Except when there is, like over this article BatDad sent on from the New York Times on April 27, 1947--the day that baseball celebrated Babe Ruth Day. The whole thing is worth reading, but here's an excerpt:

A bit unsteady at the outset, the Babe, in a raspy voice that obviously had been weakened by recent serious operations, dwelt principally on the youth of the land. Ruth's main interest now is the American Legion baseball program, for which he has been signed as a consultant, and it was to the boys that he directed his talk.

"Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen," he began. "You know how bad my voice sounds. Well, it feels just as bad. You know this baseball game of ours comes up from the youth. That means the boys. And after you've been a boy, and grow up to know how to play ball, then you come to the boys you see representing themselves today in our national pastime."

Now the Babe's big smile was visible to everyone. Still a very sick man, he emphasized his remarks with a clenched fist and a wave of the hand.

"The only real game in the world, I think, is baseball," he continued. "As a rule, some people think if you give them a football or a baseball or something like that, naturally, they're athletes right away. But you can't do that in baseball. You've gotta start from way down the bottom, when you're 6 or 7 years old. You can't wait until you're 15 or 16. You've gotta let it grow up with you, and if you're successful and you try hard enough, you're bound to come out on top, just like these boys have come to the top now.

"There's been so many lovely things said about me, I'm glad I had the opportunity to thank everybody. Thank you."

Posted by Batgirl at April 27, 2004 01:46 PM