What Can You Tell Me About This Photo?

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What Can You Tell Me About This Photo?

I’ll give you the Babe. That’s easy. There’s no doubt that’s him sliding awkwardly into third.

Maybe you’ve seen this one before, as I have, and didn’t think too much about it. It’s a moment frozen in time from baseball’s glorious past. Of course, any photo of the great Bambino is special, and this one is certainly no exception.

But a lot more information can be gleaned from it. Was the Babe safe? What about the third baseman? What team? What’s the date? What inning? Who won the game?  What stadium?

These questions are the ones author David Beattie asked himself after his wife unexpectedly gave him this vintage photo as a gift back in 2001. As there was no accompanying caption, the questions remained unanswered. His curiosity sufficiently peaked, David started on a multi-year journey to uncover its secrets. Like a man on a mission, he couldn’t stop until he was satisfied he had the answers. He then documented his odyssey of discovery in an interesting book called “Ossie and the Babe: Unlocking the Secrets behind a Historical Baseball Photograph.”

Why would one old photo, from among the thousands that exist from baseball’s past, arouse such interest? It’s hard to explain, but Beattie addressed that perplexing question:

“When I first looked at this old photo, I immediately felt a sense of wonder and a connection to a bygone age…It captures a moment from a vast history and a rich tradition. At the same time, I was aware of knowing disappointingly little that would help me to answer the questions that were beginning to come to mind. Already there was an embryonic stirring of desire to find out more about it.”

David used all the available clues to “close the deal,” including the Babe’s belt loops, dirty uniform, thinner-than-normal physique, and uniform pinstripes. David also took note of the ads on the billboards, and even the shadows cast. With the help of Retrosheet, Baseball Almanac, Baseball Reference, and the staff at Cooperstown, he put all the pieces of this intriguing puzzle together. He came up with a definitive date for the photo, along with many other interesting details.  

So what did David uncover? The scene is from the fifth inning of a Yankee-Senators game played at Griffith Stadium on August 16, 1925. The Babe started the inning with a single off Vean Gregg; then tried to advance to third on a hit by Lou Gehrig, but was thrown out on a relay play from Earl McNeely to Roger Peckinpaugh to Ossie Bluege. The Yankees eventually won the game, 3-2 on their way to a dismal seventh place finish. The winning pitcher was Urban Shocker and the loser Tom Zachary. 1925 was the year of the “Bellyache Heard Round the World,” easily Babe’s worst season, during which he underwent abdominal surgery. That may account for his slimmer, wan appearance.

David discovered the date of the photo had been misidentified in numerous publications; and, with his diligent research, he was finally able to “set the record straight.” In doing so, he made a major contribution to baseball research which has been acknowledged by Dave Smith, founder of Retrosheet.

If you enjoy uncovering mysteries of old baseball photos, you’ll enjoy “Ossie and the Babe.”

Gary Livacari

“Ossie and the Babe” is available on David Beattie’s web site 

Photo Credits: All from Google search

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