Baseball Researcher: The Pride of the Seeknay

Ever hear the story about the classic movie “The Pride of the Yankees” and how director Sam Wood turned the hopelessly right-handed actor Gary Cooper into a believable version of lefty baseball legend Lou Gehrig? Here’s how Jeffrey Meyers related it in his biography of the Hollywood star, Gary Cooper: American Hero:

Since Cooper couldn’t hit left-handed, the technicians devised an ingenious method of getting around the problem. They reversed the number on his uniform, had him run to third instead of first base and then reversed the print of the film.

...So, did it really happen? We’ll see.

You should probably read the article for the answer, because a lot of work went into it and it’s interesting.  But if you’re lazy and willing to admit it, mouse over:

as far as the final cut of “The Pride of the Yankees” goes, Gary Cooper never wore a backwards Yankees uniform of any sort. He never batted right-handed or ran to third base after swinging. He did indeed learn to bat left-handed. And only in a handful of shots during a brief sequence portraying Gehrig’s days at Hartford did the movie-makers resort to flipping footage in order to make Cooper appear to be a natural left-hander.