Middletown's Part in Baseball History |
Monday, September 17, 2007 11:00:47 AM - Middletown Ohio |
by Adam Lewis
Charlie Root was born in Middletown, Ohio in 1899 and began playing professional baseball in 1923 with the St. Louis Browns. He was by all accounts a good pitcher, playing for the Chicago Cubs for sixteen seasons from 1926 to 1941, and holding the Cubs club record for career wins with 201, but that's not why he is most often remembered today.
Charlie Root threw what many would consider the most famous and controverted pitch in baseball history. In the fifth inning of Game 3 of the 1932 World Series, Babe Ruth called his shot with 2 strikes on the board, he would hit the next pitch into the center field bleachers. If he did call the shot, he followed through on his promise and knocked the baseball out past the 440 marker, well into center field. But did he call the shot?
Some argue that he was pointing to the Cubs dugout, where members of the opposing team were heckling him. Charlie Root went to his grave declaring that Babe Ruth never called that shot, that it was simply sensationlist headline from a newspaper reporter. Whether he actually called the shot or not, the story has been referenced many times since it happened, and it's truth is still hotly contested from both sides today.
Either way, the man who threw it was from Middletown, Ohio. Read about some of the other Sports Legends From Middletown.
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