It is World Series
time again. And again with my Red Sox bowing out early, I have no rooting
interest other than not wanting the Dodgers to win. Thought I would watch
this about the greatest ball player of all time. Sure, I know that can be
debated - he played when it was an all-white sport and comparing one generation
to another is a futile exercise. But comparing players to their contemporaries
isn't and Ruth was so much better than any other hitter by magnitudes and
he was a pretty damn good pitcher too - 94-46, 2.28 era. His records stood
for decades and for the first five years of his career with the Red Sox he
was mainly a pitcher hitting a best 11 home runs in one year. Throw in another
200 homers if he had hit full time.
Like all sports hero films made back then,
it cleans up Ruth like a Roto-Rooter. He was dying when this film was being
made and went to visit the set. Cancer at 53 years old. There is no mention
that his appetite was not just for food, but women as well. One story had
him with six women in a night. He never hit that many home runs in a game.
Hard to think of any other actor at the time who could have played him better
than William Bendix. The same build, the same swing. He looks like a legit
hitter - compared to say Anthony Perkins playing Jimmy Piersal in Fear Strikes
Out.
Bendix plays Ruth as a boastful boisterous
fun-loving hard drinking not that smart guy. Also, as generous to children.
He performs enough miracles to have been sainted. The woman he falls in love
with after she tells him what his tell is when he throws a curve is played
by Claire Trevor with a nice mix of street smarts and sweetness. Not mentioned
is that both had been married previously and she had a daughter. She lived
long enough to see Maris break his one-year home run record and Aaron breaking
his career home run record. I wish the film had brought in some of the other
Yankee players. He was great but it wasn't just him that won all those World
Series. Corny film that puts Ruth on a God like pedestal, but if any player
deserved it, that would be Ruth. The Babe. The Bambino.
