Linda Hebert Todd

Author - Westlake, Louisiana

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The Day The Cajun Kid Struck Out The Babe

February 29, 2016 By Linda H. Todd 5 Comments

“My daddy struck out Babe Ruth,” my younger self would tell someone at school.

“Yeah, and mine beat up Superman,” or some other retort that would invariably be forthcoming.

GranddaddyI would plod home and tell my mother no one believed me when I talked about my dad’s baseball exploits. She would drag out the box full of newspaper clippings spanning his fourteen year career playing the game he loved. Out would come a yellowed clipping describing the feat.

It was the rookie season for Wally Hebert, “the brilliant young southpaw from the bayou.” In early June, 1931, he made his big league debut—a short but effective relief appearance before a crowd of 40,000 in Yankee Stadium. He finished his warm-ups and faced his first batter—Babe Ruth, the Bambino himself. The yellowed clipping described the third strike graphically. Ruth went down swinging, “spun around like an April top,” missing the ball by a foot.

My dad also fanned Lou Gehrig and Ruth in the same inning, and got Ruth in three straight appearances. Ruth also hit into a double play, and as he was running back to the dugout, in typical Ruth fashion, he yelled, “You can stick that slow curve right up your . . . .” Well, you get the gist, I’m sure.

After that, Daddy knew how to pitch to him. Ruth loved fast balls right over the plate. None of that from my dad—just the slow wiggly stuff. According to him, Ruth never hit a homer off of him. Being a lefty, he had good luck with left-handed batters.

I would take the clipping to school and show it around. No more snide remarks about beating up Superman. I’m not sure about my brothers, but my sister, Hillene, had to do the same thing with the clipping. It’s a wonder it survived our school years.

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Comments

  1. Debbie says

    February 29, 2016 at 8:59 am

    Love that story about your dad! They should make a movie about him and his love of family over his love of baseball.

    Reply
  2. Katy Reeves says

    February 29, 2016 at 12:23 pm

    I LOVE this story!!! I remember playing ball in the field on the corner with Granddaddy and the Deaton cousins–thanks Mama for an irreplaceable childhood full of sweet memories! I really enjoy all of your stories and so do most everyone in my facebook newsfeed!

    Reply
  3. Micki Todd says

    February 29, 2016 at 3:53 pm

    I never knew he struck out Babe and Gehrig in the same inning…go Granddaddy!

    Reply
  4. Marcia Dutton says

    March 21, 2016 at 4:15 pm

    Finally got around to reading your website and enjoyed it immensely. Thrilled with your book coming out and look forward to reading it. Glad you will have another one soon.

    Reply
  5. Linda H. Todd says

    March 21, 2016 at 6:26 pm

    Thanks, Marcia. Glad you enjoyed it.

    Reply

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About Linda

Linda Hebert ToddLinda has completed her novel—Wild Justice, a crime story with a revenge theme, and has started another one set in Labrador and Louisiana. She writes all her stories in longhand, bringing to life the beautiful bayous of south Louisiana. Read more...

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Linda Hebert Todd, Author, Westlake, LA - Mystery Novel
Mystery Novel

Wild Justice

By Linda Hebert Todd

Keeley Chesson, a crime reporter for a city newspaper, is orphaned at age fourteen, courtesy of a sheriff's deputy who killed her parents and got away with it. Now, fourteen years later, the deaths of her parents still a mystery and the deputy now her town's police chief, tragedy again rocks her…

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Short Stories

Sidonie and the Loup-Garou and Other Stories from the Bayou

By Linda Hebert Todd

The short fiction in this book introduces the reader to an interesting assortment of characters. The lead story—Sidonie and the Loup-Garou—features a high school girl who learns it is a good idea to heed the warnings of her Cajun grandparents. The final tale—The Ghost and Sadie Stackpoole– solves…

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