To celebrate 100 years of the impact of the iconic sportsman’s influence on St. Pete, City Hall issued a proclamation declaring February 8th as Babe Ruth Day. And what a day it was for baseball’s legendary slugger, including the debut of artist Blake Emory’s statue named “Babe Calls the Shot”
in North Shore Park. The statue commemorates Ruth's iconic moment from the 1932 World Series at Wrigley Field in Chicago, when he famously pointed to the outfield before hitting a home run. Ruth’s grandson, Tom Stevens, threw out the ceremonial first pitch at the Kids and Kubs softball team's annual Mayor's Game, to commemorate Ruth’s legacy.
This year marks the centennial of the 1925 arrival of the New York Yankees in St. Pete, when they relocated their spring training headquarters here. Ruth was the centerpiece of that team and the Babe’s adventures around town captivated the national news media, creating much interest in the Sunshine City.
"Babe Ruth loved St. Petersburg and often arrived early for spring training to golf, fish and enjoy the city's sunny weather,” commented Will Michaels, president of the Kids and Kubs Senior Softball Club. “The publicity he brought to the city was immense. It is estimated that, at times, the city's population tripled when Ruth was playing."
Baseball historian Rick Vaughn is working on a new book in which he describes Ruth’s arrival. The following excerpt, provided by Vaughn, has been edited for space:
On the first day of March 1925, the 5:30 p.m. train from Hot Springs, Arkansas, pulled into St. Petersburg’s Seaboard Station as a boisterous crowd gathered on the platform. The revelers focused on two round, jowled faces among the disembarking passengers. One belonged to Teddy, a Boston bull terrier puppy. The other was that of the world’s most recognized athlete of his day—and for thousands of days to come. Stepping onto St. Pete’s sandy soil for the first time, Babe Ruth held tightly to the pet that he had purchased five days before for his beloved three-year-old adopted daughter, Dorothy, who had arrived in the city with Helen (Ruth’s first wife) three weeks earlier, while the overweight Babe was futilely sweating it out at what he called his annual “boiling out” spa retreat in Hot Springs. Historian Tim Reid likened Ruth’s arrival to that of The Beatles at Kennedy Airport 40 years later. In his book The Making of St. Petersburg, Will Michaels called it “Ruthamania.”
Nanette Wiser is a journalist, podcast host, media strategist and the News Director for Radio St. Pete. Email her at wiser86@gmail.com
