Chris Epting: Local Babe Ruth footage unearthed

And by the looks of it…so were lice.

So Carolyn, who lives locally, and her stepmom, who was visiting from Florida, came just to show me the images — a thoughtful gesture and a marvelous surprise. But they also told something else: They had recently discovered home movies of Thomas and Ruth fishing and hunting, and some included Gehrig.

...There is Yosemite. A trip to Mexico. There are more parties. Charlie Chaplin makes an appearance! And then, the Babe reappears, but this time, he is not smiling. In fact, he seems to be passed out cold. The result of a hard night?

As the Long Beach Police Historical Society reported in 2009 on the hunting trip, “Duck blinds were readied and Thomas said he spent the first night of the hunt in the Babe’s blind. Ruth got so drunk that Thomas was afraid that Ruth might accidentally shoot him. Thomas reported that on the second night of the hunt he stayed with Gehrig in his blind.”

Does this footage document the results of Babe’s bender?

Suddenly, the elegant Gehrig also appears, and is seen picking through the Babe’s hair the way a primate might groom a partner or look for insects in its fur.