The Babe

All right, Jack! Here we go, kid! Here we go!

Come on, boy!

No batter there. We go on, boy. Here we go! Here we go! Swing, batter!

Left field, left field!

- What's this place? - Quiet.

- Brother Paul. - Mr. Roth.

Ruth.

How old?

He's... How old are you?

I'm seven.

Seven? He's the size of an ox. He must be 10 or 11.

I'm seven!

I can't control him, Brother.

- Are you a priest? - Quiet!

He's never in school, always at the docks. He's like an animal.

And I got a business to tend to.

And my wife, she's poorly.

How long do you think...

He'll be reviewed every six months.

If he continues to be incorrigible, he stays,

until the legal age, of course.

What's in-cor-rig-ible?

Now, you're going with Brother Paul.

You got no one to blame but yourself.

Going where, Da'?

Da', help me! Da', where're you going?

Da'! Hey, Da'! Da'! Hey, Da'!

Never mind, "Hey, Da'! Hey, Da'!" Inside!

I want my mother!

If you do well, your mother can come on holidays and visiting day.

Now, inside!

Stop! Stop right there! Agh!

Hey, Da'! Hey, Da'! Don't leave me here!

"Excuse me."

"Excuse me."

Excuse me.

"Brother Mathias."

Brother Mathias.

Get up!

Inside.

Hey, fat chops! Look at fat chops.

He's doing it all wrong.

How come your mother and father didn't come on visiting day?

'Cause you're too fat and ugly?

They own a saloon, lop ears. They gotta work.

They're taking me home Christmas.

No, they ain't!

Satan finds work for idle hands.

Satan finds work for idle hands.

Satan finds work for idle hands.

Satan finds work for idle hands.

Satan finds work for idle hands.

Strike three, batsman. Back in the line.

Next!

Your turn, fat chops!

Yeah, come on, fat chops. Let's see if you can even hit the ball.

I said, next!

Hurry up, large ass!

Hey, son, pick up the stick.

He hasn't held a bat in his life.

He doesn't need a bat. He can use his stomach.

Nice miss, large ass! Try it again!

He can't even foul the ball!

Are you trying to kill it?

You're trying to hit the long ball off the great Mathias, aren't you?

Strike one.

Hey, see if you can even hit the ball.

He probably can't even make it go one inch.

Son-of-a-bitch.

- Sweet! - Whoa!

Look at that!

- Whoa! - Holy smoke!

Did you see that?

Sorry, Brother.

I'm not.

I've been waiting 30 years for St. Francis of Xavier to show me a miracle.

I think it's just arrived.

Whee!

Lord Almighty! Three home runs in one game?

Have patience, Mr. Dunn. It's only the 7th inning.

He's the size of Mount Vesuvius.

What's he doing here?

Good morning, Father.

Brother.

Brother.

Who are you, Mr. Dunn?

What do you mean when you say you have an interest in one of our boys?

I'm the Baltimore Orioles.

My business, Father, is to turn around a team that's lost its first six games

and is going down the johnny flusher real quick.

Your man, Ruth, is a real slugger.

Yes, he is. He slugged me once.

He's listed in our register as incorrigible.

Do you know what that word means, Mr. Dunn?

It means, strictly speaking,

bad beyond reform.

Good day, Mr. Dunn.

What if I were to, I don't know...

If I were to adopt him, say.

What if I were to become his legal guardian?

What if the Baltimore professional baseball franchise were to adopt him,

- take him in? - Into where?

- Orioles Park, Father! - Brother!

He pitched nine perfect blanks yesterday.

And you should have seen the ball he hit.

326 feet... We measured it.

- Landed past... - You're not listening!

We're speaking about a lad who didn't have a smoke until he was six,

didn't touch a drink until he was seven.

Didn't see his parents from the day

he was dumped off here 12 years ago!

He was abandoned, unwanted.

These words you won't find stamped there in your register.

His mother is deceased now.

His father wants no part of him.

And to be wanted is the greatest thing

that could ever happen to a boy like Jidge.

Mr. Dunn,

if we were to parole him, and you were to sign as his legal guardian...

On what grounds, Brother Mathias?

On the grounds that the Orioles have lost their first six games

and are headed right down...

What was it, Mr. Dunn, the johnny flusher?

Open them.

Brother, once again I'd like to thank you for everything.

We'll take good care of him.

Mr. Dunn.

It's okay, Jidge. Go on.

God bless.

All right, Jack! Here we go, kid! Here we go!

Smoke it by him, Jack! Come on, boy!

Hey, batter, batter, batter! Hey, batter, batter, batter, batter!

- Where did he come from? - The Orioles.

He was only there a few weeks. Harry paid Dunnie $30,000 for him.

If you ask me, he fell out of a tree like some kind of baboon.

No hitter up there!

Where'd you come from, rook?

We got a ruby out here! Come on, Jack, Let's go!

One down!

He don't look like no rookie to me. He looks like a veteran.

He looks like three or four veterans.

Play to first! Play to first! No batter up there!

Come on! Come on!

Strike two!

He's swinging from the heels like a greenhorn.

Warhop struck him out twice already. Send him back to Baltimore.

Give him time, Mr. Frazee.

I'll give him time. Time to pack his bags and get the hell outta here!

Foul ball!

He's out, Jack.

Hey!

What'd I tell you? Atta-baby!

Atta-baby! Atta-baby!

Go on! Go on!

Hey!

Hey!

Hey, hot dog!

Two.

- There you go, sir. - Keep the change.

Thank you!

Hey!

- You boys want some red hots? - Yeah!

Come on down here! Big Jidge Ruth is treating.

The dogs are on me.

Here, pass some out to all the fellas, will you, Mac.

Sure thing. Thanks.

- Hey! - Thanks, mister.

You're a lucky Joe, dad,

being able to ride this all day.

I'll tell you. This is some gadget, dad. How about one more time?

Hey, Jidge!

- You sure love to ride. - Jidge, come on, we got a press meeting.

I'm going up once more.

You're just a babe in the woods, ain't you, kid?

Come on, get outta there.

You used my toothbrush last night, Ruth.

That's okay. You can use mine anytime you want to, Jim.

Joe... Jumping Joe.

If we're gonna be roommates, so you get don't use my toothbrush, okay?

- And you don't use my razor eith... - You think we can do that? - Would you?

Jumping Joe?

So what do you do, jump a lot or something?

Yeah, contracts.

Wherever the money is, I jump.

Team to team like a rabbit.

So, that's my name.

That was a hell of a long ball you hit today.

You caught a lucky piece of wood.

I know. Tomorrow I'm gonna hit another, maybe two.

I'm feeling hitterish.

What was that?

I like to hit home runs.

You like to hit home runs, huh?

You say that like I say, "I like to eat peanuts."

Better hold your tongue.

Home run's a rare commodity, kid. We play inside ball.

Hit them where they ain't, that's the rule.

They ain't over the fences, so that's where I hit them.

Don't talk like that, boy. Put your money away.

She's got more curves than a scenic railway.