Babe Ruth's Called Shot

Babe Ruth's called shot was the home run he hit off Chicago Cubs pitcher Charlie Root in the fifth inning of Game 3 of the 1932 World Series, on October 1, 1932 at Wrigley Field. The teams had been trading insults before the game, and Chicago fans reportedly cursed and spat at Ruth and his wife as they arrived. With the score tied 4-4 and Cubs players and fans heckling him, Ruth took a strike and then made a pointing gesture; whether he pointed at center field, at Root, at the Cubs' bench or was only showing the count has never been settled.

He drove Root's next pitch, a curveball, to the deepest part of center field, and Lou Gehrig homered on the very next pitch. A reporter wrote that Ruth had "called his shot", borrowing a billiards term, and the moment became one of the signature events of baseball. The Yankees completed a four-game sweep, in what was Ruth's tenth and last World Series.