Roger Snell book debunks Babe Ruth myth

Regina Brett is not the only former BJ staffer to win the Bar Association’s Silver Gavel award.

Roger Snell, won a number of awards throughout his 18-year newspaper career,

Snell's investigations of ethical abuses on the Ohio Supreme Court won him the American Bar Association’s top national journalism award in 1992, the Silver Gavel.

The Ohio Academy of Trial Lawyers named Snell the Ohio Reporter of the Year in 1992 and 1993, the only reporter ever to win in consecutive years.

Snell, 50, lives in Frankfort, Ky., with his wife Linda and daughters Rachel and Hannah and administers a marketing program called Kentucky Proud that helps farmers transition away from tobacco and find retail markets for alternative crops such as fruits, vegetables and more.

Snell's lifelong baseball passion is reflected in his book “Root for the Cubs: Charlie Root & the 1929 Cubs,”

Before Snell began doing research for his upcoming book “he believed the story.

You know, the one where Hall of Fame slugger Babe Ruth supposedly called what would become his final career home run during the 1932 World Series?

While it’s true that Middletown-born pitcher Charlie Root of the Cubs had served up the fateful home run, his family and many others argue that there wasn’t a called shot by the Sultan of Swat at all.

Snell said researching the book changed his opinion of the famous called shot.

“Anyone who has heard of Charlie Root, well, you just accepted that he was the answer to a trivia question as the pitcher who gave up Ruth’s called shot, but it’s simply not true,” Snell said.

Aside from the compelling look into the 1929 Cubs team and how it earned its trip to the World Series, the book gives personal accounts from Ruth, Cubs catcher Gabby Hartnett and Root dispelling the idea that the Mighty Bambino had called the home run three years later in the ’32 Series.

The fable has it that Ruth, with two strikes against him, pointed to the center field stands moments before hitting a solo home run off Root. Snell’s research suggests otherwise.
The book is published by Wind Publications, an independent small press located in Nicholasville, KY.