Several events from the life of George Herman “Babe” Ruth had a connection to Britain, and two are dealt with here. The first is the “Bellyache Heard Round the World”. This was a bout of illness suffered by the Bambino during spring training of 1925; this was later diagnosed as an intestinal abscess. Much thought has been put into the “bellyache” component of the incident’s moniker. At the time it was claimed that excessive consumption of hot dogs and soda pops was to blame. More recently, it has been publicly speculated that gonorrhoea was in fact the cause.
Less consideration has been given to the “Round the World” part of the label. Studying the New York Times of the days immediately following the Babe’s illness reveals that an overblown version of the story reached the London newsdesks. The capital’s press featured a story that Ruth had died (more than 23 years too early).
The second link between the Sultan of Swat and Britain comes 10 years later. His major league playing career finished in 1935, and he set about looking for a managerial post to extend his involvement in the game. One of the offers being mulled over by Christy Walsh, the Babe’s agent, was a coaching role in the British league. According to Walsh, “Ruth would think the matter over before trying to wean the youth of England from cricket and rugby.”
If you have an interesting history snippet to share with a link to Britain then please send a message to Joe Gray through the Get in contact page.
