A Pointed Question Still Unanswered

It was 60 years ago last Thursday that Babe Ruth reportedly called his home run shot, during the third game of the 1932 World Series at Chicago’s Wrigley Field, and broke a 4-4 tie.

The New York Yankees went on to sweep the Cubs in Ruth’s 10th and last Series.

The legend goes that before the homer--his second of the game--Ruth pointed to the center-field bleachers, indicating where he would hit the ball.

Some debunk the story.

“It never happened,” said Jerome Holtzman, a Hall of Fame baseball writer for the Chicago Tribune. “I’ve done a lot of research into this.”

Eddie Gold, a sports historian with the Chicago Sun-Times, said no photo exists of Ruth pointing, and only one newspaperman reported the alleged gesture.

Ruth always insisted that he pointed.

Trivia time: Who holds the NFL record for touchdowns in a career?

Superman? Eric Lindros is only a rookie with the Philadelphia Flyers, but expectations are such that he is destined to be another Wayne Gretzky--or better.

“Lindros is 19 and looks as if he could be on the cover of GQ magazine. . . . He can skate around many and over nearly every player in this league,” writes Dave Sell of the Washington Post.

“With a mean streak wrapped around the flesh on the 6-foot-5, 233-pound frame, he probably will hurt more people with checks and punches than will ever hurt him, while scoring more goals and registering many more points than most who are likely to try.”

Ouch: From Tom FitzGerald of the San Francisco Chronicle: “Now that the Raiders are 0-4, maybe Al Davis’ new motto should be: ‘Just Win One (Baby).’ ”

X marks the spot: Xavier McDaniel, the former New York Knick forward now with the Boston Celtics, is eager for the first meeting between the teams Nov. 14 in New York.

“I’ve got that one marked down,” McDaniel told the Boston Globe. “I’ve already told (Patrick Ewing) he better be ready, because there’s going to be some bloodshed.”

Come again?Headline in the Washington Post: “Bulldogs Run Over Trojans.” No, Georgia didn’t beat USC.

Bowie State of Maryland beat Virginia State, 28-14.

Plea for relief: Pro golfer Jay Haas: “The way things have been going lately, I might want Dennis Eckersley to finish up for me.”

Trashing the “Stick”: Don Sutton, the former Dodger pitcher and now an announcer for the Atlanta Braves, on the apparent move of the San Francisco Giants to St. Petersburg, Fla.:

“The city of San Francisco deserves a baseball team, but Candlestick Park does not deserve a baseball team,” Sutton told Art Spander of the San Francisco Examiner. “This is the worst park in the league.”

Used to losing: “Chances are, the NFL is going to continue to lose every lawsuit the players file,” writes Tony Kornheiser of the Washington Post. “The NFL always loses in court. The NFL is the Red Klotz of jurisprudence.”

Trivia answer: Walter Payton of the Chicago Bears with 110 from 1975 to 1987.

Quotebook: Washington Redskin linebacker Monte Coleman on the Super Bowl champion team’s 2-1 NFL record: “It’s not a cause for panic right now, but it is a cause for urgency.”