When Ruth, who hit a three-run homer in the first inning, went to the plate in the fifth inning, he was being ripped unmercifully by the bench jockeys in the Cubs dugout and in the stands. Ruth had fallen down in the fourth inning while attempting to make a shoe-string catch in right field, allowing the Cubs to tie the score.

     Ruth was a villain to the Chicago populace - not only was he the chief source of the  power and the glory of the mighty Yankees, but he had also had spoken unkindly toward the Cubs' organization. In addition, emotions were running high because of Joe McCarthy - the Yankee's manager had been bounced as Cubs manager after the 1930 season, and now returned to Wrigley Field. To top it all off, the Cubs fans went after Ruth - an orphan - for his negroid features: his thick lips and curly hair. Firing racial epithets, they kept up a steady harangue.

     The Yankees had won the first two games of the Series in New York, and this game was tied 4-4 with one out in the fifth as Ruth positioned himself in the batter's box and awaited the first delivery from Cubs pitcher Charlie Root. As the crowd jeered Ruth for his misplay, he doffed his cap to them. The Bambino took a called strike. Ruth acknowledged the strike by holding up one finger of his right hand, and motioning towards the pitcher's mound.

   Then Root missed with two pitches. Another called strike followed, and the crowd roared again.  Ruth raised his fingers to let the observers know exactly what the situation was. Then Ruth seemingly gestured toward center field, as if to indicate that's where he planned to deposit Root's next pitch. Or was he merely pointing at Root? Or addressing the Cubs' bench with an exaggerated sweeping motion? Or showing one and all that he still had one strike left? Or merely acknowledging strike two - just as he had strike one - with a raised hand?

     The Chicago Tribune reported: "Babe listened to this and yelled back, apparently unannoyed. 'That's only two strikes, boys. I still have one coming,' he cried, meanwhile holding up two fingers."

     That's how the Tribune saw it: it isn't clear whether or not Ruth was "calling" his home run - gesturing towards center field - or simply motioning towards the pitcher. By now, Cubs players and fans alike were taunting the big guy; the noise level was increasing dramatically.

     Whatever the meaning of his gesture, Ruth delivered on Root's next offering. He swung viciously at the slow curve, and the ball arced toward center field and went over the wall near the base of the flagpole. It went into the space between the right-field end of the scoreboard and the permanent bleachers, one of the most prodigious homers ever struck at Wrigley.

   The blast put the Yankees ahead 5-4, and then Lou Gehrig followed with his second homer of the game on the way to a 7-5 Yankees victory. While there still remains doubt whether Babe "pointed" to center-field, there's little question his pantomime performance told the Cubs he was planning to respond to their razzing.

   The next day, it was clear that teammate Lou Gehrig - the on-deck hitter at the time - believed that Ruth had called his shot. "What do you think of the nerve of that big monkey calling his shot and getting away with it?" Gehrig asked the press next day.

   While the Yankees' first baseman had his opinion, Root wasn't buying it. "If he had (pointed to an anticipated home-run landing spot), I would have knocked him down with the next pitch," Root said to the Tribune. Ruth was content to go along with the called-shot scenario, although he never really expounded upon the matter.

   The Yankees went on to win Game 4, sweeping the Series for the third straight time. Gehrig really was the hero of the Series -  he assaulted Cubs pitching for 9 hits in 17 at-bats (.529 average), slugged three homers (2 of them in Game 3), scored nine runs and collected eight RBIs. Dickey batted .438 for the Yankees, Combs hit .375 and Joe Sewell and Ruth each finished at .333. For Ruth, the "called shot" was his last homer in World Series play.