1932 World Series

The 1932 World Series was the twenty-ninth edition of Major League Baseball's annual championship. It was played between the New York Yankees (American League) and the Chicago Cubs (National League), with the Yankees holding home field advantage. The Yankees swept the Cubs, four games to none. The series was noteworthy for Babe Ruth's called shot and for the arguments that developed between the two teams. The heated atmosphere started before the series even began.

Managers: Joe McCarthy (New York), Rogers Hornsby (Chicago)

Umpires: Bill Dinneen (AL), Bill Klem (NL), Roy Van Graflan (AL), George Magerkurth (NL)

Game Summary

AL New York Yankees (4) vs. NL Chicago Cubs (0)

Matchups

Game 1

September 28: Yankee Stadium, Bronx, New York

Game 2

September 29: Yankee Stadium, Bronx, New York

Game 3

October 1: Wrigley Field, Chicago, Illinois

Ruth is congratulated by Gehrig after hitting his "called shot". Gabby Hartnett, the Cubs catcher, watches.

Roughly 50,000 Cubs fans showed up for game 3. In a prelude of things to come, Ruth and Lou Gehrig put on an impressive batting display during batting practice. Ruth launched nine balls to the outfield stands while Gehrig hit seven. Ruth said while batting: "I'd play for half of my salary if I could play in a dump like this."^{[citation needed]}

Cubs starting pitcher Charlie Root struggled in the first inning of game 3. The first two Yankees reached base when Ruth came to bat and hit a home run into the right-center bleachers to put the Yankees up 3-0. As he rounded the bases, fans yelled at Ruth with a torrent of jeers.^{[citation needed]} Gehrig hit a home run of his own in the third inning. This put the Yankees up 4-1. The Cubs battled back with two runs in the thirds and one in the fourth. The score was tied at four runs a piece. Joe Judge, who scored the tying run in the fourth, had doubled to right after Ruth dove in attempt to catch the ball.

What happened in the top of the fifth inning is the stuff of legend. The series is immortalized in many history books for just that reason. Though Ruth and Gehrig each hit a home run in the inning [In back-to-back at-bats nonetheless], it is Ruth’s hit that is the better known. Ruth supposedly predicted his home run by pointing to the stands prior to a pitch. While it has been confirmed that he pointed somewhere during the at-bat, there is some disagreement as to whether Ruth actually called the home run. Nobody seems to know just what he was pointing at.

Game 4

October 2: Wrigley Field, Chicago, Illinois

The Fighting

The initial cause of the bad tempers was over former Yankee shortstop Mark Koenig.^[1] Despite Koenig's contributions,^[2] the other Cubs players voted him only half a share of their World Series money because he only played in 33 games. Some of Koenig's Yankee friends heard of this; as a result, they began to criticize the Cubs players in the press.^{[citation needed]} The Yankees felt the Cubs were being "tight" with the money. Ruth's remarks seemed to set the Cubs players off the most when he called them cheapskates.^{[citation needed]} When the series started in New York, the Cubs players retaliated at Ruth by calling him fat and washed up.

Guy Bush, the Cubs starting pitcher in game 1, was particularly vocal against Ruth, calling him "nigger," and this type of banter lasted all series.

The Called Shot

Main article: Babe Ruth's Called Shot

Babe Ruth's Called Shot refers to the home run hit by Babe Ruth in the fifth inning of game 3. During the at-bat, Ruth made a pointing gesture. Although this is not confirmed, the story goes that Ruth pointed to the center field bleachers during the at-bat. It was supposedly a declaration that he would hit a home run to this part of the park. On the next pitch, Ruth hit a home run to center field. A few reporters later wrote that Ruth had "called his shot", and thus the legend was born.

Trivia

• Mark Koenig, the player at the source of the fights, had to sit out the series. He was injured.
• This was Ruth’s last appearance in a World Series
• Shortly after the called shot, the Chicago based Curtiss Candy Company, makers of the Baby Ruth candy bar, installed a large advertising sign on the rooftop on one of the apartment buildings on Sheffield Avenue. The sign, which read "Baby Ruth", was just across the street from where Ruth's home run had landed. Until the 1970's, when the sign was taken down, Cubs fans at Wrigley Field had to endure this not-so-subtle reminder of the "called shot."
• In 2005, there was a Bud Light commercial showing the called shot. Instead of appearing to point to center field, it appears he's pointing to a vendor selling Bud Light.
• In the third season (1992) episode of The Simpsons, "Homer at the Bat," Homer points to right field. He then hits a home run straight into left field. After pondering this for a second, he points to left field.
• In the 1989 film Major League, the climax of the movie has Indians catcher Jake Taylor pointing towards the outfield, clearly making reference to Ruth's home run. Ironically, the team Jake was playing against in the movie is the New York Yankees.
• Also, the opening sequence of the 1993 film The Sandlot explains the famed Called Shot.

References

1. ^ The Cubs picked up Koenig from the Detroit Tigers via Mission of the PCL on April 25, 1932.<ref> {{cite web| title = Koenig’s Transaction History | url= http://www.baseball-reference.com/k/koenima01.shtml | accessdate = 2006-10-09}}</li><li id="_note-1">'''[[#_ref-1|^]]''' He batted .353 and played well in the field</li></ol></ref>

• 1932 World Series by Baseball Almanac http://www.baseball-almanac.com/ws/yr1932ws.shtml
• Baseball America by Donald Honig ISBN 0-88365-817-8
• Creamer, Robert W. Babe: The Legend Comes to Life. Simon and Schuster, 1974, 440 pages.
• Stout, Glenn. Yankees Century. Houghton Mifflin, 2003, 478 pages.

External links

• 1932 World Series at Baseball-Almanac.com
• 1932 World Series at WorldSeries.com (MLB.com)
• Audio - Babe Ruth's Comment's on His Called Shot
• 1932 World Series box scores and play-by-play at Retrosheet.org

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