Don’t count the Yanks out of the World Series just yet: They still have the Sultan of Swat.
Yankees fans have spent decades leaving “offerings” at Babe Ruth’s grave — everything from baseballs, to baseball cards, to sunflower seeds, to bottles of whiskey hoping to bring the Bronx Bombers luck.
With the Yanks battling the the Los Angeles Dodgers in the Fall Classic, they’re stepping up their game.
“I figured I’d go say hi and maybe I could wake the spirits,” superfan Pete Lombardo said Monday at the Gate of Heaven cemetery in Westchester County, decked out in full Ruth regalia with his wife and 22-month-old daughter. “Hopefully Ruth will go down to the Bronx and say, ‘What’s up guys?’
“I was joking on the ride up, saying I’ll sacrifice my first-born for the Yankees to win the World Series,” Lombardo said, glancing as his toddler. “Is that OK?”
The Bambino’s gravesite has long been something of a mecca for the Yankees faithful.
The Yankee legend, who died in 1948, has since cast a spell over the team’s fanbase, most notably with a now-defunct Curse of the Bambino that allegedly kept the hated Red Sox from baseball’s promised land for decades.
The Sox traded Ruth to the Yankees in 1919 for cash, one of the most lopsided trades in baseball history that launched the Yanks’ dynasty and propelled them into the greatest team in the game. The Sox won the World Series with Ruth in 1918, but the trade marked the start of a decades-long dry spell.
The “curse” ended when the Sox finally beat the Bombers in 2004 — but fans aren’t giving up.
In recent days, the gravesite has been adorned with more than 50 baseballs — one with “Go Yankees 2024” written on it — a tall boy can of Budweiser, an airline-sized bottle of Jack Daniels, a Yankee baseball hat, a mini batting helmet, an old leather baseball glove, two US flags and a handful of Mass cards.
Also in the mix is a mini pumpkin with “go Yankees” inscribed on it, a handful of rocks and pennies, and a full bag of David Sunflower seeds — a favored treat among ball players.
“You got to see my office!” Lombardo said.
The 36-year-old dad, a season ticket holder and data science tech at Northwell Health from Farmingville, said he took the day off for the trip, getting his family to join by including an upstate pumpkin patch trip.
“This is my first time here,” he said. “I always wanted to come. I figured is the perfect day to come.
“Babe Ruth’s a legend,” Lombardo added. “Whenever I’m at Monument Park I always have to rub his head. You know, Babe Ruth’s monument? Yeah, he’s the greatest Yankee that ever lived.”
Turning to his daughter, Elizabeth, he asked, “Can you say let’s go Yankees?”
The toddler pumped her fist.