Talk:Babe Ruth

Please Make Correction

Babe Ruth’s birthplace, now a museum, is located in the Ridgely’s Delight neighborhood. While this used to be part of Pigtown, it became Ridgely’s Delight when Martin Luther King Blvd. was built and separated it from the rest of Pigtown. If tourists read the article and start looking for Pigtown, they will get lost and might end up in an area where it’s unsafe to be. Baltojo (talk) 02:00, 14 February 2024 (UTC)

I would think that Google maps would be their friend, and really, would baseball tourists do anything else but go directly west from the Inner Harbor area to the museum? Wehwalt (talk) 03:54, 14 February 2024 (UTC)

Having volunteered there, I can assure you that plenty of people got lost because it is not on a main road. In addition, if you are coming down MLK Blvd. and head west toward Pigtown, you will be going the wrong way. Regardless, the information is incorrect as presented. Baltojo (talk) 09:13, 14 February 2024 (UTC)

I changed the phrasing to "in what is now called Ridgely's Delight" as this is the most accurate and lines up with the information on the Ridgely's Delight wiki page. Pjk645 (talk) 19:31, 20 May 2024 (UTC)

I'm changing it back, since we should reflect what it was called at the time rather than what it's called now. – Muboshgu (talk) 19:33, 20 May 2024 (UTC)

It should reflect its current location. It’s common sense. It was correct as Pjk645 wrote it or you can say “in Ridgely’s Delight, which was part of Pigtown at the time.” Baltojo (talk) 12:48, 21 May 2024 (UTC)

Perhaps a footnote might be the best way to go? Wehwalt (talk) 13:05, 21 May 2024 (UTC)

+ 1 on this idea. Just having it say Pigtown without mentioning that it is no longer considered Pigtown makes it too confusing, especially if people are trying to visit the museum Pjk645 (talk) 19:16, 21 May 2024 (UTC)

I'm bumping this. Why are we insisting on not giving more information here? Baltojo's suggestion makes total sense. Pjk645 (talk) 16:00, 5 June 2024 (UTC)

Were you agreeing with my suggestion for a footnote as well? That seems to be the obvious way of handling it without bogging down the text. Wehwalt (talk) 16:16, 5 June 2024 (UTC)

It's not clear to me which part would be in the main text, and which in the footnote. My suggestion would be to use the language of the time in the main text, and have a footnote explaining what it is today. --Tryptofish (talk) 21:21, 5 June 2024 (UTC)

That was my thought, Tryptofish. Wehwalt (talk) 21:55, 5 June 2024 (UTC)

I'd prefer something like: “in Ridgely’s Delight, which was part of Pigtown at the time” but I'll take a footnote about the discrepancy if that is all I can get. Pjk645 (talk) 00:02, 6 June 2024 (UTC)

OK. I need a high-quality WP:RS to source whatever we put in the footnote. Wehwalt (talk) 00:12, 6 June 2024 (UTC)

Bat size

MorganDWright's addition of repetitive information about Ruth's bat size in the lead section seems excessive. I put a quote box with what Ruth said in the career section, I'm not even convinced that's necessary, but I'm willing to agree as a compromise. Wehwalt (talk) 16:46, 5 July 2024 (UTC)

That looks fine. All that matter is there's a reliable reference to the 54 ounce (and later 46 ounce) bat online to point to, because people are still debating it endlessly and finding no way to verify it one way or the other, besides these rare books that Ruth wrote in the 1920s that cost hundreds of dollars if you can find them. Modern pro batters use an average bat of 34 to 36 inches length and roughly 34 ounces. Ruth used the biggest bat in baseball history, which everybody agrees on, but debate the actual numbers and disagree widely.MorganDWright (talk) 00:25, 6 July 2024 (UTC)

Ruth is such a massive force in baseball history that any explanation of how he "did what he did", especially from his own words, seems important for the page. Thanks Wehwalt for the addition, to MorganDWright for bringing the information to Wikipedia and, most important, kept at it even with questions as to page presence (and no, it wasn't lead worthy). I've said that Ruth is the most underrated player in baseball history, in some ways well-researched book The Year Babe Ruth Hit 104 Home Runs covers some of this. Randy Kryn (talk) 00:47, 6 July 2024 (UTC)

Ruth's nicknames and unnecessary repetition of ugly nickname

It's mentioned in Early Life that Ruth's nickname was "Niggerlips".

It's then mentioned again under "Under Boston Red Sox":

"His teammates nicknamed him "the Big Baboon", a name the swarthy Ruth, who had disliked the nickname "Niggerlips" at St. Mary's, detested."

Why does the author bring up the ugly childhood nickname again here? Does the author assume that Big Baboon was a racist nickname, or was it simply a reference to Ruth's size and swagger? Does the source make it clear what the "Big Baboon" was in reference to? If not, no reason for this article to make the leap and connect the two.

The second mention of the childhood name here seems unnecessary without more context. 2600:6C44:39F0:8BA0:1579:E572:2AD2:DBB4 (talk) 19:02, 27 August 2024 (UTC)

You seem to use "author" to mean the Wikipedia article. It is unimportant who wrote that text, what is important is that it is footnoted to Leigh Montville's bio of Ruth. The relevant text in that book describes the "Big Baboon" nickname as "not a term of endearment, it was more like another statement about his mixed-race features, a cousin to Nigger Lips". And he describes it as being said to upset Ruth, who challenged one of the sayers to a fight. Wehwalt (talk) 14:37, 28 August 2024 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 29 August 2024

Change Ruth married actress and model Claire Merritt Hodgson (1897–1976) to

Ruth married actress and model Claire Merritt Hodgson (1900–1976)

Proof: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claire_Merritt_Ruth 87.97.10.107 (talk) 14:24, 29 August 2024 (UTC)

 Done PianoDan (talk) 20:42, 30 August 2024 (UTC)

Frazee

@Wehwalt: What do you feel is the relevance of this material to this particular article? Nikkimaria (talk) 02:19, 9 November 2024 (UTC)

The question of why Frazer needed the money is commonly discussed with respect to the sale of Babe Ruth. Why do you think it is not? The material was in the article at the FAC and has been there for ten years. While that's not a bar to removal, outside sources consider it relevant to the discussion, see for example the SABR article on Frazee, here. Wehwalt (talk) 02:24, 9 November 2024 (UTC)

In an article on Frazee, discussion of Frazee's theatrical career would be appropriate - but this is not such an article. The corresponding SABR article on Ruth, for example, doesn't discuss it. Nikkimaria (talk) 02:31, 9 November 2024 (UTC)

But as the material in the article makes clear, Ruth's biographers do discuss the reasons Frazee sold Ruth, and the legends that have grown up around the sale. Wehwalt (talk) 02:35, 9 November 2024 (UTC)

Also see, this book, on the Ruth sale, which devotes space to a discussion of the Nanette legend. Wehwalt (talk) 02:37, 9 November 2024 (UTC)

A full-length biography - never mind a full-length book on the single transaction! - has considerably more space for digression. Here, a preceding paragraph summarizes several financial pressures, and a single sentence on Nanette could be added there; that would be more appropriate than a full additional paragraph. Nikkimaria (talk) 02:48, 9 November 2024 (UTC)

Instead, I've removed the rather long opening sentence from the paragraph in question. This leaves the Nanette, which in my view is famous enough that the reader may be expecting it, but shortens it overall. Wehwalt (talk) 12:23, 9 November 2024 (UTC)

I've moved a condensed version of that up into the preceding paragraph. Nikkimaria (talk) 04:05, 10 November 2024 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 27 December 2024

I would like to add babe Ruth’s Carter record in ops which was 1.164 and I found this out by looking up ops career record and Wikipedia said that he had a 1.164 ops which is still the record today<List of career achievements by Babe Ruth ref>72.69.81.70 (talk) 04:24, 27 December 2024 (UTC)</ref> 72.69.81.70 (talk) 04:24, 27 December 2024 (UTC)

 Not done: it's not clear what changes you want to be made. Please mention the specific changes in a "change X to Y" format and provide a reliable source if appropriate. Ultraodan (talk) 04:21, 28 December 2024 (UTC)