85% sureThese words were traced back to where they first appeared. That source is listed below.
What turned up
"'Keep Your Eye On the Ball'; No, Not Golf, It's Babe Ruth," by Ruth (as told to Westbrook Pegler), The Chicago Tribune, August 13, 1920, p. 11.
Work
Chicago Tribune column, August 13, 1920 (as told to Westbrook Pegler)
Occasion
1920 · explaining his hitting style in his own newspaper column, missing big never scared him
Sources checked
en.wikiquote.orgChecked using claude-fable-5, 22 August 2026Sourced section: his 1920 Tribune column (as told to Pegler), reprinted in Playing the Game: My Early Years in Baseball (2011), p. 29. First sentence of the passage, complete; continuation ('I hit or miss big...') supports, no reversal. Tribune archive link is dead — Wikiquote-sourced tier.