(1948) Babe Ruth Bows Out

Babe Ruth Bows Out also known as The Babe Bows Out is a 1948 photograph of Major League Baseball player Babe Ruth. The 1948 image was captured by New York Herald Tribune photographer Nathaniel Fein in The Bronx, New York at Yankee Stadium. The image won the 1949 Pulitzer Prize for Photography.

Babe Ruth was photographed with his back turned away from the camera: he was sick at the time and leaning on a baseball bat for support. The New York Yankees were honoring Ruth by retiring his jersey number. The image did not show Ruth's face; instead it showed his frailty from his battle with throat cancer and his number three jersey.

Background

On June 13, 1948, baseball player Babe Ruth was in Yankee Stadium for his final appearance.[1] Yankee Stadium was often referred to as "The house that Ruth built".[2] When Ruth came out of the dugout a band was present and they played the song Auld Lang Syne.[1] One of the sports photographers who was to attend the ceremony phoned in sick so Nat Fein was told that morning, that he would need to cover the event. Fein normally captured human-interest images and only occasionally photographed sporting events.[3]

Many photographers from other news agencies were present but Nathaniel Fein moved away from the others and positioned himself behind Ruth to capture his jersey number three which the team was retiring. Even though the day was overcast Fein took the photo without a flash. He opened the aperture on his camera to 5.6 and set the shutter speed at 1/25. New York Herald Tribune Sports editor Arthur Glass selected the image from the photos that Fein took that day.[1] The image was first published on June 14, 1948 in the New York Herald Tribune.[4] The last time Ruth played for the Yankees was on September 30, 1934.[5]

Description

Ruth's New York Yankees retired number 3

There were 49,641 fans at Yankee Stadium to watch the Babe Ruth number retirement ceremony on June 13, 1948.[4] Ruth did not appear to be healthy at the retirement ceremony. He came out of the dugout using his baseball bat as a cane, and stood alone on the field just in front of home plate.[6][7] He waved his cap and then Ruth spoke into a microphone and said, "This makes me feel proud. It makes me feel good".[4] The image captured by Fein showed Ruth from the back as he stepped forward. Babe Ruth had been sick.[1] His legs looked thin as he stood before the crowd and he leaned on a baseball bat.[8] Fein managed to capture the frailty of Babe Ruth. In the image, Ruth is in focus and while he is surrounded by items that a viewer may recognize, those other things do not distract from Ruth.[3]

Fein said, "I saw Ruth standing there with his uniform number three, the number that would be retired, and knew that was the shot".[7] The angle of the image captured Ruth's weakness by revealing the tilt of his back.[9][2] Fein said of the image composition, "You didn't need to see the Babe's face to recognize him. You'd recognize his great hulk and spindly legs anyplace".[10] Ruth had last played in the league in 1935 for the Boston Braves.[11]

Reception

The image won the 1949 Pulitzer Prize for Photography.[12] It was the first sports related photo to win a Pulitzer prize. An Associated Press photographer had captured an image which was almost the same as Fein's but the image was never submitted to the Pulitzer Jury.[4]

The image is in Cooperstown, New York at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.[1] It was also displayed at the Smithsonian Institution.[3] Fein sent a copy of the image to Babe Ruth asking him to autograph it but Ruth did not respond.[13] Two months after the image was taken, Ruth died of throat cancer.[9][14]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Faber, John (1 January 1978). Great News Photos and the Stories Behind Them. North Chelmsford, Massachusetts: Courier Corporation. ISBN 978-0-486-23667-4. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
  2. 1 2 Phillips, Thomas D. (23 August 2012). Touching All the Bases: Baseball in 101 Fascinating Stories. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press. p. 69. ISBN 978-0-8108-8552-3. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
  3. 1 2 3 Pitoniak, Scott. "Back to Babe: The Nat Fein photo". baseballhall.org. National Baseball Hall of Fame. Retrieved 3 January 2024.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Fischer3, Heinz Dietrich (2020). Ambitious Newspaper Sports Journalism: Pulitzer Prize Winning Articles, Cartoons and Photos. Berlin, Germany: Lit Verlag. ISBN 978-3-643-96258-4. Retrieved 31 December 2023.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  5. ↑ "Babe Ruth Bows Out Gracefully as Yankee". The Times Leader. Associated Press. 1 October 1934. p. 19. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
  6. ↑ Obenauer, Eric (12 January 2000). "A Veteran Newsman Recalls a Yankee Legend". Pascack Valley Community Life. Pascack Valley Community Life. pp. A3. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
  7. 1 2 Fischer, Heinz-Dietrich (2015). Key Images of American Life: Pulitzer Prize Winning Pictures. Berlin, Germany: LIT Verlag Münster. p. 20. ISBN 978-3-643-90518-5. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
  8. ↑ Time 100 Photographs: The Most Influential Images Of All Time. New York, New Yok: Time Inc. Books. 19 October 2016. p. 175. ISBN 978-1-61893-508-3. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
  9. 1 2 Ryan, Christian (7 September 2017). Feeling is the Thing that Happens in 1000th of a Second. London, England: Quercus Publishing. p. 222. ISBN 978-1-78648-681-3. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
  10. ↑ Walsh, James (3 December 1978). "Famous Photographer Puts the Past in Focus". The Journal News. The Journal News. p. 61. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
  11. ↑ Goodman, Michael E. (July 2007). The Story of the Atlanta Braves. Mankato, Minnesota: The Creative Company. pp. 13, 14. ISBN 978-1-58341-479-8. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
  12. ↑ "Pulitzer Prize". The Vancouver Sun. Associated Press. 3 May 1949. p. 5. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
  13. ↑ Goldstein, Richard (29 September 2000). "Nat Fein, 86, Pulitzer Winner For Picture of Ruth's Final Bow". New York Times. Retrieved 3 January 2024.
  14. ↑ "Former Yankee Star Passes Away in Sleep". The Baltimore Sun. Associated Press. 17 August 1948. p. 1. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
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