Betty White during 57th Annual Writers Guild Awards - Show at Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles, California, United States. (Photo by L. Cohen/WireImage)As the world commemorates the passing of entertainment icon Betty White, more and more people are starting to put her incredible longevity into perspective.
Perhaps no stat about White’s incredible life is crazier than this one. The 99-year-old actress was born in 1922: And at the time, Wally Pipp was still the first-baseman of the New York Yankees.
Pipp infamously lost his starting job to the legendary Lou Gehrig in 1923 after taking the day off, but never got it back. At the time, Gehrig was playing football at Columbia .
A few years later, Pipp lost his Yankees roster spot altogether. To this day, being “Wally-Pipped” is what happens when an athlete loses their job due to inactivity.
Granted, Betty White was still an infant when it happened. But she was one of the few remaining people who lived through that era in baseball history.
The year Betty White was born (1922), Wally Pipp was still the Yankees first baseman.
— Paul Hembekides (@PaulHembo) December 31, 2021
Betty White rarely crossed over from acting into the world of sports, when she did she made sure her appearances were memorable.
White did commercial crossovers with the likes of Shaquille O’Neal, Roger Goodell, Dez Bryant and Johnny Manziel. Some of her sports-adjacent commercials like her Super Bowl XLIV Snickers commercial are absolutely iconic:
Betty White’s career spanned several generations of entertainment and saw some of the greatest actors and athletes alike come and go. It’s sad to see her go on the final day of 2021.
Rest in Peace.
