I want to welcome Jonathan Weeks to fundinmental. I found his guest post fascinating and this is so appropriate for Women’s month. What perfect timing. 🙂

THE GIRL WHO STRUCK OUT RUTH AND GEHRIG

            During the heart of the Great Depression, most major league teams reduced the number of spring training games to cut down on travel costs. The Yankees broke with this trend in 1931, scheduling more than 30 stops on their annual spring tour. A visit to Chattanooga in early-April produced one of the most memorable moments in baseball history as a teenage girl named Jackie Mitchell struck out Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig in succession.

            A Chattanooga native, Mitchell learned the basics of the game from her father. As the story goes, she was taught by Hall of Fame pitcher Dazzy Vance (who was a neighbor) to throw a sinking fastball. Mitchell mastered the pitch and began playing for local teams. She caught the eye of Chattanooga Lookouts owner Joe Engel at an Atlanta training camp.

            A savvy promoter, Engel was known to stage unusual publicity stunts to draw fans to the ballpark. He once traded a player for a turkey that he cooked and fed to sportswriters. Recognizing a golden opportunity, he signed Mitchell to a minor league contract and booked a pair of games against the Yankees.   

            In the wake of a rainout, the Lookouts faced the Yankees at Engel Stadium in front of 4,000 fans. After Earle Combs and Lyn Lary led off the game with a pair of hits, Chattanooga manager Bert Niehoff summoned Mitchell from the bullpen. Fans were cheering wildly as Ruth stepped up to the plate to face her. Mitchell’s windup consisted of a dramatic windmill motion and sidearm delivery. The Babe swung through two of her first three offerings. After failing to connect a second time, he asked the umpire to inspect the ball. Finding nothing amiss, the arbiter called for play to continue. Mitchell’s next pitch caught the outside corner for a called third strike. Ruth flung his bat in disgust and barked at the umpire. Gehrig’s at-bat was far less dramatic in comparison. He swung through three straight pitches and returned to the dugout without complaint.

            After disposing of the Yankees’ primary offensive threats, Mitchell walked Tony Lazzeri and was promptly removed from the game. An ongoing debate as to whether or not her strikeouts were legitimate has never been definitively settled. Outfielder Ben Chapman, who was in the lineup that day, believed that Ruth and Gehrig were willing victims. Hall of Fame pitcher Lefty Gomez was of a different mindset, insisting that Yankee manager Joe McCarthy would never have allowed such a stunt—even in a meaningless exhibition game. Years later, Engel said that Mitchell’s appearance was an elaborate hoax, but Mitchell denied that this was true until the time of her death in 1987.

            Ruth and Gehrig never publicly admitted to intentionally striking out. In fact, Ruth seemed a bit peeved by the incident. After the game was over, he remarked to reporters, “I don’t know what’s going to happen if they let women in baseball. Of course they will never make good. Why? Because they are too delicate. It would kill them to play ball every day.” Commissioner Landis was inclined to agree, voiding Mitchell’s contract on the grounds that baseball was “too strenuous” for her. She continued to play for various barnstorming teams into the late-‘30s.

Thank you Jonathan for sharing such an interesting story.

Amazon / Goodreads

Lore of the Bambino by Jonathan Weeks

GENRE:   Sports-History-Biography

BLURB

More than seventy years after his death, Babe Ruth continues to fascinate generations of fans. His exciting adventures on and off the field have become essential reading for students of baseball and pop culture. While most Ruth biographies are filled with mundane facts, Lore of the Bambino is the equivalent of a greatest hits compilation. Ruth’s extraordinary (and at times incredulous) tales carry readers on an enthralling journey through the life of the most celebrated sports figure of the twentieth century. All of the most popular anecdotes (such as the Babe’s alleged “called shot” in the 1932 World Series) are thoroughly covered along with many lesser known narratives.

EXCERPT

In the annals of baseball history, there has never been anyone quite like Babe Ruth. He transformed the game from a slow-moving battle of wits to an explosive exhibition of raw power. He could alter the final score with a single swing. When he retired in 1935, he owned dozens of statistical records. And his 714 homers were more than double the output of the next closest competitor.

Beyond the ballfield, Ruth was approachable, engaging, and jovial. He mingled with fans, autographed a myriad of baseballs, and befriended sportswriters. In an era when heroes were desperately needed, he fit the bill. He understood what he meant to people (especially children) and went out of his way to bring them joy.

As a role model, he was imperfect. He broke rules, got suspended, and struck out more than any other player of the era. But when the game was on the line, he almost always rose to the occasion, doing it in dramatic fashion. Over time, he became part god and part mortal—a mythical man-child who called his own shots and propelled baseballs farther than any player before or after him. He got more attention than U.S. Presidents and was just as newsworthy as a world war or economic depression.  Everyone wanted a small piece of him. And everyone who met him had an interesting story to tell.

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