[Comedian2004]

New book challenges baseball lore | Kentucky Enquirer | nky.com

[Déjà Bru]

This sure resonates as an indictment of that phony story about Ruth pointing before homering off Charlie Root in the 1932 World Series:

There was one more very good reason, Arnold [Root's daughter] said, why even a slugger as accomplished as Ruth would not have dared do something so bold as pointing to the center field bleachers. Like many pitchers of his day, Root had no problem throwing inside to move a batter off the plate. And if he hit him in the process, so be it.

So there was a reason why Charlie Root's nickname was "Chinski" and why Casey Stengel once said that Root "could take the buttons off my shirt" with a pitch.

"Dad would have nailed the big galoot,'' Arnold said. "Babe would have been on his backside."

These days, sure, I can see it happening (or at least somebody being dumb enough to try it). Not back then, for the reason stated above.

Edit: LOL! If you follow the photos link off that article and go to the last picture of seven, you see this one, captioned "This license plate has adorned Root family vehicles for more than two decades, showing what the family thinks of Babe Ruth's 'called shot' off Charley Root in Game 3 of the 1932 World Series."

[wireman]

That license plate is pretty lame. Whether or not Ruth called the shot (and, yeah, I doubt it), he DID, in fact, hit the pitch 500 feet. There's not much for Root to commemorate about that.

[rasnell]

Many thanks to Webcomedian for the plug. More details are at the book web site, including some rare 1929 film of Ehmke and Root warming up before the 1929 World Series.

Book is far more than the "called shot." In fact, it's how Root was haunted and overshadowed by one pitch and yet still holds Cub record for most wins, innings pitched and starts.

His daughter, Della, 90, has spent a lifetime trying to correct the exaggerations. Truth is far more interesting.

Book is getting a lot of publicity, Barnes & Noble has picked it up nationally, and it's going far better than I expected in these first two weeks since the book came out.

[kq76]

Congratulations, rasnell!

[rasnell]

Originally Posted by kq76

Congratulations, rasnell!

Thank you.

[PotatoPeeler]

Originally Posted by wireman

That license plate is pretty lame.

It's beyond that, even.

[spleen1015]

Awesome. Great job and further good luck rasnell.

[darkenigma510]

Congrats! How long did this take you to write? Is this your first book published?

[rasnell]

Originally Posted by darkenigma510

Congrats! How long did this take you to write? Is this your first book published?

31 years. I've jokingly said that I'm either a very slow writer or a very thorough researcher. My own personal Moonlight Graham lived just five doors down from my childhood home in Arcanum, OH.

Berly "Trader" Horne only pitched one season in the majors, the 1929 Chicago Cub team with Root as the ace. Berly won one game in his MLB career. He was sent back to the minors just days before the World Series because of an injury to Charlie Grimm that required a call-up from the Los Angeles Angels AAA team.

I wrote my first story about Horne in 1978 when I was a freshman at Ohio State University.

I collected boxes of files, microfilm and photos since then, but the real treasure was finding Charlie Root's daughter, Della, 90, who lives in California. She wrote her own personal account of "Life with Charlie" and I interviewed her for hundreds of hours as I pulled everything together in earnest three years ago.

I have been so busy with work that I didn't pursue publishers until the past year.

I was an investigative reporter for 18 years and won the Pulitzer Prize along with the staff of the Akron Beacon Journal in the early 1990s.

My bio, pictures of Della, a rare 1929 film of Charlie, and more are at the web site listed in my signature line below.

It is my first book. I'm hoping that sales will go so well that I can spend all my days writing a second book, beta testing OOTP, and lounging on a porch at Catalina Island (where the Cubs trained from 1921-1951).

Thanks for allowing me to put on my marketing hat.

[Déjà Bru]

I'm ordering the book from Amazon. You owe Comedian a commission of some sort.

[Comedian2004]

Go to my blues site, www.smokestacklightnin.com and click on any of the Amazon links and then order the book and I personally won't get a commision, but my blues site will, we are a not-for profit entity, with our charity being The Blues Foundation.

It does not cost you any more to go through my site to get to Amazon and you help out a good cause.

Originally Posted by Déjà Bru

I'm ordering the book from Amazon. You owe Comedian a commission of some sort.

[rasnell]

Originally Posted by Déjà Bru

I'm ordering the book from Amazon. You owe Comedian a commission of some sort.

I hate to cut into my PR agent's comments (WebComedian), but here's one more option:

If you want a signed copy for $3 more, order from rootforthecubs.com

I get more money so my children can eat and go to college.

[Green & Gold Heart]

Originally Posted by rasnell

I hate to cut into my PR agent's comments (WebComedian), but here's one more option:

If you want a signed copy for $3 more, order from rootforthecubs.com

I get more money so my children can eat and go to college.

Sorry if this is a dumb question, but what does it mean on that order form where it says, "Enter wording"?

[remangiii]

I'll buy the book when my job situtation gets better. Looking forward to it.

[Comedian2004]

Hell with the children's college, they do not have to go to college, they can live off from dad's book money.

I will sign the book for free.

I also forgot, there is a link right on www.smokestacklightnin.com to his book!

Originally Posted by rasnell

I hate to cut into my PR agent's comments (WebComedian), but here's one more option:

If you want a signed copy for $3 more, order from rootforthecubs.com

I get more money so my children can eat and go to college.

[rasnell]

Originally Posted by Green & Gold Heart

Sorry if this is a dumb question, but what does it mean on that order form where it says, "Enter wording"?

Customized autograph, what do you want me to write? Some people are having me make it out to someone else as a gift, with a message.

[Green & Gold Heart]

Originally Posted by rasnell

Customized autograph, what do you want me to write? Some people are having me make it out to someone else as a gift, with a message.

Gotcha.

[Déjà Bru]

Originally Posted by rasnell

I hate to cut into my PR agent's comments (WebComedian), but here's one more option:

If you want a signed copy for $3 more, order from rootforthecubs.com

I get more money so my children can eat and go to college.

Ooops, sorry Roger. I did not see this comment until I came back from "shopping." However, I promise to buy your next book direct! Of course, that could be another 31 years . . .

- Bruce

[KurtBevacqua]

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.