One of the most famous photographic images from American professional sports is the shot of Babe Ruth standing bat in hand at home plate, ball-cap respectfully held at his side, his head slightly bowed, and his number 3 fully visible at the center of the shot. It was June 13, 1928; the twenty-fifth anniversary of Yankee Stadium, the house he built, and they were retiring his number. He would die soon, and had to be helped to even walk to the dugout. He couldn’t tie his shoes by himself. Photographers from around the world were there that day, and took a lot of photographs, but the one we remember was taken by Nat Fein of the New York Herald Tribune. * He wasn’t, a sports photographer; he usually took snaps for special interest features – man bites dog stuff – but the photographer scheduled for the event took ill, and at the last minute he was sent.
Back in those days the press had a respect for our heroes, and refused to print shots of the Babe struggling to get out of a car, or having his shoes tied for him. When the special moment came, the Babe grabbed a bat belonging to the Cleveland Indian’s Bob Feller to use as a cane, and walked by himself to home plate. The capacity crowd rose and roared, and the flashbulbs twinkled, catching the broad face of the great man. Fein, however, knew that the important thing to get into the shot was the #3, which was only on the back of his jersey. He took a low angle, which included the crowds, the row of Yankees standing on the 1st base line, and which made the Babe, though bowed a bit, look like a giant. It is a perfect shot, aesthetically, narratively, and functionally.
There were a lot of angles to this moment, and the story it told. A million snapshots could have been taken from a million vantage points, but only one photograph captured what was essential – the one with the 3 right in the middle of the shot.
Years ago, when I read Fein’s comments on how he chose that angle for the shot, how important it was to snap the 3, I was reminded of something Paul said in I Corinthians, and something Jesus said in Luke.
Paul said: For indeed Jews ask for a sign, and Greeks search for wisdom, but we preach Christ Crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block, and to the Greeks foolishness; but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. I Corinthians 1.22-23
Jesus said: Martha, Martha – you are troubled about so many things; few things are really important, really only one. Mary has chosen the good, and it won’t be taken away from her. Luke 10.41-42
The Christian story is inexhaustibly rich – there are so many ways it can be presented. The Jews ask for signs, and Paul could have provided them with any number of the signs and fulfilled prophecies that fill the Gospel – but he wouldn’t. The Greeks seek wisdom, and Paul could have presented the unmatched philosophical system Jesus communicated in his sermons and pithy sayings - but he wouldn’t. He continued to present one image – Christ Crucified, God on a cross, Jesus nailed and bleeding.
The cross of Jesus is the most recognizable image on the planet – evidence of the success of those early preachers, and their successors. Jesus said the one thing that was really important won’t be taken away. The writer of Hebrews says the only way to run the race is to “fix our eyes on Jesus,” (Hebrews 12.2). Do we have the same trust, the same faith in that one important thing?
The Christian story is inexhaustibly rich – there are so many ways it can be presented. Christians have tried so many ways, from social activities to social activism. Most of those elements can, indeed, be found somewhere in the picture – just as signs and wisdom can be found – but they are all auxiliary. If the cross isn’t central, dominant, then what we present isn’t the real story at all.
* from the July 2006 Smithsonian, pp13-14
