Earliest known footage of Babe Ruth in Yankees uniform to be unveiled at Hall of Fame
From Kristen Gowdy at BaseballHall.org on June 11, 2014, with SABR members Tom Shieber and Bill Francis:
As the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum finishes its preparations for the opening of the new Babe Ruth: His Life and Legend exhibit on June 13, senior curator Tom Shieber has identified what he believes to be the earliest known footage of Ruth in a Yankee uniform.
Shieber, who received the 36-second clip from the University of South Carolina’s Moving Image Research Collections in December 2013, was recently able to date the footage. He has confirmed the video was filmed just months after Ruth was sold to the New York Yankees in late 1919.
“I’ve seen a lot of Ruth footage, and this is the earliest Ruth footage in a Yankee uniform I’ve ever seen,” Shieber said.
The clip shows Ruth taking batting practice before a Spring Training game in Miami, Fla., in 1920.
“It’s really fun to see his swing because he changed batting stances throughout his career,” Shieber said. “He has a very closed stance, which was rare for that time period.”
Read the full article here: http://baseballhall.org/news/museum-news/babe%27s-film
Originally published: June 11, 2014. Last Updated: June 11, 2014.