Without meaning to go off-topic, I thought I'd go down memory lane slightly with this post. As I've mentioned previously on this thread, I've very little interest in modern day baseball but have a strong interest in vintage baseball history and imagery, esp. relating to the NY Yankees and NY Giants.
Despite my fascination with the 1920s Yankees, Babe Ruth has never been one of my real sporting heroes (Lou Gehrig has always captured my imagination much more as has Phil Douglas of the Giants) but I was fortunate enough to purchase these two original photos from the archives of the Chicago Tribune this weekend.
These photos are interesting, given that they capture the man very close to his death. The first of the photos was taken at Monogram Studios in May 1948 with Ruth looking into the camera at scenes from the forthcoming Babe Ruth Story. William Bendix, who played Ruth in the movie, is also pictured. With Ruth critically ill, the movie was rushed through production so that Ruth could attend the premiere, which he did on 26th July, weeks before his death:
The second photo was taken in Baltimore in August 1948, just before his last trip to hospital where he died on 16th August. At this stage, Ruth was gaunt, ravaged by cancer and unable to speak.
Neither photo is particularly attractive, for good reason, but vividly capture the final days of a sporting icon and a true Yankees legend.