the 1951 TV series, Joe tells Frank that he has received a letter from his mother who had moved East to an undisclosed city where her sister lives and bought a house down the street from her sister's). In contrast, two of his most prominent partners, Frank Smith and Bill Gannon, were married with children. In August 1951, Friday gives his age as 34, making him approximately three years older than Webb. Friday's birth date was given as April 2 (the same as Webb's) in the 1969 episode "Community Relations", but this is in conflict with that given in the 1954 radio episode "Big Shock", where his partner attempts to give Joe a birthday present of fleece-lined slippers, when Friday informs him that his birthday is August 30, not March 30. Like Webb, Friday grew up in Los Angeles and was graduated from Belmont High School. Badge 714 When the original Dragnet went into syndication, the show was renamed "Badge 714", so named for Joe Friday's police badge. A recurring myth was that Jack Webb chose the number 714 because he was a fan of Babe Ruth, who slugged 714 home runs during his career, but it was later asserted in TV commentator Michael J. Hayde's book My Name's Friday that Webb originally wanted the badge number to be "777", tripling the lucky number 7, but decided instead to add the last two digits together to get "14", thus making the badge number "714". The badge that Friday carried as a lieutenant during the final season of the 1951–59 series was ultimately used in real life by LAPD officer Dan Cooke. As a sergeant, Cooke had been assigned to be the LAPD's liaison with Webb during the production of the 1967–70 series. Just before filming started on the TV-movie that became the pilot for the revived series, Cooke found the badge that the LAPD had lent to Webb in 1958–59 season. However, Webb informed Cooke that he wanted Friday to be a sergeant in the revived series, and, consequently, would not need the lieutenant's badge from the original show. Cooke put the unused badge in a desk drawer and forgot about it. Years later, after being promoted to lieutenant himself, Cooke found the badge and asked for permission to use it. When Jack Webb died in 1982, LAPD Chief Daryl Gates officially retired Badge 714; Webb was also buried with