Tuesday, August 18, 2015

World Series: Did You Know?

Babe Ruth stole two bases in the 1921 Fall Classic vs. the Giants. His team still came up short, but The Babe was giving it his all. It just wasn't enough this time.

The Yankees had won game one, 3-0, and needed some offence to get going in game two vs. Art Neft. But Neft was throwing a gem of a game. Ruth's power game was nullified. But his speed was not.

The Yankees, in the bottom of the first, got two on as Ruth drew the second walk of the frame. A double play ended that. The Babe walked again in the bottom of the third to load the bases, but again the Yankees couldn't do anything as the game was still scoreless.

New York of the junior circut tallied a run in the bottom of the fourth to take a 1-0. Ruth looked for ways to get more. He walked with two down in the fifth. It was his third walk of the game, but home plate was far away. So Ruth turned on the jets. Once, twice.

With Bob Meusel at the dish, Ruth swiped second. Then third. Meusel suddenly had The Big Guy just ninety feet away. A single makes it 2-0 here. But Bob grounded out. It was the third time a batter had done that in that inning.

Ruth hit into a fielder's choice in the bottom of the eight, but he later scored a run to make it 2-0 vs. Neft. The Yankees tallied again that inning. For the second straight game, it ended 3-0 Yankees.

So Ruth ended the game 0-1 with three walks. But the great ones find a way to contribute in the clutch. The Babe certainly carried a big stick, but Neft took that out of his hands. Ruth, back when he was in shape, could find other ways to beat you (And before that, he was a pretty good pitcher in his Boston days). Walking Ruth wasn't a bad idea, but too much and you pay. Lou Gehrig was not there in 1921 (He'd make his World Series debut in 1926).

It's too bad that Ruth is sometimes remembered as ending the 1926 World Series on an attempted steal. This proves he was slow, eh? But The Babe could turn on the jets when needs be. The Big Fellow likes to see pitches he can hit, you know. And when he didn't see that, he made sure the Giants didn't see him on the basepaths until it was too late!


References

Sports Reference LLC.  Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Information. http://www.baseball-reference.com/. Web. 18 August 2015.

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