To Air Is Human, but Babe’s the Man

One hundred years’ worth of recollections have been culled, widespread polling has been completed, the votes have been tallied, the verdict is in.

Athlete of the century?

The Los Angeles Times, for its incredible ability to leap over reality, sprint past history, punch out perspective and flatten common sense.

We win.

Because we anointed Michael Jordan.

No offense intended--well, OK, some offense intended; actually, I’m writing this on my day off because my ears are steaming--but we blew it.

Michael Jordan soaring over everyone on the cover of Wednesday’s end of the 1900s special section is like Bill Gates soaring over Gandhi.

Jordan is not the greatest; he’s only the latest.

His victory in our 14-person poll--as well as his win in ESPN’s celebrated 48-person poll--reveals more about our society than our sports.

In a world of video eye candy, we’ve lost our peripheral vision.

In an era when every tackle is celebrated by every tackler as if he is the only man on the field, we’ve taken to ignoring everyone but ourselves.

Narcissism over nostalgia. Our time is the best time, the first time, the only time. If it didn’t happen on ESPN, it didn’t happen.

Nobody should have been surprised that Michael Jordan swept most of these athlete-of-the-century polls.

But everybody should be just a little embarrassed.

The winner, clearly, should have been the guy standing underneath Jordan’s armpit on the left side of the special section’s cover.

That would be Babe Ruth.

Without Ruth’s impact on his sport and society, there might have been no stage for the guy who should have finished a close second.

That would be Jackie Robinson.

Without Robinson’s courage and grace, there would not have been the freedom of expression and increased tolerance enjoyed by the guy who should have finished third.

That would be Muhammad Ali.

Without Ali’s strength in joining the world through sport, the guy who should have finished fourth isn’t anything more than a darn good basketball player.

That would be Michael Jordan.

Don’t listen to me, listen to the greatest sportswriter of the century.

That would be Jim Murray.

Before he died, Murray voted on the ESPN Sports Century project, which was brilliantly conceived and produced in everything but the final chapter.

Don’t blame him.

On Murray’s ballot, Jordan was 15th.

When coordinating producer Mark Shapiro asked him how he could have chosen Jordan so low, Murray responded, “I’d like to see Michael Jordan try to dunk a basketball over Bill Russell.”

Case closed.

Murray’s first pick was Robinson.

His second pick was Ruth.

Either combination would have worked.

Shapiro, who spent several years with his nose stuck in sports history books while shaping the memorable series, was asked this week about his top selection.

“I haven’t said anything until now,” he said.

And . . . ?

“No question, Babe Ruth,” he said. “Had he not moved to the outfield, he would have been the best pitcher ever. If he had played football, he would have been one of the best football players ever.

“Everything he did, he did bigger and better than anyone else.”

ESPN’s criterion was only an athlete’s ability, not his effect on the landscape.

But how do you vote for an athlete of the century without that? Once you do, Ruth is a lock.

Babe Ruth not only saved a game that was in danger of collapse after the 1919 Black Sox scandal, he forever changed the way all sports were played and viewed.

He essentially invented the home run. He hit 54 in a year (1920) when the player with the second-most home runs hit 19.

He practically invented the autograph. The former street punk was one of the first athletes besieged by children with pens and paper, and the first to sign for almost all of them.

He invented pinstripes. The New York Yankees began wearing them to make him look thinner.

He invented the player agent. He hired a kid who had met Ruth by posing as a bootlegger delivery boy.

He invented the player endorsement deal. He modeled underwear at a time when the public assumed he didn’t wear any.

Babe Ruth even changed the language.

That adjective “Ruthian” is universally known as big.

The next time somebody accuses you of being out in left field, you can also thank the Babe.

When Ruth played, because he was a left-handed hitter, all the smart kids gathered in right field to catch his home run balls. The dumb ones were, well, out in left field.

Ask any World War II veteran who was stationed in the Pacific to name their athlete of the century.

When the Japanese engaged the Americans in battle, their rallying cry was, “To hell with Babe Ruth.”

He wasn’t merely a New York Yankee or a baseball player, he was a symbol for this country during a time when the country was searching for itself.

Winning six NBA championships is nice, but it doesn’t compare.

Although Michael Jordan also had a great impact on his world, nearly everything he did, either Ruth or Jackie Robinson had already done.

The difference is, Jordan did it more recently, and on TV, and that’s all that matters anymore.

“To a lot of people out there,” Shapiro said, “Babe Ruth is still just this old fat guy.”

Part of the problem is baseball itself.

The Times’ poll was well represented in other areas and included a pretty good baseball person in Ann Meyers Drysdale--she picked Jackie Robinson as No. 1--but there were no current or former Dodger or Angel employees.

A couple of those people were asked to participate, but declined, proving again that baseball continually requires direction to the big picture.

Another problem was The Times’ scoring method. As with the ESPN poll, only one point separated a first- and second-place vote. This meant that Jordan won even though he received only one first-place vote, while Muhammad Ali received six.

That said, maybe my bosses should have intervened. Maybe they should have announced the results of the poll, politely admitted that it didn’t work, and given the top spot to the Babe.

Some people might have accused us of being out in left field. A Ruthian move indeed.

Bill Plaschke can be reached at his e-mail address: [email protected].