I managed to come down with a bad case of bronchitis Halloween weekend and only Sunday past did I start feeling somewhat human again. While laying around the house I had a lot of time to watch TV. I watched Ken Burns's documentary "Baseball". The thing is I am not what you would call a fan of Ken Burns. I've tried to watch his "Civil War" film but just can't do it. I figured though that with what should be a unpolitical (to a degree) topic maybe the pictures alone would be worth seeing. I was surprised to see Shelby Foote make many appearances as I did not realize what a fan and historian of he game he was.

I want to say that even in the subject of Baseball Mr. Burns flat out told some fibs. For example... Leo Durocher was being interviewed once about the competiton and he gave his opinion of each team. When it came to the Giants, a team he had many friends playing on he said simply... "Nice guys, finish last". The correct meaning is well known to every low level amateur baseball historian. "They are nice guys but will finish last in the standings" is what was meant. It is a well known urban legend yet Burns had the narrator tell the myth like it was the story of the Gospels. Says, a lot about whether or not he promotes agendas.

Anyway, Shelby Foote tells a story of going to a hotel room, if I recall correctly in Jackson, Mississippi, when the New York Yankees were in town for spring training. He went to the hotel and actually was told what room Ruth was in and went up and knocked. A man opened the door and asked what he wanted. He told him he wanted Babe Ruth's autograph. The man turned and around and said... "Hey Babe...."

Ruth was indeed in the room and came out and spoke and signed a autograph on a baseball for him. Mr. Foote said it was only later he came to realize that the man who opened the door and got Babe Ruth to come out was actually Lou Gherig, the "Iron Horse" himself.

While this isn't related to the war I thought our Shelby Foote fans would get a kick out of this.