Babe Ruth Day

On Thursday, March 10, 1927, in what the Sentinel called Orlando’s “greatest baseball holiday in history,” Babe Ruth and the American League Champion New York Yankees played the Cincinnati Reds at 3:30 as the city celebrated “Babe Ruth Day.” The president of the Reds invited Orlando school children to attend as guests of the club, and 1,000 drivers transported children from their schools in cars with special stickers reading, “Jump in Kid and see Babe Ruth at Tinker Field.” A record crowd of 5,400, including children and adults from across the region, filled every seat and lined the baselines and outfield hoping to see the “Bambino” hit one over the fence. Ruth grounded out in the first inning, drew a walk in the fourth, and then, after rounding third base to score on a hit to right, caught the spikes of his left shoe in the bag and tore a tendon in his calf. In pain, he hobbled home on one leg to score, tried to take the field in the fifth, returned to the dugout, and finally left the park in the seventh inning. In the bottom of the eighth, while the Reds were at bat, a restless throng of boys and girls in right field dashed across the outfield to the left field side, and the game was stopped for several minutes until the field could be cleared. This was the Golden Age of Baseball.

Orlando, Florida · United States