Mar 31, 2008 7:24 pm US/Eastern
Granddaughter Wants MLB To Retire Ruth's No. 3
Linda Ruth Tosetti: 'Babe Is The Game Of Baseball Period'
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
After a rainy day, the last opening day at Yankee Stadium is scheduled for Tuesday.
It's the last one for "The House That Ruth Built," but somebody in the Babe's family is on a campaign to carry on his legacy in another way.
He is arguably the most recognizable player in Yankees History, a man with unprecedented power and one who lived life to the fullest.
Babe Ruth was truly in a class by himself. The Yankees retired his No. 3 back in 1948, but now his granddaughter, Linda Ruth Tosetti, is petitioning Major League Baseball to have the No. 3 retired throughout all of the major leagues.
She has created her own Web site – www.retirebabesnumber.com -- and has gathered hundreds of signatures, but so far MLB has no plans to do that.
"I think baseball needs Babe Ruth again," Rush Tosetti said. "They're trying to manufacture him now which is unfortunate. I think they need to be reminded of what baseball was, and it's not just show me the money.
"Another reason for Babe, he made baseball international. He brought baseball to Venezuela. He brought it to Mexico, Cuba. He barnstormed against the Negro Leagues in the 1920s."
Jackie Robinson is the only player to ever have his number -- 42 -- retired throughout all of baseball. Then again, he broke the color barrier.
So why push to retire the Babe's number? And more importantly why now?
"I do agree with Jackie being retired. He did a great thing," Ruth Tosetti said. "But I think there are other players that have done just as much or more. And actually if it weren't for my grandfather, there wouldn't be a game for Jackie to retire from or play."
One could make a strong case that Babe Ruth saved baseball after the Black Sox gambling scandal in 1919. He brought the crowds back as an original American hero, and was proclaimed the "Sultan of Swat" thanks his mammoth home runs right here at Yankee Stadium.
"Babe is the game of baseball period," Ruth Tosetti said. "He is baseball. Baseball is Babe."
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