Ruth Could Also Be Considered Sultan of Suds

Babe Ruth died 50 years ago today.

On the day he was buried, it was hot and steamy, a sweaty August in New York. Two of the pallbearers were old teammates, Joe Dugan and Waite Hoyt.

As he lifted the casket, Dugan, suffering in the heat, reportedly said to Hoyt, “I’d give a hundred bucks for an ice-cold beer.”

Hoyt smiled and glanced at the coffin.

“So would the Babe,” he said. “So would the Babe.”

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The old home town: Although Ruth gained fame as a pitcher for the Boston Red Sox and a slugger for the New York Yankees, his career started in Baltimore, his hometown. Teams rode trains in those days and the Babe always remembered Baltimore.

In response to a young Baltimore reporter’s question years later as to whether he missed his hometown, he said, “I always look out the window when our baseball club passes by.”

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Remembered: The Marshall Islands postal service is issuing a 32-cent stamp this week in honor of Ruth. It is the second such honor this year.

The U.S. Postal Service unveiled a “Decade of the Twenties” stamp in May that featured Ruth.

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Trivia time: Actor William Bendix played the role of Ruth in the 1948 movie, “The Babe Ruth Story.” What was his special bond with Ruth?

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Word to the wise: Dante Bichette isn’t above doing a little recruiting for his Colorado Rockies. Cognizant of the fact that the Mets’ Mike Piazza will be a free agent at the end of the season and that Piazza has always hit well at Coors Field, Bichette walked past the former Dodger catcher during batting practice recently and whispered, “Walker, Piazza, Bichette, Castilla.”

If you’re a Rockies’ fan, it does have a nice ring to it.

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Just like football: Nottingham Forest put Dutch World Cup striker Pierre van Hooydonk up for sale--with an asking price of $13.2 million--after he refused to report.

“These days it is the players who hold all the aces in the game,” said Dave Bassett, the team’s general manager. “It was a case of the tail wagging the dog and we could not allow that to happen.”

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Easy money: Two years ago Tom Lehman collected $310,000 for winning the British Open--72 holes over the testing Royal Lytham and St. Annes course.

On Nov. 29, he can earn $200,000 for playing one hole. That’s the prize for winning the 18th hole of the 16th annual Skins Game at Rancho La Quinta, where Lehman will be defending champion.

The hole is a 450-yard dogleg par four with a lake guarding one side of the fairway.

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Trivia answer: As a youth, Bendix was a batboy for the New York Giants, who shared the Polo Grounds with the Yankees. Bendix began hanging around the Yankee clubhouse and became a favorite of Ruth, running errands and shining his shoes.

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And finally: From Kevin Malone, Baltimore Oriole assistant general manager:

“Babe Ruth would be a good addition to the team right now. According to the local media, a 103-year-old slugger would fit in perfectly on an old team like ours.”