For your viewing pleasure... the Bambino!

[3-2-count]

That footage of him sliding into home head first was awesome.
I'd never seen video of him doing that before. Ole' Babe actually
had some wheels prior to the gut.

[ullmandds]

great footage...i especially like when the babe overruns 2nd and dives back and kinda falls face forward on the bag like he's hugging 2nd base!

[HRBAKER]

Excellent, thanks for the link. I agree, watching the crowd rise following the flight of the ball was great!

[B O'Brien]

Thanks! Super cool video.
I still don't know how he hit for average with that swing. His bat stayed in the contact zone for a VERY long time, but still. I guess he just had the "feel" and vision!!

Take care,
Bob

[peterose4hof]

Great Footage. Thanks for the link!

[prewarsports]

Baseball is a weird sport because everyone has their own batting stance and style but if you slow the stance down until a second or two before impact, everyones stance is the same. Ruth is the same way. He looks weird with that huge loopy swing, but right before he makes contact with the ball, his stance is perfect. Gary Sheffield is the same way. You think he is never going to hit the ball with that hitch, but he corrects it to a perfect stance just like Ruth did.

It would have been fun to go to a game and watch Ruths "situational" hitting. Did he have such a big swing with the bases loaded 2 outs and 2 strikes in the 9th inning of a one run game as he did on his first swing in the first inning? Probably not. He was first and foremost a great Baseball Player and his career batting average (which is WAY too often ignored by historians) is a testament to that.

Rhys

[HRBAKER]

I especially like the one swing in the video where it looks like he takes 2-3 steps up in the box toward the pitch before he swings.

Originally Posted by HRBAKER

I especially like the one swing in the video where it looks like he takes 2-3 steps up in the box toward the pitch before he swings.

I've seen a couple of videos now showing Ruth taking that extra step during a game - and I wonder how that's possible? He starts at the back of the batter's box, and when he hits the ball his right foot is actually beyond the box. Unless the pitch was literally lobbed, I don't see how there's time for all that movement.

Also, it's always strange to me to see catchers of this era essentially standing up instead of using a full crouch - they must have been very vulnerable to passed balls on low pitches. Anyone know when catchers began fully crouching, or if there was one catcher in particular who started the trend?