If you grew up as a sports fan, odds are you’ve heard stories of players generations ago accomplishing feats on the field (or ice or court) that simply could not be imaginable in today’s game.
While those tales add to the mystique of legends like Babe Ruth and Mickey Mantle, they certainly benefited from the fact that technology wasn’t close to where it is today. Games weren’t broadcasted worldwide, and when they were on video, grainy black-and-white footage left plenty of room for the imagination.
That’s not to say that sports urban legends are useless. They’re fun! But these are some stories from the past that should be viewed with plenty of skepticism.
Every 500-foot home run before Statcast
Before Statcast launched in 2015, it’s hilarious to think that home run projections were basically made up on the spot. Given the advancements in equipment and player fitness, there was no way that dudes were hitting 550-foot bombs while lugging around a 40-ounce bat.
It’s kind of wild that baseball players have stopped hitting 550-foot home runs during the era of lasers that can track exactly how far a ball is traveling. Probably just a weird coincidence! https://t.co/r3Sza8ZhB4
— Chris Towers …Is A Real Boy (@CTowersCBS) July 19, 2023
But no sports fan loves blatant lies more than baseball historians. Even the Baseball Hall of Fame touts Mickey Mantle’s “565-foot home run” at Griffith Stadium as a thing that actually happened.
In reality, the home run was closer to 460 feet (still a bomb!), but the Yankees press secretary guessed the home run distance based on the spot where the ball stopped rolling. A similar method was applied to every “500-foot home run” of that era.
Could you imagine the home run distances Shohei Ohtani and Ronald Acuña Jr. would hit by those standards? They’d have eyes on 600.
Babe Ruth calling his shot
Not to pile on Babe Ruth here because he’s a baseball legend. But it’s never a good sign if baseball historians can’t agree on the single most iconic story of his career.
The story is that Ruth pointed to center field during Game 3 of the 1932 World Series to “call his shot” against the Chicago Cubs and proceeded to hit a home run over the center-field wall on the next pitch.
The footage of the moment is questionable, at best. And while there was a gesture, nobody seems to agree on what it was about.
It’s smart to be skeptical with this one.
Bobby Hull's 118.3 mph slap shot
Just as baseball players benefited from inflated distances on home runs, Bobby Hull’s legendary 118.3 mph slap shot is treated as a fact in NHL circles despite the unreliable technology in the 1960s. His obituary from The New York Times even mentioned the slap shot velocity that was absolutely inaccurate.
Zdeno Chara’s 108.8 mph slap shot is the real record.
The Immaculate Reception
The late Franco Harris had one of the most iconic plays in NFL history when he caught a pass off the deflection and returned it for a game-winning touchdown against the Raiders to reach the AFC Championship Game.
This play isn’t as much a lie as it is simply up for debate. But it could be a lie! The awful camerawork from the broadcast camera operator and replay angles that cropped out the ball’s relation to the ground only fuel conspiracies about the play. Did the ball hit the ground? Maybe. And before that, did the ball hit John Fuqua? If it did, that would have made Franco’s catch an illegal touch by 1972 rules.
Without clear footage, we’ll never get a definitive answer. Steelers will take that win, though.
Wade Boggs' cross-country flight
The most important urban legend on this list inspired a great episode of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. But I refuse to believe that Wade Boggs drank anywhere between 70 and 107 beers on a single cross-country flight, survived that experience and went on to hit 3 for 5 the next day.
He can tell the story as many times as he wants. That doesn’t make it true. There’s just no way.
