Washington Post:
In the grainy footage, a giant of a man, wearing a dark baseball uniform, walks past the camera holding two bats. Another man, in a white uniform, walks just behind him. And then the two take turns whacking pitches from the left side of the plate.
From the first moment Tom Shieber saw the clip, at an exhibit on pre-World War II life at the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles, he knew those were no ordinary ballplayers. They were Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig.
And:
the video was part of a curation of items from a family-owned general store in Oregon. The video, captured by Reverend Sensho Sasaki, a Buddhist priest and amateur filmmaker, was thought to show part of a local pickup game.
What an incredible find. Ruth and Gehrig, arguably, belong on the Mount Rushmore of baseball, on the short list of all time baseball greats. Amazing to see video of them together, in the height of their prime.
Neat! Looks pretty late in the Babe’s career: near the end of the clip, see him jog lightly to first after hitting a pitch, touching the bag, and a runner coming in to take his place.
This looks like one of their barnstorming tours, featuring the Bustin’ Babes and the Larrupin’ Lous all star teams.
I get a kick out of watching Gehrig follow through with such torque he practically screws himself into the ground.
But the Babe…his swing seems so effortless. And he’s got an almost delicate way of standing in the box…way back in the box, crouched a little bit, peering over his shoulder a little…and the way he holds that bat seems almost gingerly, very relaxed. And then he swings and that whole body drives forward in the box and uncurls. Really neat to watch.
Wow. I’ve watched it 5 times already.
I really love the Babe Ruth trot.