Alright, so you wanna know about this Babe Ruth fella and how he kicked the bucket, huh? Well, lemme tell ya, it wasn’t pretty. This here Babe, he was a big fella, strong as an ox, played baseball like nobody’s business. But even the strongest folks gotta go sometime, ain’t that the truth?
Now, some folks got it all twisted, sayin’ he had some kinda throat cancer, the kind that messes with your voice box. But that ain’t the whole story, not by a long shot. He did have cancer, that’s for sure, but it was a different kind, a real mean one, not so common around here, or anywhere for that matter.
- They called it naso-pharyngeal cancer
- Sounds fancy, don’t it?
- But it just means it was up in his nose and throat, a real bad spot.
This was back in the 1940s, see, and medicine wasn’t what it is today. They did what they could for the Babe, bless their hearts. They tried all sorts of things. They gave him some kinda hormone stuff, tried cuttin’ it out with surgery. He even got some newfangled treatments, radiation and that chemo stuff, the kind they give folks now when they’re real sick.
They say he was one of the first to get that chemo, and they even tried givin’ him both chemo and radiation together, somethin’ they hadn’t really done before. And for a little while there, it seemed to work. The chemo knocked that cancer right down, made him feel a bit better. But it didn’t last, no sir, it didn’t last. That cancer, it was a stubborn one, came right back with a vengeance.
He was diagnosed in ’46, they say. They fought it hard, those doctors did, but it wasn’t enough. By the next year, they had to stop the treatments. It was just too much. But the Babe, he was a fighter, always was. Even when he was sick, he showed up at Yankee Stadium one last time, in his uniform, number and all. That was in June of ’48. He went out there on the field, and they retired his number, said nobody could wear it again. A real honor, that was.
But the cancer, it kept eatin’ away at him. He got weaker and weaker. And then, on August 16th, 1948, Babe Ruth, that big, strong fella, he finally gave up the ghost. He died from that cancer, that naso-pharyngeal cancer. It was a sad day for baseball, a sad day for everyone who loved him.
So, that’s the story, plain and simple. Babe Ruth, he didn’t die from no ordinary throat cancer. He had a rare kind, a mean kind. They tried everything they could, but in the end, it wasn’t enough. It just goes to show ya, even the biggest and the best, they ain’t immune to nothin’. We all gotta go sometime, and the Babe, he went too soon, that’s for sure. He left a mark on this world, though, that Babe Ruth did. A real legend, he was.
Now, some folks might try to make it sound more complicated, but that’s the gist of it. He was sick, real sick, and they didn’t have the cures back then that they have now. It’s a shame, it really is. But that’s life, ain’t it? You live, you play some ball, and then you gotta go. And the Babe, well, he played ball better than most. Babe Ruth cause of death? Naso-pharyngeal cancer, pure and simple. Don’t let nobody tell you different.
And that’s all there is to it. No need for fancy words or complicated explanations. He was sick, he fought hard, and he lost. End of story. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I gotta go make some supper. All this talk about sickness and dyin’ has got me hungry.
