---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment Hm.... This article was printed a little too early, seeing as April Fool's Day is still five weeks away. :-) But I'm sure research and treasure hunting into such matters can be a lot of fun. Clyde MoodyPiano@AOL.COM wrote: > You have been sent this message from MoodyPiano@aol.com as a courtesy > of metrowestdailynews.com (http://www.metrowestdailynews.com). > > Comments: > Very interesting article in todays local paper..... Enjoy, Lanie > > To view the entire article, go to > http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/news/local_regional/sudbbabespiano02242002.htm > > ____________________________________________________________ > > Divers search for Babe Ruth's piano in Sudbury pond > > By Matthew Fisher > Sunday, February 24, 2002 > > > SUDBURY - Divers struck out yesterday in their first attempt to > recover a piano Babe Ruth is said to have pitched into a Sudbury pond > 83 years ago. > > A six-man dive team - volunteers from the Quincy Police Search and > Rescue Team - used scuba gear and underwater video cameras, but found > no evidence of the piano after searching the freezing-cold Willis Pond > for four hours yesterday. > > The baseball great, then a pitcher with the Boston Red Sox, allegedly > threw the piano into the pond during a drunken outburst while staying > at a Sudbury cottage in 1918. > > Ruth was living in a Butler Road cottage near the pond after the 1918 > championship season, according to Sudbury historian Curt Garfield. > > "It was a place where baseball players raised hell and partied > without being noticed," Garfield said > > According to local legend, Ruth picked up his friend's piano, carried > it outside and heaved it off the deck, where it tumbled down a small > hill and splashed into the pond about 50 feet away. > > Since then, the piano has become a symbol of both Ruth's wild > lifestyle and his superhuman strength. > > "Muscled hero that he was, I think he threw it as a demonstration of > his strength," said Kevin Kennedy, a Sudbury resident and teacher for > the Restoration Project, which hopes to refurbish the piano. > > The Acton-based Restoration Project trains people recovering from > mental illnesses to restore furniture. > > If the piano is in the pond, the search team thinks it is less than > 50 feet away from the shore. If the piano is positively identified, an > excavation permit would be needed to retrieve it later. > > "We're confident we can save it and play it again," said Kennedy, a > local upholsterer. "Wouldn't that be something? The last person to > play this piano was Babe Ruth. Who knows, it could end up at Fenway > Park." > > Five divers were forced to conduct a blind search Saturday because > visibility was poor, said Chris Hugo, who works with the state Board > of Underwater Archaeological Research. They didn't locate the piano > but said they'll return in a couple of weeks with advanced metal > detectors and possibly sonar scopes. > > Organizers say this is no Geraldo Rivera-Al Capone vault misadventure > - they have proof the piano is there. On Dec. 22, Hugo used an > infrared camera and identified a "rectangular shape with wiry weeds" > at the bottom, 15 feet below the surface and near shore. > > Eloise Newell, the director of the Restoration Project, pledged to > keep looking for the piano. > > "We're not going to give up," she said. "We're going to find it." > > One theory, Newell said, is that the piano sank into the mud under > the pond. > > Kennedy said there are other motivations, besides a furniture > project, to unearth the piano. Because the Red Sox have not won a > World Series since 1918, many New Englanders believe the team lives > under the "Curse of the Bambino," which fans attribute to Ruth's sale > to the hated New York Yankees after the 1919 season. > > "Something has been over the Red Sox - a dark cloud - for many > years," Kennedy said. > > Kennedy first found out about the piano from a group of children who > were playing baseball at Sudbury's Haskell Field. > > His interest piqued, Kennedy started researching the incident, > calling everyone from Garfield to the Babe Ruth Museum in Baltimore. > He unearthed photos of Ruth at the cottage, and letters referring to > singing around the piano and a nearby 15-foot incline. > > Kennedy then went a step further. He knew a builder named "Joyce" > built the cottage Ruth rented, but there were four along the lake. A > search at the Registry of Deeds in Cambridge turned up a map showing > the Joyce cottage was the one they suspected Ruth rented. > > Ruth was famous during the Roaring '20s for his fast lifestyle, > filled with drinking, womanizing and partying. Ruth spent his > off-seasons in Sudbury, raising chickens and pit bulls at his farm on > Dutton Road, where he bought a home two years after his piano-tossing > escapade. > > Kennedy told Newell about the piano, and the two decided it would be > a perfect project for the group. The Restoration Project obtained a > permit from the state to conduct the search, since Willis Pond is > state-owned. > > Although state officials could lay claim to the piano, the > Restoration Project would hold preservation rights, and might donate > the piano to the Babe Ruth Museum, Newell said. > > About 150 people have worked with the Restoration Project during its > 10-year history. > > Thanks to modern medicine, more people who suffer from depression, > schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and other mental illnesses are able to > rejoin society, Newell said. > > The project helps ease them into the community by giving them a > relatively stress-free, but productive, paying job. > > "Restoration Project is a means to an end," Newell said. "Working > with your hands is therapeutic. It grounds you." > > > > ____________________________________________________________ > > News you need, from metrowestdailynews.com e-news > > Get the top headlines of the day delivered right to your e-mail in-box > with metrowestdailynews.com e-news. It's free, and it's easy to sign > up. Stay on top of the news you want - in sports, business, local news > and opinions, entertainment and more! > > Sign up now at: http://metrowestdailynews.publishmail.com > > ____________________________________________________________ > > ) Copyright by the metrowestdailynews.com and Herald Interactive > Advertising Systems, Inc. > No portion of metrowestdailynews.com or its content may be reproduced > without the owner's written permission. Privacy Commitment > ____________________________________________________________ ---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment An HTML attachment was scrubbed... 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