April 2: 17-Year-Old Girl Strikes out Babe Ruth

On this date in History ..... April 2, 1931:  

17-year-old Jackie Mitchell, the second woman to play baseball in the all-male minor leagues, pitches an exhibition game against the N.Y. Yankees and strikes out both Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. Her appearance on the mound “…became a Depression Era sensation.”  

Growing up in Memphis, Mitchell had been coached by minor league pitcher Charles “Dazzy” Vance, who later went on to lead the National League in strikeouts for seven years in a row.  Her family later moved to Chattanooga where she joined a high school affiliated with the city’s Class-AA Minor League team, whose president loved doing exhibitions to attract the crowd.  Mitchell was about to be one of those crowd-attracting exhibitions.  He signed up Mitchell with what was possibly the first professional baseball contract to a female.  

He invited the Yankees to play his team against the 17-year old girl pitcher.

After the regular pitcher walked the first two batters, Mitchell was put on the mound to face what was called “Murderers’ Row”.  First up was the Sultan of Swat himself, Babe Ruth.  Figuring an easy hit, it is reported that Ruth took a relaxed stance and took the first pitch as a ball.  On the second pitch, Ruth swung and “missed it by a foot”.  When Mitchell struck out the home run king, Ruth threw his bat down and retreated to the dugout.  

Next to bat was Lou Gehrig, who would tie Ruth in 1931 for the lead in homers. He swung and missed three consecutive pitches.  17-year old Mitchell walked the next batter and was then pulled from the game.  

The newspaper stories the next day included a quote from Babe Ruth, who said, “women will never make good” in baseball because they are too delicate. It would kill them to play ball every day.”  

The day after she struck out Ruth and Gehrig, the Baseball Commissioner voided her contract, claiming baseball was too strenuous for women. The ban was not overturned until 1992.


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August 8: Wrigley Field Gets Lights

On this date in History .... August 8, 1988:  

Wrigley Field, the 2^nd oldest baseball field, hosts the first night game in its history. It was the last field to add lights for night games. The first big league night game was in Cincinnati Ohio in May 1935. Despite the Reds terrible record that year, paid attendance rose 117%.  Other fields quickly followed suit … except for Wrigley Field.   For 74 seasons, the Cubs played only daytime home games. After installing the lights, 91 year old Cubs fan Harry Grossman was given the honor to flip the switch, at which time he said, “Let there be light.”  

The field was originally known as Weeghman Park and was built on the site once occupied by a seminary.  

The ball field saw many famous events such as the night Babe Ruth pointed to the bleachers and then hit a home run in that area, and Pete Rose’s 4,199^th career hit which tied him with Ty Cobb’s record. The Chicago Cubs became the first ball team to provide the fans with organ music.

However one thing the fans have never seen is a baseball hit the centerfield scoreboard, although Roberto Clemente and Bill Nicholson came close.

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June 28: Supreme Court rules on Muhammad Ali

On this date in History ... June 28, 1971:

The Supreme Court unanimously overturned the lower courts in “Clay vs. the United States” in boxer Muhammad Ali’s (Cassius Clay) refusal to be drafted.  Clay had refused, based on his conversion to Islam, to go to Vietnam and shoot people "who never called me nigga....."

Ali would go on to become the first and only 3-time lineal World Heavyweight Champion. He won an Olympic Gold Medal in 1960 (his amateur records was 100 wins with 5 losses). Legend has it that he threw the medal in the Ohio River after being refused service in a whites-only restaurant. He was presented with a replacement medal at the 1996 Olympics, where he lit the torch to start the games.  

In 1993, the Associated Press reported that Ali was tied with Babe Ruth as the most recognized athlete, out of over 800 dead or alive athletes, in America. The study found that over 97% of Americans over 12 years of age identified both Ali and Ruth.

May 25: Babe Ruth

On this date in History ... May 25, 1935:  

At Forbes Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Babe Ruth hits his 714th home run, a record for career home runs that would stand for almost 40 years. 

This was one of Ruth’s last games, and the last home run of his career.  During his career with the New York Yankees, the team won 4 World Series & 7 American League pennants. After getting rid of Ruth, the Red Sox did not win a World Series until 2004, an 85-year drought known to Red Sox fans as "the Curse of the Bambino."  

His record for career home runs was not broken until Hank Aaron hit his 715th home run on April 8, 1974, 39 years later.

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