about.
On May 25th, 1935, in a game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Ruth hit the final three home runs of his career. That was career game 2,499 for Ruth. He played, and batted, in five more games with the Boston Braves.
His final game was on May 30th, 1935, against the Philadelphia Phillies. He went 0 for 1 at the plate, and the Braves lost the game 6-11.
Here, educate yourself. http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/gl.cgi?id=ruthba01&t=b&year=1935
Never for the sake of peace and quiet deny your convictions-Dag Hammarskjold
Like the first guy to reply said, he really did hit three home runs in his final game. The "called shot" in the 1932 World Series is based on fact. Him hitting two home runs after promising he would to a sick kid is also based on fact (though I don't believe the kid jumped out of the crowd and thanked Babe Ruth after he hit his final home run). I've seen video footage of him eating a hot dog on the field.
His off the field life, I don't know much about, but many of the on field things portrayed in the movie really happened. He was an amazing ballplayer.
In addition, they didn't expand on this much in the movie (one little scene), but he was an amazing pitcher. If he was a poor hitter, he likely would still be a hall of fame pitcher. But because he could hit so well, they needed him to be at the plate more than one game in every 3 or 4, so they placed him in the outfield so he could play every game, and he became a legend.
You're wrong. He did hit 3 home runs in one of his final games in the 1935 season with the Boston Braves, when he was supposed to be washed up and they just kept him to sell tickets. He also hit a single in that game. It wasn't his last game though. I've read his autobiography, and he said that he wished that he quit after that, but he hung around for a short while afterward.
Did he really call his home run during the 1932 World Series? That's debatable. Some say he did, others say he didn't. I'm guessing what happened was that he made a gesture that he was going to hit it out. There's no way he could have stood there for 10 seconds with his finger pointed like this movie shows. That's a bit of a stretch.
I think he really did visit Johnny Sylvester in the hospital and maybe hit him a home run, but I don't think it was that big of a deal. He visited lots of sick children.
I do think this movie captured Babe Ruth, who might have been one of the first athlete/celebrity's. He was a superman on and off the field and was perfect for the decade he played in, the roaring 20's in NYC. Besides, he gave birth to the Yankees dynasty and the Red Sox misery.
Not sure how true this is or not...i have heard not only with the " hangovers" he could have had while he was on the field ..that he even played drunk too ...
shareYep, the Babe hit those three homeruns in Pittsburgh, but his last game was in Philadelphia not long afterward.
I have actually seen footage of the 1932 World Series game where he was supposed to have called his shot. Some guy's grandfather had filmed the whole game and it was sitting in an attic for years. There had been some not-so-friendy banter between the Cubs and Ruth. He is jawing at their dugout and making gestures at them. Just before the famous homerun, he points to the Cub's dugout for a second or two as he hurls epitaphs at them. Then he does the same thing to the opposing pitcher, supposedly saying, "I'm gonna knock the next @#$damn pitch down your throat. He did not make the grand gesture that is depicted in every movie that was made about him. I want to believe that he was pointing at the centerfield bleachers, but it didn't appear that way to me. The catcher, Gabby Harnett, did say that he told him, "It only takes one to hit it," after he took two called strikes. Ruth had always went along with the legend, insisting that he did indeed call his shot.
As for Johnny Sylvester, he was not on his "death-bed" as was grossly mistated. I did see a photo of the Babe and his wife visiting him in the hosital. As you stated, he did this countless times. When Spring Training rolled around the next year, a gentleman approached Ruth and introduced himself as Johnny Sylvester's father. He thanked him for visiting his son in the hospital and for lifting his spirits. The Babe replied that, "You're welcome. Glad to do it." As the man walked away and was out of earshot, the Babe asked, "Now who the hell is Johnny Sylvester?"
" As the man walked away and was out of earshot, the Babe asked, "Now who the hell is Johnny Sylvester?"
ROFL
And that last home run was hit completely out of Forbes Field. Do you know what a Death Valley Forbes Field was? No one had ever done that before up to that time, and very few (if that)after. An amazing feat for a 40 year old man. And typically Ruthian.
shareFrom my knowledge about the Babe, he was both a womanizer and an alcoholic, as depicted in the film. Often the newspapers and the tabloids would sort of ignore his partying, smoking and drinking, because he was looked upon by children and adults alike as such a hero in both Boston and New York.
"Nature is crooked. I wanted right angles, straight lines."
This movie has many False Facts. Jumpin Joe was never on the Red Sox when Babe was. They weren't on the same team until 1923. He married Helen in 1914 instead of 1916. He didn't meet Claire until the 20's. He didn't start hitting a lot of home runs until around 1918-19. I know there are more but these are the ones of the top of my head.
shareBabe and Helen never divorced either because they were both Roman Catholics. He shacked up with Claire until Helen died in a house fire in 1929. Babe and Claire married a few months after Helen's death.
shareJohn Goodman made such a good late career Babe Ruth, but this movie is so chock full of errors, anachronisms, and falsehoods it's difficult to sit through. My favorite part is when it shows Frazee threatening to send his rookie PITCHER back to the farm because he struck out twice at the plate in his debut. Ridiculous! And of course Ruth never hit a home run with Boston in 1914, and in the movie he hits one in his very first game. It's also pretty funny to see Goodman as a supposedly 19-year-old Ruth ambling through the gates at St. Mary's. They almost needed two different actors to play the young, svelt Ruth and the older, chunkier Ruth embedded in the public consciousness. As far as the whole Joe Dugan thing, I seem to remember a similar error with Bob Cerv and the timing of his trade to the Yankees in the movie 61*, though it definitely wasn't as over-the-top as showing Jumpin' Joe befriending Babe as a rookie roommate.
The first review on the page calling this movie "mostly accurate" or something like that is an absolute joke. It's also worth noting that although the reviewer poo-poos the hung over Ruth belting a homer in the movie, Stan Musial really did have a five hit game (at the age of 41, no less) while badly hung over. He platooned late in his career and went out partying because he didn't think he'd play the next day. I forget the details, but an injury or something forced him into the starting lineup. He got five hits and said later he could hardly make out the ball coming out of the pitcher's hand.
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One good book on Ruth is "Babe: The Legend Comes to Life" by Robert Creamer.
NGU.
A friend of mine grew up in Brooklyn and listened to baseall on the radio a lot. HE REMEMBERED the Johnny Sylvester thing AND calling the spot for his home run.
I thought Goodman was good as Ruth. It seemed that he relished his role and put all he had into it. I very much enjoyed the movie.
There is alot of debate as to whether the 'called shot' really took place, but the overall consensus after a second tape surfaced in 2000 is that he was pointing at the dugout. Ironically, the second tape was shot by a man who was attending his very first Major League game, can you imagine?
Found these quotes on Wikipedia.com, and found them very amusing in reference to all the different perspectives people can have on a single event;
---"If he'd pointed to the bleachers, I'd be the first to say so." —Cubs catcher Gabby Hartnett
---"Don't let anybody tell you differently. Babe definitely pointed." —Cubs radio broadcaster Pat Pieper
---"Ruth's finger just happened to be pointing to center field when he indicated he had one more strike remaining." —Frank Crosetti, Yankees infielder
---"(Guy) Bush, leading the tirade from our bench, turned a blast on the Babe. Babe pointed straight away and turned toward our dugout-no doubt for Bush's benefit. I hesitate to spoil a good story, but the Babe actually was pointing to the mound. As he pointed, I heard Ruth growl (to Bush), 'You'll be out there tomorrow, so we'll see what you can do with me.'" —Cubs first baseman and manager Charlie Grimm
---"Ruth pointed with his bat in his right hand to right field, not to center field. But he definitely called his shot." —Yankees pitcher Lefty Gomez
---"Ruth did point, for sure. He definitely raised his right arm. He indicated (where he'd already) hit a home run. But as far as pointing to center -- no, he didn't. You know darn well a guy with two strikes isn't going to say he's going to hit a home run on the next pitch." —Cubs shortstop Mark Koenig
---"Don't let anyone tell you Babe didn't point. In our hotel room last night, Babe told me what a sucker he had been to point. 'Look how many ways they could have gotten me out,' he said." —Yankees coach Cy Perkins
Floyd "Babe" Herman recalled a conversation between Ruth and Root(the pitcher who gave up the so-called shot) in 1942 on the set of the movie, 'Pride of the Yankees' that went as such;
Root: You never pointed out to center field before you hit that ball off me did you?
Ruth: I know I didn't, but it made a hell of a story, didn't it?
If this recant is true, than that is the answer to the mystery...
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especially for someone that fat. Not even the world's fastest man could do that.
shareI noticed that as well. The highest pop-ups I've ever seen would not give a fast runner enough time to reach second base, much less score, before it lands. Of course, nowadays he would be out because of the infield fly rule. What probably happenned was the ball was lost in the sun, and then a throwing error or two allowed him to score.
shareIn the film, as Ruth bangs out his late-career, National League home runs, there's another Boston Brave at first base ready to trot the rest of the bases for him.
Up until some time in the 1950s, it was legal to use a Courtesy Runner. With the permission of the opposing manager, a team could temporarily remove a player from the game after some minor injury, let someone else run the bases for him, and have him resume his position afterward. These favors were asked and granted to speed up the game.
Volunteer researchers at retrosheet.org have been studying old scorebooks to get the play-by-play of every available game in major league history. They haver a list of courtesy runners (and other odd substitutions). I believe that researching Ruth's games was a definite priority, and no one has yet found a courtesy runner for Ruth.
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