Met and chatted with with Ben Chapmans son over the weekend...........

jbbama · #1 10-24-2011, 08:12 AM

Bens great grandson plays on my sons soccer team, over the weekend i met Bens son who had come to watch his grandson play. We chatted about several things, from him meeting the Babe when he was a child, to how his father really liked Lou Gehrig. We also spoke about memorabilia (didn't have much) said "shoes and bats were just that" we didn't keep them. He did have a scrapbook and said he would email some old photos he had. We also talked about player salaries and some of todays players, the most interesing topic was about the 1932 Wold Series "called shot" by the Babe. Mr Chapman said his father was "in the hole" not on deck but the Babe and the pitcher were cussing at each other, the Babe was pointing at the pitcher, not where he was going to hit the ball. Sure it makes for a great iconic moment, but appears it never happend. That account is good enough for me. Our conversation was light and friendly and thats how i wanted to keep it. If you know a little about Chapman he was purportedly hot-tempered and aggresive to say the least, his son was very nice and i enjoyed chatting with him, i found him very interesting. Thanks for letting me share........

ullmandds · #2 10-24-2011, 08:15 AM

Great story...that's the icing on the cake for me, too...to prove that even the Babe...wasn't that cocky!!!!

barrysloate · #3 10-24-2011, 09:06 AM

Great story. I never believed Babe did call his shot, but given that so much has been written and told about the event, was this little gem ever documented? Because that is among the most important anecdotal evidence (sounds like an oxymoron) I've ever heard.

abrahamrudy · #4 10-24-2011, 09:20 AM

I choose to believe in the called shot nonetheless. Why would the Babe point at Charlie Root? Who points at pitchers? He was signaling "I'm going to smack this one right back at you."

MacDice · #5 10-24-2011, 09:27 AM

Always love hearing old baseball stories from the family members. You should ask him if he would be interested in doing a formal interview and recorded it. The stories that were to told to him by has dad should be documented if nothing more than for the future generation of his family. Once he passes away a lot of those stories also die.

Please post the pictures when you get them.

barrysloate · #6 10-24-2011, 09:41 AM

I always felt if Root believed that Ruth was predicting he would hit a home run on the next pitch, the pitcher would have thrown him a high and tight fastball, a little chin music. In that circumstance, why give him a pitch to hit? Plus, I always believed that story was a little too good to be true. Great piece of baseball folklore, but maybe it never happened that way. We'll never know for sure.

tedzan · #7 10-24-2011, 12:03 PM

It is my understanding that Charley Root was a proud and "cockY' guy. If Babe Ruth did indeed point to where he was going to hit
the next pitch, Charlie Root would have dared him to do it by giving him his best pitch.

For example, take the other nite at Arlington, Texas. After Pujols hit 2 HR's, wouldn't you think that the Rangers would either WALK
him....or give him nothing sweet to hit ?

That's BASEBALL for you.

TED Z

barrysloate · #8 10-24-2011, 12:22 PM

Hi Ted- I thought of that too, that he may have felt Ruth couldn't hit his best pitch and challenged him. The Called Shot is one of baseball's most enduring myths, and we will probably never know for sure what happened at that moment.

Jay Wolt · #9 10-24-2011, 12:55 PM

JB Thanks for the post.

Fred · #10 10-24-2011, 01:00 PM

Cool story - thanks for sharing that.

tedzan · #11 10-24-2011, 01:01 PM

If this event was real, and not a myth, Charley Root would never, ever admit to it.

Here's what Gabby Hartnett (in his first World Series) said of Ruth's "called shot"......

"I don't want to take anything away from the Babe, but he didn't call the shot. He held up the index finger of his left hand,
looked at our dugout, not at center field, and said, `It only takes one to hit it.'" For what it's worth, existing film seems to
back Gabby's account."

WHATEVER......Ruth's HR traveled 490 feet and was the very last HR that the Babe hit in World Series play.

TED Z

barrysloate · #12 10-24-2011, 01:09 PM

A cool story either way...490 feet is a wallop!

glchen · #13 10-24-2011, 01:54 PM

Last year, Hunt sold a Babe Ruth "Called Shot" scrapbook with player autographs and hand-written accounts of what happened: Link

In that scrapbook, Ben Chapman wrote: "No he did not call his shot, but he could have, he was the greatest."

CMIZ5290 · #14 10-24-2011, 04:56 PM

Great story! Yes, the called shot was amplified for cementing ruth's great dominance and magical heroics. I am fortunate to have a relative that has long sinced passed away in the early 90's, johnny mize, who is a hall of famer that shared many great stories with my father and other relatives and friends. He said there was no comparable player to ruth, not even close. He did say that a healthy mantle would have been interesting to see! Many people forget about ruth's still existing pitching records! This story about ruth's called shot has always been one of the greatest sports stories ever.

jbbama · #15 10-24-2011, 06:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by glchen

Last year, Hunt sold a Babe Ruth "Called Shot" scrapbook with player autographs and hand-written accounts of what happened: Link

In that scrapbook, Ben Chapman wrote: "No he did not call his shot, but he could have, he was the greatest."

He did mention that his father thought Ruth was the greatest ball player ever.

Bigdaddy · #16 10-24-2011, 06:58 PM

Back when Joe Sewell was alive and signing through the mail, I wrote him and asked him if Ruth's called shot story was true. He replied that, yes the Babe called his shot before hitting the home run. If I can find the letter, I'll scan it and post it here.

hangman62 · #17 10-24-2011, 06:59 PM

Thats not the Chapman who died on the field is it ?

ral

Jay Wolt · #18 10-24-2011, 07:03 PM

That would be Ray Chapman

whitehse · #19 10-25-2011, 11:11 AM

Having worked at Wrigley Field for a good portion of the 80's (Including 5 years in the front office) I was able to speak to a good many old timers about the history of the old ballpark. A few of the workers that were still there at Wrigley in the 80's were also there in the 30's and to a man, they all said Ruth was po'ed at the Cubs for some reason, (I believe the reason was the Cubs screwed over Mark Koenig on a World Series share or something along these lines) and there was bad blood the whole series. Ruth was getting heckled from the Cubs bench and he let the first pitch through and held up his hand and said "thats one!". The second pitch came through and he held up his hand a second time and said "thats two" all the while saying it only takes one pitch!! The third pitch was deposited in the trees across Sheffield ave where a number of boys were hanging out watching the game.

These sources were people that had first hand knowledge and were at the game. Former players, ballpark electricians etc. Each one said the exact same thing to me when I asked them their version of the story.

Its always cool to speak to former players or people that have a direct connection to former players. Sitting down and talking to a relative of Ben Chapman had to be a very cool experience!!