The Babe and Sweet Lou Batting

 Boy, I wish I could've seen Babe Ruth or Lou Gehrig batting........wait, WHAT!  I can see them batting?

Yup.  Here you go, a colorized video of the Babe and Sweet Lou taking batting practice and a little footage of them in action and together for the camera and fans.

I just had to share this when I saw it.  

It's so cool seeing Ruth's classic swing in motion and not a snapshot of the swing.  Same with Gehrig.  I love how Ruth starts with his feet close together and then give a nice stride when he's waiting for the pitch to arrive.  

These guys have several cards showing them in a batting pose and you can see those poses in the video.  Here are some of their cards showing them batting.

These two combined for 1,207 HRs, 4,209 RBIs, 4,062 Runs and 5,594 Hits.  Those are some impressive numbers folks.

Well, I hope you like the video.  

Enjoy the hobby all...it's a great one.

Babe Ruth in Action

Here is a very neat video of the 1920 Yankees vs. Cleveland at League Park.

It features a young Babe Ruth among others, including Tris Speaker, in wonderful action shots.  They used great technology of the day to film several scenes in slow motion using high speed cameras to slow down the speed.  You'll be able to see the Babe's swing perfectly.

The images of the crowds outside the park are really something with everyone in suits and hats.  And the boys chasing one of Ruth's home run balls that went out of the stadium and into a yard across the street.  

The announcer of the starting batteries using a megaphone to shout up to the crowd is very different from today's PA systems and jumbo screens with video and stats of the players.  

The whole style of play is different than today's game, not surprisingly.  The way pitchers throw to the way batters swing.  

Enjoy the hobby all...It's a great one.

Honus Wagner Video

 Saw this video of Honus Wagner with audio on Net54 and wanted to share it with you all.

I love seeing videos of old prewar stars and games in action.  Here's a video where they interview Honus Wagner and you get to hear him talk and see him take batting practice and do a bit of fielding.  I always imagined he had a strong German accent for whatever reason, but he really doesn't have one at all.

Wagner was considered one of the games greatest shortstops when he played.  He's known to the general public because of his famous T206 baseball card that consistently sells for more than a million dollars.  This generally makes the news every time it happens and spreads the mystique of Honus Wagner.  

But beyond the baseball card, Honus was a great player and a first ballot Hall of Famer.  He was known as The Flying Dutchman because of his speed and German heritage.  He won eight batting titles in his career.  That record has never been broken to this day (although it has been matched by Tony Gwynn).

Wagner debuted in baseball in 1897 and played until 1917.  He started with the Louisville Colonels and when the National League dropped four teams after the 1899 season, the owner of the team took Wagner to the Pittsburg Pirates the next year and Honus continued with Pittsburg though the end of his career.

I hope you enjoyed the video folks.  I thought it was really cool.

Enjoy the hobby all...it's a great one.