A Swing and a Cure
A Swing and a Cure
The Sultan of Aphelion
July 9, 2020
60 in 60
Babe Ruth steps up to bat in a quiet Comiskey Park. The ballpark on the South Side of Chicago is empty because fans are not allowed in for fear of spreading COVID-19, a deadly virus that has infected more than 12,000,000 people across the globe, killing 554,000, including 133,287 Americans.
The virus did not exist a year ago and there is still no vaccine.
Sportswriters sit in the press box wearing masks as Babe Ruth takes a few practice swings then steps into the batter’s box to face White Sox right-hander Lucas Giolito.
Ruth swings and misses at Giolito’s first pitch, a fastball outside and the cardboard cutouts of White Sox fans—which include the likeness of Cleopatra and all the members of Naked Raygun—smile.
Giolito’s next pitch is a mistake. It’s a slider that doesn’t slide but instead hangs over the inside of the plate and Ruth turns on it and crushes it into Comiskey’s right field upper deck and the Yankees have a 1-0 lead. Ruth trots around the bases in silence and then, as he touches home plate, whispers one word into the arid Chicago summer night. “Aphelion.”
Babe goes back into the Yankees’ dugout. It’s the first of sixty home runs he will hit this year, a home run in every game. Alas, it’s not enough as the Yankees miss the playoffs and sit home in the Bronx while the White Sox capture the American League pennant and then go on to defeat the Cincinnati Reds in what would be forever remembered as the Silent World Series.
Babe Ruth contracts COVID-19 in October and is near death by Christmas Day. But on January 13, 2021 he is asymptomatic and declared perfectly healthy. He credits his Russian doctors for saving his life and tells United Press International and also posts on Instagram that 2021 will be his best year ever.
Babe sleeps with his bat throughout the winter but does not take a swing until spring. --TK
Thursday, July 9, 2020