> Did you know that Babe Ruth started out as a
>pitcher? He wasn't very good at it, but
>fortunately he had other talents.

Actually, Babe Ruth was an excellent pitcher. He pitched Boston to at least one World Series title, their last in 1918, I believe. It's just that he turned out to be an even *better* batter, so he was moved to the outfield so he could bat every day.

Tangentially, my favorite Ruth trivia question is one that most people don't get because they don't think of Ruth as having been a pitcher. It goes like this:

On June 23, 1917, Boston pitcher Ernie Shore retired 27 men without giving up a hit, a walk, or an error. He got credit for the win, but did not get credit for a perfect game (a perfect game, for all you non baseball nuts, is when a pitcher gives up no hits or walks, and his team commits no errors in a game). The reason for this is that Ernie came into the game after the starting pitcher gave up a lead-off walk to start the game, and then was ejected for arguing the fourth-ball call with the umpire. The runner he inherited got caught stealing, and Ernie retired the next 26 in order. It went down in the record book as a combined no-hitter for Ernie and the long-since-showered starting pitcher.

The "trivia" part of it is "name the starting pitcher." The answer is, of course, Babe Ruth.