Don Bradman meeting Babe Ruth at a baseball game in New York in 1932. Source: News Corp Australia
DON Bradman and Babe Ruth would roll over in their graves. Or would they secretly enjoy it?
Having the opening of the iconic US Major League Baseball season at the Sydney Cricket Ground between the LA Dodgers and the Arizona Diamondbacks this weekend has taken sports fans back in time to the day when the greatest stars of the two sports shared the same galaxy.
The year was 1932 and Bradman and Ruth, icons of their sports, created headlines simply by sitting with each other at a baseball match in New York.
Caricature of Sir Don Bradman and Babe Ruth by artist Bill Leak. Source: News Corp Australia
"I'll try this cricket business,'' said Ruth, the legendary home run hitter who dominated his sport in the 1920s and 30s. "Maybe it's my game.
"Now why don't you put on a Yankee uniform and see what you can do against our style of pitching?'' he quipped to Bradman. "Maybe baseball is your game.''
Ruth was surprised by Bradman's small stature.
"From what they were telling me, I thought you were a husky guy. But us little fellows can hit them harder than the big ones.''
Three years later Ruth kept his promise to try cricket and faced a series of first class bowlers in a special session beside the Thames River in London, enjoying it so much he was late for a lunch appointment with his wife.
Bradman batting in the fourth Test between Australia andIndia at Adelaide Oval in 1948. Source: Supplied
Australian Test all-rounder Alan Fairfax was his coach that day and said it would take him only a fortnight to make Babe "one of the world's greatest batsmen''.
Not that he was interested. "They tell me $40 a week is top pay in cricket. I will stick with baseball,'' he said.
Ruth initially tried to stand like a cricketer at the crease but after feeling awkward went back to batting like a baseballer and clubbed the ball so hard the bat handle broke.
Even though he had never heard the terms deep mid-wicket or "cow corner'' that was where many deliveries he faced disappeared to.
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