Babe Ruth's sunken Piano

[Robert Goodale]

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Here is a rather interesting tid bit from today's news. The link is here:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/baseball/news/2002/02/24/ruth_piano_ap/

I think these people are underestimating what would actually be involved 
in this project, (if it is even possible), but it is interesting reading 
anyway.

Rob Goodale, RPT
Las Vegas, NV

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BOSTON (AP) -- Red Sox fans will go to any depths to break the Curse of 
the Bambino.

On Saturday, a group went to the bottom of a suburban Boston pond in 
search of Babe Ruth's piano, which, the story goes, was tossed into the 
water by the slugger in 1918.  The group hopes to refurbish the piano 
and play it again, just as the Babe did in 1918, the last time the Red 
Sox won a World Series. A season later, Ruth was sold to the New York 
Yankees 
<http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/baseball/mlb/ml/teams/yankees/> , who 
have since won 26 championships.

"Once we bring this up, the Red Sox will win," Sudbury historian Lee 
Swanson said.  The search is sponsored by the Restoration Project, a 
rehabilitation program for adults with mental illness and head injuries. 
It received a search permit from the state -- Willis Pond is state 
property.  If the piano is positively identified, an excavation permit 
would be needed to retrieve it.  "We're confident we can save it and 
play it again," said Kevin Kennedy, a local upholsterer who volunteers 
with the group. "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 tried 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 with a "sub-bottom profiler," a sonar scanner to get through 
sediment.  Organizers say they have proof the piano is there. On Dec. 
22, Hugo used an infared camera and identified a "rectangular shape with 
wiry weeds" at the bottom, 15 feet below the surface and near shore. 
 The piano story has been local legend ever since Ruth rented a cottage 
near the pond in 1917 and 1918. 

Kennedy heard the stories after moving to the area last year and 
investigated. If indeed the piano was there, he thought, he could 
refurbish it with help from the Restoration Project.  It would be a way 
to exorcise a baseball demon in the name of charity, said Kennedy, who 
calls himself "your average frustrated fan."  But first, they had to 
find the piano. Enter historians Swanson and Curt Garfield. Garfield 
wrote "The 100-year History of Sudbury," in which he identified Willis 
Pond as the resting place of Ruth's piano.  Still, Kennedy wanted more 
proof.  He called the Babe Ruth Birthplace and Museum -- a block from 
Camden Yards in Baltimore -- and spoke to director Greg Schwalenberg, 
who found a photo dated "winter 1917-1918" showing Ruth posing at the 
cottage.  Next, they found a letter in the archives of the late 
historian Ralph Sheridan, a friend of Ruth's from nearby Maynard, 
describing how Ruth often "sang around the piano with friends,' Kennedy 
said.
The letter also described a 15-foot incline from the lake to the cottage 
-- a perfect launching point.

If excavated, the piano would be state property, but the Restoration 
Project would have preservation rights. State guidelines require that 
the group outline how it would conserve the piano and how it would pay 
for it. The nonprofit group says it will hold fund-raising events.  Ruth 
was drawn to the pond, Swanson said, because several teammates lived 
nearby. The area, he said, soon became a hotbed of illegal drinking for 
Boston gangsters during Prohibition.  By that time, Ruth was leading the 
Yankees to World Series victories. Many Boston fans believe their 
beloved Red Sox have been cursed ever since.  "I certainly believe 
there's something going on," Kennedy said. "In 80 years, we haven't had 
a championship in Boston in baseball.  Perhaps we can eliminate whatever 
this is -- whether it's a curse or a psychological block."


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