Four-alarm fire burns St. Louis museum that holds historic manuscripts

[Steve]

For history lovers and researchers, a very distressing news story:

https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metr...da9ee.html

[Eva Elisabeth]

Somehow we get banned...similar the Gutenberg project website, we cannot access it anymore (but that due to a copyright lawsuit).
   
Basically I am much in favor of data protection online, just I don't think that regulation really does it (it just makes me more aware of that I am spied and evaluated all the time...).

[Steve]

Eva, I don't know why you'd be blocked from a news story. Here's a version of the story from the UPI:

https://www.upi.com/4-alarm-fire-torches...553705913/

[Eva Elisabeth]

Thanks, Steve. The EU has a new law on data protection that also goes for websites. This site didn't want to obey data protection requirements, so no access anywhere in EU.

"Other historical items at the museum include the Gutenburg Bible, the Confederate Constitution, a map from the Spanish Armada, Babe Ruth's first baseball contract, the first draft of the Bill of Rights and Christopher Columbus' handwritten letter describing the coasts of America."

(Within this awesome historical items, who is Babe Ruth?? ?)

[RJNorton]

(Within this awesome historical items, who is Babe Ruth?? ?)

Many consider him to be the greatest baseball player of all time. I have seen his statistics both as a pitcher and as a hitter, and no one that I know of had this combination of abilities as did Babe Ruth.

[Rsmyth]

Roger, I agree, no one had a combination like those stats, but as for the greatest? I will throw Wiliie Mays name into the hat. One season he led the league in both home runs and stolen bases. And his fielding abilities in the outfield are still talked about.

[davg2000]

(Within this awesome historical items, who is Babe Ruth?? ?)

Many consider him to be the greatest baseball player of all time. I have seen his statistics both as a pitcher and as a hitter, and no one that I know of had this combination of abilities as did Babe Ruth.

I don’t think it’s possible to overstate the significance of Babe Ruth. He was hugely important in saving baseball from the 1919 Black Sox scandal, which might have bred cynicism toward baseball, and maybe all professional sports. Ruth helped people love baseball. In 1920, his first year as a New York Yankee, he hit 54 home runs, batted .376, and had 135 rbi’s! And he followed that performance with year after year of excellent baseball. People who didn’t follow baseball followed Babe Ruth. Even in 1934, his final year as a Yankee, and his next-to-last year in baseball, Ruth hit 22 home runs, batted .288, and had 84 rbi’s. Someone with those stats today would make a pretty good living. Robert Creamer, Ruth’s biographer, said of him, “He was the best baseball player who ever lived….There’s never been anyone else like him.”

[Rogerm]

There are a few people who think that a Georgian named Ty Cobb was baseball's greatest player. He had a lifetime batting average of .367 and hit over .400 three times in his career. For many decades, he also had the record for the most stolen bases in his career; a record which has since been surpassed by a couple of players. However, Babe Ruth, himself, once hit .390 in a season; and had had a lifetime batting average of at least .340. So, if he hadn't swung for the fences all the time; and had just tried to get hits, the way Ty Cobb did, he might have had a similar lifetime batting average. Also, if Babe Ruth had remained a pitcher, he probably would have performed well enough at that position to be nominated to the Baseball Hall of Fame. So, from the point of view of talent, he probably was the greatest baseball player of all time.

[L Verge]

And, let's not overlook that "the Babe" (George Herman Ruth, Jr.) was a native of Baltimore, Maryland, born and raised in the Pigtown section of south Baltimore - so named because it was close to the B&O Railroad where pigs from the Midwest were brought for slaughter and meat packing as well as butcher shops in the area. Babe also was taken away from his parents at an early age and educated at St. Mary's Reformatory, run by the Xaverian Brothers. His disciplinarian there was very good at baseball, and that's how the Babe got started. There is a museum in Baltimore dedicated to his life and career.

[Eva Elisabeth]

Thanks, got it - the Pelé of baseball...

[Steve]

Who's Pele?

[Eva Elisabeth]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pel%C3%A9

[L Verge]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pel%C3%A9

Steve - unless you are just teasing Eva about not knowing who Pele is, be careful and remember that the term "football" in this case means "soccer" to most U.S. folks.