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Congrats. I read the ABJ when I was a kid. I even used to have some semi-regular correspondance with Terry Pluto who I see is now working for the Plain Dealer.
Rob Neyer did a good piece on the called shot in his last book and it's not quite true that Gabby Hartnett didn't see anything. Hartnett's story is almost exactly the same as Crosetti's as cited in the article. Neyer took accounts from everyone he could find who was there and most of them said Ruth was pointing a finger in the air and saying either, "Just one strike," or "It just takes one pitch."
The legendary self-promoter that Ruth was played coy with the truth. He never denied calling the shot, but he also never claimed it. He more or less went along with it. I believe he even once confided to some teammates that he didn't call it, but if some reporters wanted to write it that way we was more than happy to oblige them. Had he really called it, I doubt he would have been so coy. In fact he probably would have been insufferable about it.
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"The type and formula of most schemes of philanthropy or humanitarianism is this: A and B put their heads together to decide what C shall be made to do for D. The radical vice of all these schemes, from a sociological point of view, is that C is not allowed a voice in the matter, and his position, character, and interests, as well as the ultimate effects on society through C's interests, are entirely overlooked. I call C the Forgotten Man"
- William Graham Sumner
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