The New York Yankees won the first two games of the 1932 World Series at Yankee Stadium and were at Wrigley Field for Game 3. A war of words had developed between Babe Ruth and the Chicago Cubs. One of the key players in the Chicago Cubs’ pennant campaign in 1932 was Babe Ruth’s friend and former teammate, Mark Koenig. Acquired at the end of the season when Chicago’s starting shortstop was injured, Koenig hit. 353 in 33 crucial games. However, the Chicago Cubs voted to give Koenig just half of his World Series money. When Babe Ruth found out, she was outraged.
He called the Cubs stingy. They called it a “beer belly” and said it was washed. Chicago Cub fans got involved and verbally attacked Babe Ruth and his wife when they arrived at the Chicago train station. He needed a police escort to get to his hotel. Once Game 3 began, the 37-year-old slugger was booed relentlessly. He was booed when he homered in the first inning and laughed when he made a mistake in the fourth. As he walked to the plate in the fifth with the score tied 4-4, insults flew everywhere.
As the baby prepared to face the cry of puppy Charlie Root, Chicago fans howled in disgust. Someone even threw a lemon into the field. In the Chicago Cubs dugout, players were yelling at him and grabbing his throat, as if to say he choked on the fly that missed in the fourth.
The baby was fed up. He turned to Chicago catcher Gabby Hartnett and told her that if Root threw a pitch over the plate, he would hit the ball. Sure enough, Root closed one, but Ruth just looked at it. Hit one. The fans roared, but the baby calmly raised a finger as if to say, “It only takes one.” After two balls followed, Babe Ruth watched the fourth pitch pass, and when the umpire called strike two, the screams from the fans were deafening. The baby held up a pair of fingers to indicate that there were only two strokes. With the insults from the Chicago Cubs getting louder and more cruel, Babe Ruth turned to the pitcher and said, “I’m going to hit the next pitch in your … throat,” and with that, Ruth raised her hand and He said. He pointed toward the gardens.
Charlie Root fired again and Ruth rocked wildly, sending the ball over the center field wall. As Ruth trotted around the bases, he laughed and said to himself, “What a lucky bum.” When Charlie Grimm passed first baseman, Ruth joked, “Go get the ball and I’ll autograph it for you.” By the time he got to the plate, even Cubs fans were cheering him on.
To this day, Ruth’s explosion is the most controversial hit in baseball history. Years later, when Babe was asked if he was really aiming for a spot in center field before hitting his home run, Babe Ruth said, “I didn’t exactly aim for one spot. All I wanted to do was tap on that thing. . Get out of the park, anywhere. “