Can the Internet Help Solve a Baseball Mystery?: October and Rare Film of Babe Ruth

October 11, 2009.  On this Sunday afternoon, the Boston Red Sox lost to the Los Angeles Angels, and were swept out of the American League Divisional series in three games.  In 1928, the World Series was already over, the New York Yankees having swept the St. Louis Cardinals in four games, clinching the series on October 9 with a 7-3 win in St. Louis.  Babe Ruth hit three home runs for the Yankees in the finale at Sportman's Park.  Now, a New Hampshire man going through his grandfather's home movie collection may have discovered footage of one of the two 1928 Series games in New York.

On Thursday, the New York Times ran a story about a newly found 90 second film of the Babe shot from the first base stands in the old Yankee Stadium.  Before a packed stadium, Ruth is seen playing left field, striking out and arguing with the umpire (with Lou Gehrig looking on).  Beyond that, much of the rest of the rough footage is a mystery.

Although Ruth hit .625 in the 1928 World Series as a whole, he had only six extra base hits, three of which were the home runs in Game 4 in St. Louis, and only four runs batted in, so he apparently was less than dominating in the earlier games of the Series. (By contrast, Gehrig batted .545, but had four home runs (only one of which was in the final game in St. Louis) and nine runs batted in. 

Because of various elements in the footage, such as signage in Yankee Stadium, uniforms without numbers and the Ruth-Gehrig pairing/order in the lineup, baseball archivists for Major League Baseball think the film may date from 1928.  The large crowd and the long shadows on the field suggest that the game may have occurred late in the season, possibly one of the two World Series Games played in Yankee Stadium in 1928, but  archivists cannot identify the opposing team and the Yankees had a tight pennant race at the end of the 1928 season, winning the American League pennant by only 2 1/2 games over the Athletics.

The archivists need help in filling the details.  The New York Times has the video on its sight.  In the age of the Internet, the hope seems to be that video can be seen by millions and someone may see the footage of the Babe who knows more about when it was made and the game from which it was taken.  So, Yankees fan or not, you can help solve a mystery.  If you, or someone you know, may have attended a Yankees game that season or is a devoted baseball fan, go to the New York Times article, have a look at the video and see if you can add some additional facts about this 90 seconds of celluloid of baseball history eighty years ago.  And, if you have some old baseball home movies, see if you have any footage of Babe Ruth pitching for the Boston Red Sox.  The archivists at Major League Baseball are still looking for that rarity.

Postscript:  On Sunday evening the New York Yankees completed their three game sweep of the Minnesota Twins to advance to the American League Championship against the Los Angeles Angels.

Mini-Byte: Reputation and the Internet

October 9, 2009.
This morning's email brought advance notice of an article that will appear in the upcoming issue of Warren, Gorham & Lamont's Estate Planning Journal, entitled "Protecting a Family's Good Name in the Internet Age", by Patricia M. Soldano and Michelle Jordan.  I recommend reading the article in full. Here is the opening summary:

Today, bad publicity on the Internet can quickly inflict long-term damage to a family's hard-earned reputation. This article explains how a family can manage and enhance its online good name and the legacy for which the family wishes to be recognized.

The article discusses a number of issues concerning managing and protecting the reputation of high-net worth families in the public domain of the Internet.  Examples such as Internet search (Google, Yahoo, Bing) and social networking media (Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, Shuttefly, etc.) are cited as sources for information about families and their financial and personal situations.  There is a cautionary discussion of how damaging information gets out on the Internet, including how clients and their families may unintentionally or unwittingly post information that they will later regret having made public. Tellingly, the article cautions:

. . . it is well to remember that what goes up [on the Internet] stays up and is accessible to anyone who cares to find it for little cost, or for free.

 The article contains numerous insights, including a discussion of how to manage information on the Internet and how to react and  minimize the impact of damaging or unflattering information that becomes available online.  There is discussion of recent situations, including the example of swimmer Michael Phelps' recent difficulties with his image.

Sorry, no hyperlink to the article here.  If you are a subscriber to RIA's Checkpoint service with access to the WGL Journals, look for the article online under the preview of the upcoming issue of the Estate Planning Journal.  Others can look for the article in print when the new issue comes out.

Mini-Byte: Is Your Cellphone Company "Green"?

On October 5, The New York Times Blog Green, Inc. ran a report entitled "How Green Is Your Mobile Phone Company?".  Citing a study by ABI Research, Green, Inc. reported that AT&T Wireless was the best, with Nextel not far behind, and Verizon trailing in third.  Computer and telecommunication businesses are only reported to be responsible for 2% to 3% of greenhouse gases, with mobile phone networks only producing .2% of that estimate.  Still, author Jim Witkin notes that the industry makes considerable annual expenditures on energy to power networks. AT&T's annual report notes a reduction in CO2 emissions by 207,549 metric tons in 2008, the equivalent of taking 40,000 cars off the road.