Babe Ruth and the Hawaiianos. Filipinos. Oh Christ, Call them Eskimos.

After Ruth came back from a trip to the far East in the 1930s, a friend who had just been married came to visit, bringing along his wife. Babe told them stories about the trip, including the long anecdote about a game in Manila.

“Then these Hawaiians tried to tell us –“ he began.

“Not Hawaiians, Babe,” said Mrs. Ruth, “Filipinos.”

“Filipino,” said Mrs. Ruth.

“Filipino, This little guy came over…” he went on to the end of the story, laughed uproariously, and said, “Those Hawaiians thought they were pulling a fast one on us.”

"Filipinos."

"Oh Christ, call them Eskimos. Who gives a goddamn.”

From "Kaledioscope: Personality of the Babe" by Robert Creamer. This is part of the articles, stories and essays on Home Run which was edited by the great George Plimpton . I bought the book at a great price of P10. When I got home, it was only then I realized that it was autographed. How often does Plimpton, the editor of Paris Review, sign a book? Not often, I heard.