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The Loop

Daly on Ryder Cup slight: 'I'm the Babe Ruth of golf'

September 16, 2010

John Daly and Babe Ruth, kindred spirits? They might be, though not necessarily for the reason that Daly apparently advanced at a fundraiser in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, according to this report from Sheri Ebert of radio station CJME.

Daly equated his own disappointment from never having been selected to represent the U.S. in the Ryder Cup to Ruth's disappointment over never having the opportunity to manage in the major leagues.

"I feel like I'm the Babe Ruth of golf," he said. "He always wanted to be a manager and he never got that chance. But it's not something that breaks my heart or anything. As long as we hopefully win, that's all that matters."

Ruth was never a serious candidate to manage the Yankees. Ed Barrow, the architect of the great Yankees' teams of the'20s, once said that Ruth wouldn't manage the Yankees because "he couldn't manage himself."

Presumably Daly considers it a disservice that he and Ruth were overlooked for positions for which they ought to have been considered. Ebert wrote that Daly "admits he's bothered slightly by being looked over" for the Ryder Cup.

Even Daly would have to admit that throughout much of his career his behavior was less than exemplary and reason enough to exclude him from Ryder Cup consideration.

Wouldn't he?

-- John Strege