On April 9, 1925, Irish newspaper The Belfast Telegraph ran a shocking headline: "Babe Ruth, American baseball champion and national hero of every schoolboy, is reported to have died in a train whilst en route to New York." Similar headlines appeared in newspapers in London and Scotland.

It was fake news. The New York Times was quick to debunk the story, reporting that the rumor had mysteriously begun in Canada and had "spread with almost incredible rapidity." Ruth was alive--though he wasn't well.

For months, Ruth had been struggling with his health. His weight had ballooned since the end of the 1924 season, prompting Yankee owner Ed Barrow to send him to Hot Springs in February--the month Ruth turned 30--for a pre-spring training regimen of exercise and steam baths. When he reported to spring training in March, he weighed between 255 and 270 pounds and suffered from chills and fever. Sluggish on the field, he played through the discomfort.

In those days, teams played exhibition games for two weeks between spring training and opening day. The Yankees and the Brooklyn Robins (they would become the Dodgers in 1931) had trained in Florida, then chartered a train back to New York with stops in Atlanta, Chattanooga, Knoxville, and Asheville. These games were profitable, and Babe Ruth was the Taylor Swift of his time.

Despite his worsening condition, Ruth participated. Too sick for batting practice in Chattanooga, he still played and hit two home runs. On April 6 in Knoxville, he hit another home run and posed for a photograph with a group of local Shriners. According to legend, he indulged in a heavy meal and a night of drinking in........

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