THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Monday, February 6, 1995               TAG: 9502060157
SECTION: SPORTS                   PAGE: C2   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: BY DAVE ADDIS, STAFF WRITER 
                                             LENGTH: Medium:   54 lines

BABE GOT HIS NICKNAME AT AGE OF 19

Oddities, myths and trivia about Babe Ruth:

THE NICKNAME: Born George Herman Ruth on Feb. 6, 1895, the nickname ``Babe'' cropped up in his first pro season, because he was so young, just 19. Sportswriters dubbed him ``Bambino'' and ``The Sultan of Swat.'' Friends called him ``Jidge,'' a play on his actual first name.

DID HE CALL IT? The most famous Babe Ruth myth is whether he pointed to the fence and ``called his shot'' on a home run against the Chicago Cubs in the '32 World Series. Robert Creamer, perhaps the reigning authority on Ruth, says it didn't happen. Ruth and the Cubs' bench were jawing each other unmercifully. With two strikes, Ruth did say ``It only takes one to hit it,'' according to the Cubs' catcher. Most witnesses say he was pointing at the Cubs' dugout, not the centerfield fence. Creamer found evidence, though, that on two other occasions, in far less dramatic circumstances, Ruth did forecast home runs.

IF NOT BASEBALL ... Had Ruth washed out as a big leaguer, he likely would have been a tailor, the trade he learned at St. Mary's Industrial School for Boys, in Baltimore. His second wife, Claire, said that if a collar frayed on one of the Babe's custom-made silk shirts, he'd fix it himself on their sewing machine.

SPEAKING OF SHIRTS ... The New York Yankees' trademark pinstripe uniforms were originally designed with Ruth in mind. The vertical lines, it was hoped, would make him look slimmer.

CHEW ON THIS: The Baby Ruth candy bar was named after the daughter of President Grover Cleveland, not the ball player. When confectioners got Babe Ruth to endorse a candy bearing his name, the Curtiss Candy Co. successfully sued them for violating the Baby Ruth patent.

EXTRA, EXTRA. ... Ruth's popularity was such that any news about him set of a frenzy of media competition. At least twice, when downed with one malady or another, he was pronounced dead by newspapers in the United States and England.

BUD WAS NO. 3, TOO: Bud Metheny of Virginia Beach was the last Yankees player to wear Ruth's No. 3 jersey. George Selkirk wore it from 1934 to 1942. Metheny, who played rightfield for the Yankees from 1943 to 1946, was the last No. 3 until it was retired June 13, 1948 at Yankee Stadium.

``It was available. Whatever was available, you wore,'' said Metheny, 79, who coached baseball at Old Dominion University for more than 30 years. ``I say it went from the sublime to the ridiculous.'' MEMO: Source: ``Babe: The Legend Comes to Life,'' Robert W. Creamer. Staff

writer Tom Robinson also contributed to this report.

by CNB