With the baseball season underway, we thought it would be fun to go back in time and describe the personalities of two of the most popular players from the famous 1927 New York Yankees. Quick Code Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig, be one of the first 10 readers who correctly code the players and you  will win a Color Code t-shirt of your choice. Be sure to include the answer, the t-shirt size and the t-shirt color you prefer when sending answers.

In 1927 Lindberg completed his first solo across the Atlantic; new cars were being sold for $375.00; and the New York Yankees won the World Series.

The 1927 Yankees have been called the greatest team in the history of baseball, with an all-star line-up dubbed Murderer’s Row.

Two of the players on the team, Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig, both contributed to the win in big ways. Babe was the first player to hit 60 home runs in one season (714 lifetime). Lou Gehrig was the American League’s MVP that year and went on to set a lifetime record of 2,130 consecutive games.

Babe Ruth was larger than life and enjoyed the spotlight. While dominating the game on the field, he lived recklessly off the field. His eating, drinking, and carousing have contributed to his legacy. He was quoted as saying, “I’ll promise to go easier on drinking and to get to bed earlier, but not for you, fifty thousand dollars, or two-hundred and fifty thousand dollars will I give up women. They’re too much fun.”

As a student Ruth was often dubbed “incorrigible” and continued to be undisciplined his entire professional life. One night, when he was supposed to be in his hotel room, he was out carousing. When stopped by a policeman for driving the wrong way on a one-way street, Babe said, “Well, I was only going one way!”

At the beginning of the 1922 season, Ruth, frustrated by a heckler in the stands, kicked dirt at the umpire and then went after the heckler. He was quoted as saying, “I didn’t mean to hit the umpire with the dirt, but I did mean to hit that bastard in the stands.”

Lou Gehrig is also remembered as one of the most talented and phenomenal baseball players of all time. More than that, however, he is remembered for his kind heart, humility, and winning attitude. “Lets face it. I’m not a headline guy. I always knew that as long as I was following Babe to the plate I could have gone up there and stood on my head. No one would have noticed the difference. When the Babe was through swinging, whether he hit one or fanned, nobody paid any attention to the next hitter. They all were talking about what the Babe had done.”

Regarding Gehrig, New York Yankees manager Joe McCarthy said, “I had him for over eight years and he never gave me a moment’s trouble. I guess you might say he was kind of my favorite.”

When actor Edward Hermann played Gehrig in a movie, he had trouble capturing the essence of the reserved, quiet Gehrig. “What made it so tough is I could find no ‘key’ to his character. There was no strangeness, nothing spectacular about him. As Eleanor Gehrig told me, he was just a square, honest guy.”

Both players were extraordinary on the field and off, but in two very different and distinct ways.

Ruth has gone down in history as a hard-living, hard-playing man with a big ego and big talent to match. He is still considered by many to be the greatest baseball player ever. He died August 16, 1948 at the age of 53. At his death the New York Times called  Babe Ruth, “a figure unprecedented in American life. A born showman off the field and a marvelous performer on it, he had an amazing flair for doing the spectacular at the most dramatic moment.”

Gehrig’s legacy will be his quiet dedication to the sport he loved, exemplified by his record of consecutive games. Tragically, he will also be remembered as the person who has a hideous disease named for him. Lou Gehrigh Appreciation Day was held July 4, 1939 when nearly 62,000 fans wished their dying hero goodbye.

References
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babe_Ruth
www.baberuth.com/flash/about/biograph.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lou_Gehrigh
www.lougehrig.com/about/bio.htm
www.baseball-almanac.com/quotes/quoruth.shtml