Finally, it’s here. October. The
best month of the year. The month where we get to see the beautiful orange,
yellow and red colours displayed by the trees before their leaves—as Lucy van
Pelt once said—fly south for the winter. October also brings as such wonderful
treats like Thanksgiving (if you’re Canadian), Halloween and pumpkin pie.
And it’s the month where we get
to witness the start of another hockey season, while college football and the
NFL get deeper into their short seasons.
But more importantly, the
biggest reason of all why I love October is simple: post-season baseball and
the World Series. There is nothing bigger in the world of sports than October
baseball. The expectations of the spring, continue through the summer for some
teams while fewer still experience the excitement and drama of October…then are
met by the cruel harsh reality of unfulfilled dreams (except for one team, of
course) as the realization comes that, yes, winter is here.
For the month of October at Top
Of the Third, we will focus on an important and exciting game from post season
play that corresponds with the date on the calendar. We will do this right
through to the end of the World Series. These are some of the best games in
post-season history and I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I did writing
them for you.
Enjoy October.
October 1st, 1932
World Series, Game 3
New York Yankees at Chicago Cubs
Wrigley Field, Chicago
This
will forever be remembered as the game where Yankees’ slugger, Babe Ruth,
supposedly pointed to the bleachers and predicted he would hit a home run, then
did it. But did he really “call his shot?” That has been debated for the past
84 years. While there is video evidence that shows The Babe waving his hand in
the direction of the outfield, it’s very inconclusive that he actually did
brashly tell the Cubs he was going to go deep.
The
game itself was an interesting affair in which the Yankees won 7-5 to take a
3-0 lead in the Series on their way to a sweep. Ruth hit two home runs in the
game, as did teammate Lou Gehrig.
The
game was tied at four in the top of the fifth when the controversial moment
with Ruth happened. Until his death, Ruth played along with the debate, never
admitting whether he called the shot or not.
Ford
Frick, who would later be National League President and the Commissioner of
Baseball, asked Ruth about the story when Frick was a sportswriter for the New
York American. The following conversation ensued:
Frick: Did you really point to the
bleachers?
Ruth: It’s in the papers, isn’t it?
Frick: Yeah. It’s in the papers. But
did you really point to the stands?
Ruth: Why don’t you read it in the
papers? It’s all right there in the papers.
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