St. Pete Celebrates Babe Ruth Day!

Babe Ruth Day and the centennial of Ruth’s first year of spring training in St. Petersburg was celebrated with great gusto last month. George Herman “Babe” Ruth, Jr. played baseball during spring training in St. Pete with the New York Yankees from 1925 to 1934, and again with the Boston Braves in 1935.

Festivities began with Mayor Ken Welch issuing a proclamation at the city council meeting on February 6 declaring Saturday, February 8, “Babe Ruth Day,” honoring how Ruth’s presence in our city greatly magnified St. Petersburg’s profile as a town of sport, outdoor leisure, “and just plain fun,” and greatly contributed to the city’s sense of place. It also noted Ruth’s support of children’s programs and civic organizations including what is now Johns Hopkins Children’s Hospital, the American Legion, the YMCA, the Woman’s Club, the Kids and Kubs Senior Softball Club, the St. Petersburg Green Devils High School Baseball Team, and the former Florida Military Academy. Also noted was Ruth’s longest home run ever off a major league pitch hit in St. Pete in 1934.

Babe Ruth’s grandson, Tom Stevens, and members of his family were on-hand to receive the proclamation. He thanked the city for its celebration of his grandfather’s long-time association with St. Petersburg and especially appreciated the city’s recognition of Ruth’s support of so many charitable groups and causes. Stevens noted that Babe Ruth had been inducted into the World Sports Humanitarian Hall of Fame in 2010 and that his last humanitarian contribution was to be the first to undergo what was at the time an experimental treatment involving chemotherapy and radiation for his cancer. While the treatment was not successful, it did help lead to what is now standard chemotherapeutic medical care.

The following day Ruth’s Home Run was commemorated at Al Lang Stadium, followed by a tour of the Princess Martha Retirement Community and a Babe Ruth Birthday Party at the St. Petersburg History Museum. The Princess Martha is the former hotel where Ruth stayed in 1930 and signed his famous $80,000 contract with Yankees owner Colonel Jake Ruppert. That was $5,000 more than President Hoover was making at the time. It is said that when Ruth was asked how it felt to be making more than the president, he quipped, “Well, I had a better year than he did.” The birthday party at the museum was technically a day late – Ruth was born on February 6 – but for most of his life, he thought his birthday was February 7.  It was only after he applied for a passport in 1945 that he discovered the real date.

On March 25, 1934, during an exhibition game between the Yankees and the Boston Braves, Ruth hit his long-forgotten record-breaking home run at Waterfront Park, now the site of Al Lang Field, to the former West Coast in, over 600 feet away. The distance has been surveyed and verified by the George F. Young Engineering and Surveying Company. The site of the former home plate is now in the middle of the Al Lang Stadium parking lot and the location of the old West Coast Inn is now in the vicinity of the Soltaire Condominium entrance. Jim Akker, Senior Vice President of George F. Young, greeted the Stevens family and explained the survey process. A permanent historic marker is being prepared for the site.

Babe Ruth Day was celebrated at the Kids and Kubs Senior Softball Field at North Shore Park. The Kids and Kubs was founded in 1930 and is the oldest continually operating senior softball club in America. Its members are all 74 years or older, with the oldest player now 95. This was the second Babe Ruth Day held by the Kids and Kubs – the first was held March 25, 1933 with the Babe in attendance. His wife Claire and daughters Dorothy and Julia also frequently attended the Kids and Kubs games during the spring training season, and Ruth occasionally served as a base umpire.

There is an iconic photo of Ruth towering above the shorter Kids and Kubs players. High resolution magnification shows Ruth wearing a black beard. yes, a black beard! The backstory on this is there was an amateur team sponsored by a religious cult called the House of David. (The cult had nothing to do with the Jewish faith, despite its name.) The cult’s men did not shave or cut their hair. The “Whiskers,” as the team was sometimes called, were skilled enough that they played many major league teams, especially during the spring training. They were especially known for their “Pepper” ball playing, a pre-game routine of fancy throws and baseball tricks similar to basketballs’ singular Harlem Globe Trotters. Four days after the 1933 Kids and Kubs held their first Babe Ruth Day, the Yankees and Ruth played the House of David at what is today Miller-Huggins Field at Crescent Lake.

The St. Petersburg Times reported, “The New York Yankees, playing their last game on Huggins Field before beginning their two-week journey home, today came from behind in the eighth inning to defeat the House of David in their annual game, 5 to 3.” One of the five Yank runs was a “one-timer” blasted by the Babe to right field. It is likely that fun-loving Ruth donned the fake black beard he sported at the Kids and Kubs Babe Ruth Day to spoof the game with the House of David. He did the same thing in a game with the House in St. Petersburg in 1931. Some major league players joined the Whiskers, notably pitcher Alexander Grover Cleveland, although he was not in the 1933 game against the Yankees.  Ruth himself was later invited to play for the House of David team, but he declined.

 Since 1971 the Kids and Kubs Senior Softball Club have annually played the Mayor’s “City Hall Stars,” and this year Stevens threw the first pitch to City Council Chair Copley Gerdes. Mayor Ken Welch was present to help celebrate, as was Paul Olden, official announcer for the New York Yankees, who announced the Mayor’s Game. Also on hand was John Lucas, Southeast Region Commissioner for the Babe Ruth League, and Mike Janicki of the Massachusetts Babe Ruth League. The Mayor’s City Hall Stars team, after a hard-fought game, bested the Kids and Kubs 9-6. 

This year’s special Babe Ruth Day Game was highlighted by the unveiling of a nine-foot statue of Babe Ruth entitled “Calls His Shot” (depicting the Babe’s famous called shot in the 1932 World Series at Wrigley Field against the Chicago Cubs) by St. Petersburg sculptor Blake Emory. Stevens noted that it was not until 1995 that a statue was erected to honor his grandfather; there are now five, with the others in Baltimore, Tokyo, Waco, and Hot Springs. The statue is actually a model, which can be cast in bronze; he is currently seeking a donor to acquire the statue and find a suitable place in our city to erect it.

Following the Mayor’s Game with the Kids and Kubs, St. Petersburg’s Jungle Neighborhoods held a golf cart parade with Stevens serving as grand marshal and members of his family following in classic cars dating between 1914 and 1924. The Babe was closely associated with St. Pete’s west side. He and his family frequently lodged at the Jungle Hotel (now Admiral Farragut Academy) and played golf on the hotel’s professional golf course where he once got a double eagle and drove a golf ball 360 yards on the 388-yard fourth hole. He also played with champion golfer Walter Hagen at the Pasadena Golf Course. He frequented the Gangplank Nightclub at the Jungle Prada, and signed his 1932 contract at the Rolyat Hotel, now Stetson Law School.

Ellia Johnson, 12, sang “The Star-Spangled Banner” to start the parade. A Babe Ruth impersonator rode in the back of a vintage pickup truck and tossed plastic bats and commemorative “Babe Ruth”-signed baseballs to spectators. The new statue again mysteriously made its reappearance along the parade route. As the parade group passed through the Jungle Prada neighborhood, more than fifty peacocks – the signature bird of St. Pete’s West Side – were spotted on the ground, in the trees, and on rooftops. The parade concluded as the sun was setting over Boca Ciega Bay. Sacred Lands preservation site hosted a “Roaring Twenties” party with music from Liz Pennock and Dr. Blues singing “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” and “Happy Birthday, Babe Ruth.” Refreshments included some of Babe’s favorites: hot dogs with mustard and sauerkraut, beer, Coke, ginger ale, Cracker Jacks, and Baby Ruth bars.

Babe Ruth’s family was given a tour of the Jungle Prada, including the former Gangplank Nightclub where Ruth and many other celebrities dined and danced. The Gangplank was the most famous Prohibition-era nightclub in St. Pete, and is now occupied by the JP Tavern.  

The week’s events were organized by Babe Ruth historian Tim Reid and Bob Ward of the Committee to Commemorate Babe Ruth, with Will Michaels, city historian and President of the Kids and Kubs, and Steve Elfmann, president of the Azalea Neighborhood Association. Sponsors of the commemoration included the Greater St. Petersburg Area Chamber of Commerce, Delta Airlines, Moorman Photographics, and The Vinoy Hotel.

Will Michaels is the former director of the St. Petersburg Museum of History and the author of The Making of St. Petersburg and the Hidden History of St. Petersburg. ReacH him at 727-420-9195 or wmichaels2222@gmail.com.