A durable, top-flight pitcher for the Cubs for 16 seasons, Root had at least 10 wins in ten different seasons, with a top mark of 26-15 in 1927. In 1969 he was named the all-time Cubs righthander. Yet he was dogged during his later years by the tale that Babe Ruth “called his shot” when he homered off Root in the 1932 WS. The leathery, tobacco-squirting Root denied the claim, stating he’d have decked Ruth with a fastball had the Babe really gestured that he’d hit the next pitch out of the park. “He was just saying he had one strike left,” Root insisted.