Old Ruth Tale Has Living Proof

You’ve read it in books and seen it in movies, but do you really believe that Babe Ruth ever saved a kid’s life by promising to hit a home run for him?

You’d better, because there is living proof. He is Johnny Sylvester, a 72-year-old retired business executive of Garden City, N.J.

Sylvester told John Eisenberg of the Baltimore Sun that at the age of 11 he was kicked in the head by a horse in a riding accident and developed a disease in which his skull started deteriorating.

“I was very sick,” Sylvester said. “I could have died. It was a touch-and-go situation.”

It was the time of the 1926 World Series between the New York Yankees and the St. Louis Cardinals, and Sylvester’s father contacted the teams and asked them to send autographed baseballs to his son. They did.

On the Yankees’ ball, Ruth wrote that he would hit a home run for him. The next day, he hit three. Johnny recovered. After the World Series, Ruth visited him at his New Jersey home.

Sylvester, who went to Princeton and commanded a submarine in World War II, was in Baltimore recently for the opening of an exhibit honoring Ruth.

He told Eisenberg: “If I can enhance the memory of the Babe, I’m happy to do it. He was a fantastic ballplayer. What he did for me, maybe it was done for publicity. I don’t know. He did a good thing for me.”

Add Sylvester: Asked about “The Babe Ruth Story,” starring William Bendix, he said, “What a lousy show. Comes on every once in a while late at night. I never make the end. And they got it all wrong, too. They had me in a hospital. I was at home.”

In “The Pride of the Yankees,” starring Gary Cooper as Lou Gehrig, Ruth hits one home run for Johnny, and Gehrig hits two.

“I don’t know where they got that,” Sylvester said. “Looking for drama, I guess.”

Trivia Time: In the movie, “The Jackie Robinson Story,” who played the part of Jackie Robinson? (Answer below.)

Remember Ross Grimsley, the left-hander with the not-so-fast fastball? Sportswriter Dale Singer once said: “Ross Grimsley has three speeds--slow, slower and hurry up, already.”

In the wake of the Joe Niekro scuffing incident, Thomas Boswell recalled a night in Baltimore when Grimsley’s pitches were going out a lot faster than they were coming in. Finally, Manager Earl Weaver went to the mound and told the beleaguered southpaw, “If you know how to cheat, start now.”

Add Scuffing: Eric Broersman, a pitcher for El Paso in the Texas League, told the Associated Press that doctoring the ball isn’t limited to pitchers.

“I heard that Doug DeCinces has a tack in his glove and scuffs the ball when they’re throwing the ball around the infield. That’s supposed to be how Don Sutton gets it done,” Broersman said.

How-time-flies Dept.: From announcer Harry Caray: “I never realized how short a month is until I started paying alimony.”

Notre Dame Coach Lou Holtz, on flanker Tim Brown, who has racked up more than 3,000 yards in all-purpose running: “The only way teams are going to keep the ball out of Tim’s hands is to intercept the ball from center.”

Trivia Answer: Jackie Robinson.

Quotebook

Irving Rudd, boxing publicist, on the ego of Hector Camacho, who calls himself the Macho Man: “Hector Camacho’s great dream is to someday die in his own arms.”