Home run hitter hype

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - Babe Ruth did something on this date in 1927 no one was able to do for almost 60 years - clear the right field roof at old Comiskey Park in Chicago. Kirk Gibson did it in
in 1985, though home plate had been moved up by that time.

Babe Ruth's accomplishments (and antics) got a lot of attention back in the 1920's and 30's. He was a national sensation. How did that come about? There was no television, let alone cable, so no ESPN, CNN, Fox News, MSBNC, CNBS, etc., certainly no Internet. Radio was in its infancy; CBS radio was a year old and only in the northeast, NBC radio was launched that year. ABC wouldn't be launched for another 16 years. There was no round the clock news, weather, sports coverage. But there were newspapers. Oh, were there newspapers.

Believe it or not, there was as much hype about Babe Ruth in the 1920's as there was about Barry Bonds in 2007. Why? Because a city like New York had ten, count ‘em TEN daily newspapers in 1927. Chicago had more than a half dozen. Just about every city and town had a morning newspaper and an evening newspaper and "Extras" of both throughout the day. All of them followed the exploits of people like Babe Ruth in baseball, Red Grange in football, Bobby Jones in golf, and made them all household names.

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