Well, let me tell ya’ll about this fella, Babe Ruth. Big fella, he was. Strong as an ox, they say. Hit them baseballs a country mile. But even strong fellas, they ain’t immune to nothin’. Life’s like that, ya’ know? One minute you’re hittin’ home runs, the next… well, let me tell ya’ about it.
This Babe Ruth, bless his heart, he got sick. Real sick. Started with a pain, right over his eye, it did. And he couldn’t swallow right, neither. Went to the doctors in the big city, New York, they call it. Them doctors poked and prodded, and what they found weren’t good. A big ol’ somethin’, a tumor they called it, at the base of his skull. Inoperable, they said. That means they couldn’t just cut it out, ya’ see.
Now, this was back in the 1940s. Medicine weren’t like it is today. They tried all sorts of things on him. Hormone stuff, operations, even somethin’ called radiation and chemotherapy. Fancy words for poisonin’ the bad stuff out, I reckon. Babe, he was one of the first to get that kind of treatment. Poor fella.
They fought hard, him and them doctors. Fought tooth and nail for two long years, they did. But that cancer, it was a mean one. A throat cancer, it was. Just wouldn’t let go. And that Babe Ruth, he got weaker and weaker.
- Pain over his left eye
- Trouble swallowing
- A big ol’ tumor at the base of his skull
- Lots of treatments, but nothin’ worked
Folks say he had that powerful swing, set all sorts of records. But cancer, it don’t care about no records. It just keeps on comin’. And on August 16, 1948, well, that’s when Babe Ruth finally lost his fight. Passed on, he did, from that throat cancer.
The funeral, Lord, it was a big to-do. Folks came from all over to pay their respects. They had him laid out at that Yankee Stadium, where he played ball. Thousands went to see him, say their goodbyes. Then they took him to St. Patrick’s Cathedral, a big, fancy church. Three days it lasted, the whole thing. Shows ya’ how much folks loved him, this Babe Ruth.
They even made a movie about him, “The Babe Ruth Story.” I ain’t never seen it myself, but I heard tell there’s a scene where he’s at the doctors, gettin’ treated. Sad, I bet. But that’s life, ain’t it? Full of ups and downs, just like that baseball he hit so high up in the air.
So that’s the story, how that Babe Ruth, that strong, powerful fella, died from cancer. He fought hard, but in the end, it got him. It’s a reminder, ya’ know, that we ain’t here forever. Gotta make the most of it, while we can. Just like Babe, hittin’ them home runs while he could.
It’s a sad story, but it’s part of history. And it’s important to remember, even the big fellas, they ain’t invincible. Cancer, well, it don’t discriminate. It just comes, and we gotta do our best to fight it. Just like Babe did. He mighta’ lost the fight in the end, but he sure put up a heck of a battle, that Babe Ruth did.
Now, some folks they say he was a hero. Hit them balls so far, nobody else could. But sick or strong, we’re all just people in the end, tryin’ to live our lives best we can.
Tags：Babe Ruth, Death, Cancer, Throat Cancer, Baseball, 1948, Funeral, Yankee Stadium, St. Patricks Cathedral, Illness
