CHB: Don't Know Much About History ...

In his October 27 column about newer Red Sox fans, the CHB wrote the following:

The Red Sox haven't clinched a World Series at Fenway since Sept. 11, 1918 (the Series was early that year because of World War I) when Carl Mays beat the Cubs, 2-1, in Game 6. There were only 15,238 in the stands (none in Monster Seats - there was no Monster) when Les Mann hit a grounder to second baseman Dave Shean for the final out.

Babe Ruth was standing in right field scanning the stands for chicks when Shean tossed to first baseman Stuffy McInnis as Joe Castiglione bellowed, "Can you believe it?"

Actually, I made some of that up. Joe Castig wasn't really there, no proof on the Babe, and McInnis did not have the baseball authenticated to set up a college tuition fund for his kids. ...

You would think that the guy who turned the idiotic Curse into a cottage industry during the 1990s -- talk about setting up college tuition for his kids (and grandkids)! -- would know that Babe Ruth was a left fielder during his Red Sox career.

(While the CHB was not the first sportswriter to suggest that the ghost of Babe Ruth was haunting the Red Sox -- that happened towards the end of the 1986 World Series -- it is not altogether incorrect to say that he invented the Curse.)

Ruth also played first base and some center field, in addition to pitching. Hall of Famer Harry Hooper -- the team's captain in 1918 -- was in right field.

Even during his 15 seasons with the Yankees -- imagine thinking that being Babe Ruth in New York City during the Roaring '20s would be some kind of punishment that demanded some after-life spooking -- Ruth played a ton of games in left field: 857, compared to 1,127 in right.

Babe Ruth never played even one inning of right field for the Boston Red Sox. Just another example of Shaughnessy's tenuous grasp of Red Sox history.