@Larry W The famous actor (now 106) Norman Lloyd could have seen the game. Per the Wikipedia article: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_Lloyd "On October 25, 2017, just two weeks shy of his 103rd birthday, Lloyd attended Game 2 of the 2017 World Series in Los Angeles. Ninety-one years earlier, at the age of 11, he had attended Game 1 of the 1926 World Series at Yankee Stadium.[33]"
That was one of the coolest things I've ever seen. I've been a baseball fan for 50 years and had only read stories about Gehrig, Ruth, etc and seen a few highlights. Seeing what the stadium and crowd was actually like was amazing. i never knew that Ruth's right foot was so close to the plate when he was at bat.
@@bobmilin It definitely wasn't TV as that didn't yet exist. So what is this? A film that people could see in theaters? Anybody know who the announcer is? He sounds like Red Barber.
@@theaterdreamer Tony "Poosh Em Up" Lazzeri played 2nd base. Bob Meusel played LF. "Jumping" Joe Dugan played 3rd base. Mark Koenig played SS. Pat Collins and Johnny Grabowski split the Catcher duties. Earle Combs frequently batted first in the lineup, with his speed, exhibited by his 125 Triples. OPS+ 125 which means he was 25% better than the average position player, , between 1924-1935, 12 seasons, ages 25-36. Bats: L Throws: R Earle "The Kentucky Colonel" Combs, 77 (May 14, 1899 Pebworth, KY -Jul. 21, 1976 Richmond, KY.). Inducted into the Hall of Fame (1970) by the Veterans Committee. Fans and the general public have to realize those great Yankees teams were not just Ruth and Gehrig! An above average group of others on the team (ex, Combs and Lazzeri), PLUS superb pitching, which is frequently not mentioned on why those teams were so highly rated! You can't win numerous pennants and World Series without superb pitching, and defense too! www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/combsea01.shtml
There was an interesting quirk at the old Yankee Stadium before the remodel in 1938. A player could hit the ball 405 feet to straightaway left field at the edge of the bleachers, and it would be a home run, but if he hit the ball 430 feet to straightaway left field, the ball would sail over the bleachers back into fair territory for a likely triple.
noticed that porch in left field, never seen that before, i'll bet those were some very sought after tickets, you're literally watching the game from left field. and then as you say, the fair territory behind it. i'll bet that left field porch ruined many a right hand batter, trying to pull everything, and how tricky for the left fielder.
@@joesmith9483 The wooden bleachers were replaced with concrete, shrinking the "death valley" area of left and center substantially, although the area was still much deeper than in most ballparks; and the second and third decks were extended to short right center. Runways were left between the bleachers and the triple-deck on each end, serving as bullpens.
Lots of people don't realize that Babe Ruth didn't bat cleanup when Lou Gehrig was on the team. In my opinion, one of the most remarkable records in baseball history was Lou Gehrig's 173 RBIs in 1927. Think of that - he was batting after Babe Ruth in 1927. So, he came up to bat 60 times that season after Ruth had hit a home run. That is, he came up to bat with the bases empty 60 more times than he might have - and had 173 RBIs.
@@teddykypriss1671 A fluke, to say the least! Never got close to that amazing RBI number again! He had 159 in 1929, then his 191. He had 123 in 1932, then dropped off a cliff in his final two years, 1933-34. I remember his record was originally 190 for decades, then a researcher found another RBI he was not credited with, hence the 191.
Truly amazing! I have a few questions. 1) Did the original footage zoom in on the plate while Ruth was batting but not during any other players’ at bats? 2) If so, why just Ruth and why not Gehrig? 3) If that was done in later editing (like by the archivists), why not do the same for Gehrig at least? 4) Most importantly, at the 4:26 mark Ruth is stealing second after his single - why in the world would you edit out that!?!? Arguably the greatest player ever is stealing a base, and you can’t give us those five seconds of history. 😢
Thank you so much for sharing these rare photos of some of the players responsible for the solid foundation of the wonderful game of baseball. God bless everyone from Patrick
Wow. Seeing the Babe and the Iron Horse both at the plate in 1 game. Little did anyone know, this was 1 of, if not the greatest team of all time, simply for the fact that they were both on it. But seeing that Gehrig hit in the lineup right after Babe, that’s even more historic. That’s just the icing on the cake. Oh, my God, man.
I do have one question, maybe someone could clarify. Is this how the tape was discovered? Or was the fast forwarding between pitches done in post production? If it’s possible to see the tape unaltered, even if it means longer periods between pitches, I’d love to see it that way. Taking in the ambiance and full play by play would be amazing. I’d love to see the Babe and Gehrig, especially, between pitches.
See (at 3:30), the Babe was not a real "fat" man in 1931, showing him running well to first base after his first hit that year in the first game. Started to weigh more than in his peak fitness at 215 (6-ft, 2-in.), but by two more years, he started ballooning up to how many remember him from later playing pics. But in his early pitching and then years hitting (1914-29), he was much slimmer, faster--on the bases and in the field, and a superb physical specimen. In 1931, at 36,, he hit a blistering .373 (199 Hits in 534 AB), 149 Runs, Slugged .700 (31 Doubles, 3 Triples), and hit 46 home runs with 162 RBIs. He led the AL in HR, Walks (128), OBP (.495), that .700 SLG, and 1.195 OPS, plus his OPS+, an un-real 218, which means he was over twice as good as the average position player, adjusted for the ballpark! He remains the only player to ever have a lifetime 200 OPS+ with his 206. The next best (Ted Williams) was far behind at only 191! In this first game for the Yankees in 1931 vs. the Red Sox at Yankee Stadium, the Babe was 2-for-3 including his first HR, and a Walk. www.baseball-reference.com/players/r/ruthba01.shtml [Standard Batting] www.baseball-reference.com/players/gl.fcgi?id=ruthba01&t=b&year=1931 [1931 Game Log]
Looks like Ruth stole 2nd after he singled, but it's not included on this film. Later in Gehrig's at bat, the Babe is standing on 2nd base. Was it a steal? A wild pitch? Passed Ball?
HOLY SHIT !!! Do you SEE WHAT LEFT CENTERFIELD LOOKED LIKE BACK THEN ??? I thought it was AMAZING when I went to my first game in 1977 when it was ONLY 430 feet but this BLOWS THAT AWAY !! The CONFIGURATION IS INSANE - left field just basically ENDS like it ran into a wall and then it just goes STRAIGHT BACK !! I think left center was 475 feet then - originally it was 490 feet when The Stadium opened in 1923 . God I WISH I HAD A TIME MACHINE !!!
Yeah there wasn’t as much of an emphasis on power overall back then. Players like Ruth and Gehrig were still kind of anomalies. But yeah what a massive park to left field. Talk about Death Valley!!!
My first Yankee game I went to was in 1973 which was the last year of the original Stadium. I was 11 years old. That outfield was gigantic! The monuments were on the field not behind the wall! It almost looked like a park was in the outfield! In fact in my young mind I couldn't comprehend it was part of the field! I was in awe of the whole place! The friese on the roof was amazing!
@@df5295 Yeah you and I are the SAME AGE ! I BEGGED my father to take me to a game in 1973 because I knew it was the last year in the original HOUSE THAT RUTH BUILT ! He was just AGAINST IT for some reason that he never explained to me - I think he just HATED the way New York had gone DOWNHILL ALREADY [ I think you KNOW WHAT I MEAN ] then since he was a kid in the 20's and 30's and had watched Gehrig and Ruth ALOT back then. It will always be a REGRET that I never made it there .
@@perryegolson833 FOR SURE !! Mantle and Dimaggio both said they lost 25 - 30 homers A YEAR because of it which IS AMAZING when you consider how many they hit ANYWAYS !
@@thebambino4728 That's an awful lot of homers! Yeah you really had to pull the ball down the line there at least to left field. I wonder how many would-be home runs ended up being doubles/triples? The great catch that Al Gionfrido made against Dimaggio in the World Series would have been a homerun at any park these days, for sure! MAN Dimaggio was great! I think he and Willie Mays might have been the best 5-tool players to ever play. They both played the toughest outfield position (center) and extremely well, both hit the ball for power, both hit for average, both were flawless on the base paths. Dimaggio, according to teammates and colleagues "never make a mistake" on the field, and it was next to impossible to strike him out. It's cool that you went to Yankee Stadium before the remodel. Great memories! I never got that opportunity.
The Bambino swipes second and , even after the film skips, the announcer never updates the situation. All the nicknames for The Babe, but “wheels” was not among them..
Watching this all white fiasco saddens me. An era where the National Pasttime was excluded from the black man. Ruth and Gehrig were fabulous players. They weren't the only ones. Oscar Charleston, Cool Papa Bell and maybe the greatest of them all. "The Black Babe Ruth," Josh Gibson. These men were the predecessors of Willie May's, Hank Aaron and the parade of black stars later on. Black players competed and excelled under conditions white players never faced. They had to constantly travel to make ends meet. Hotels and restaurants denied them entry. Even the opportunity to bathe became a hit and miss proposition. Little wonder black men dominated head to head meetings against the white major leaguers. When finally given the opportunity, their trials enobled them. Too sentimental a look at these old time games misses an honest look at the bigger picture. A time where equal opportunity was excluded to people of one race. The Caucasian one.
Love it, no batting gloves being messed with every pitch, no helmets, arm pads, ankle pads. These were men, and many had to work a Summer job after the season.
But they also didn’t have the level of athleticism you see now. Sure you had a few rare players but now, we have some super human players that throw lasers that pitchers of this era couldn’t. They would of used that stuff too back then if pitchers were throwing 100 plus and nasty breaking balls inside. It’s fun to watch these old school players nonetheless, seeing them swing wildly, weird batting stances, half ass swings but this was baseball and I love it.
Why do they keep these films hidden? Baseball was brutally discriminating back then, just like the rest of America,, but these films are still interesting to watch
@@TheBatugan77...Better off for the white man. You DO know that at that time, black people were "banned" from playing in the major leagues because of a color of their skin.
This film is amazing. I play strat-o-matic and have the 1927 Yankees team among my oldtimer teams so it was like seeing Ruth and Gehrig actually play in that statistic based Baseball game that is just so realistic. The Cardinals beat the Philly A's in the 1931 world series as the Philly A's are an overlooked great team as well. The thing I find most amazing about Ruth is that prior to becoming a great hitter he was first an excellent pitcher for several seasons with the Red Sox. The Red Sox pitcher Wilcy Moore mentioned in the video was a very good reliever / spot starter for the 1927 Yankees. Thanks for placing on RUclips. Cards fan.
@@nashbruce4196 Waite Hoyte, Herb Pennock, and Urban Shocker were good starters and they had a complete lineup with others like Lazzeri, Combs, Meusel, and good defense. They were a complete team. Playing the old teams in strat-o-matic game I have really gotten me an appreciation they were more than just Ruth and Gehrig otherwise it would not have been enough to make them the best team. The Philly A'S were coming on strong at that time.
It's interesting how the game of baseball back then compared to now is still recognizable and is still fundamentally the same. That's definitely not the case when comparing modern football, basketball and hockey to their past incarnations. You can barely recognize those.
@@MrAitraining In the early-'20s, yes. But by the 1930s, he wasn't hitting as many as the other teams combined compared to his peak from1920-23. The other teams caught up in the home run derby, if you want to label it that way.
@@freeguy77 In the early 30s, Ruth was past 35. For all of the talk about Ruth's lifestyle, the man did remarkably well for a man in his baseball 'old age'.
@@TheBatugan77 Agree! Except for his 1934-35 final year and almost 2 months (age 39-40), his batting and power numbers were outrageously sky-high. All the wannabes who hit 50+ HRs, can not have a .340+ BA and ,440+ OBP as he regularly did! Not to mention the ,700+ SLG%. The only hitter (excl The Chester) who was anywhere near those incredible same highs was Rogers Hornsby. Jimmie Foxx for his top years over .700 SLG% but not as high in the BA/OBP areas. Only Ruth combined the 2 areas: BA/OBP + SLG as high as someone could! The others fall down in one area or the other. Nobody has a .340/.440 or .700 SLG year singularly. Only B.R. could put them together regularly in the same year, almost every year from 1920-32, except his two "bad" years 1922, 1925.
Seeing all those people in the stands... god life musta been fun, nobody had their heads in a phone and people actually spoke to each other. Also, 3 bucks and you get to have the time of your life at the ball park. A tall beer a dog and some chips. Probably wasnt even that expensive.
I know. I love that about baseball. Every other major sport is pretty unrecognizable from how it was 50-60 yrs prior. Baseball from the batters box, to the dimensions, balls, strikes and the sound is just so pure and true.
This is so cool. That’s Red Ruffing pitching for the Yankees. Top 10 Yankee of all time. And the player he strikes out in top of 1st inning is Earl Webb, who in that year of 1931 set the triples record in a season with 36.
They must have had some interesting ground rules at Yankee Stadium back then with the left field porch jutting out like that. It's conceivable a player could have hit a ball ove those stands only to have it land in the field of play. 😮
Great footage and interesting contrast with the archive footage from 1920 on RUclips (Yanks vs Cleveland). You see Babe Ruth and the great Tris Speaker doing what the text (it was silent) called " the follow through swing." It was so new, introduced primarily by Ruth, and later Speaker and others in the 20s, they had to name it. You see the other hitters of that day just pushing the ball, almost half swings or push hits. Even some fairly big guys were doing those push swings , which would look very odd today. But in 1931, you see a much more modern form of baseball -- bigger swings by the big guys (not so much the lead-off hitters) and a regular wind-up and hard follow thru of the pitcher. Great footage, great contrast in the years, and shows Babe Ruth as an innovator (hard pull swing to take advantage of the short porches in Polo Grounds, Yankee Stadium and other ball parks of the day -- deep centerfields but short down the lines.
That is really good you get to see Babe Ruth's stance from behind like that. I never knew how close his feet were together then he would uncoil very good piece of film you have there.
@@Funkbutterfly The umpires called the correct strike zone back then, not like it has been for the last 30 years. From the top of the knees to the bottom of the armpit. You hardly ever see strikes called today at the letters.
You're kidding right? 13 years earlier thousands of Americans come home in bodygbags during world War I and in 11 more years thousands more Americans would come home in bodybags during world War II
I love their PA sound system. A guy with a megaphone announcing some change to the fans. Can you just imagine? Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig playing that day so long ago.
my grandfather said whem they were kids playing stickball they called louie bottle legs he was good at everything football.basketball whatever the kids were playing
The Red Sox actually had 16 STRAIGHT non winning seasons from 1919-1934. Crazy just more proof trading away the babe was the worst trade in sports history!!
Malcolm, and so does the lifetime record for Doubles, from the superb centerfielder Tris Speaker, from 1907-28, that will likely never be broken, with 792. Pete Rose is a distant second at 746. Stan Musial 3rd with 725, and Ty Cobb 4th with 724. Albert Pujols 5th with 686.
Can you believe that was 90 years ago now. My gosh all those non-existing souls here on earth, all gone. Where are they now I wonder? Will they ever return? Were their lives only a moment in time? Can't be folks. That goes to all those dummies that think we come and go forever, no longer in existence. Can't be. Gives light to the idea of a creator who gives eternal life.
This is too marvelous for words. Note that left field on the fair side of the foul pole was triple decked in1928. The right field extension wasn’t added until 1937. Yankee baseball is life
@@marksolomon4248 and 10 yrs. from now there might be a dome covering the park or better yet, a new pastime comes along and the "domed" or :doomed stadiun becomes a parking lot. I can hear Joni Mitchell singing that song.
There is nothing wrong with this camera angle to watch a game on TV. MLB should use it instead of the constant centerfield shot that they've used on every singe pitch for 50 years. This gives a better sense of the speed of the pitch. You can follow where it's going and see the angle at which it leaves the bat. You can see the alignment of the fielders. The problem with centerfield camera is that it's off axis, so you can't really see if the ball is over the plate. And you can't tell where the ball is as it breaks the plane of the plate; you can only see where the catcher catches it 3' later.
great footage. opening day 1931, film from the 1st inning. the depression taking a firm grip on the country, (yet the announced attendance 70,000) the house that ruth built. at a cost of 2.4 million. and unlike today, the owner, jacob ruppert, paid the full cost. the babe towards the end of his career and still looking fairly fit, he'd lead the league in homers (46) for the 12th and last time in 1931, he'd also hit .373, 2nd to al simmons of the a's. also 2nd with 162 rbi, behind teammate lou gehrig with 185! and despite those numbers the yankees finished 13.5 games behind the a's.
Many people would have trouble hitting a golf ball over the fence in left center or dead center. Babe had to try to pull everything as the dimensions to center field and left center was ridiculous, 475 feet. Judge can hit opposite field dingers all day in the current Yankee Stadium. If Babe played in current Yankee stadium, Judge would still need 10 more home runs to catch the Babe. GOAT.
I just checked the box score from this game. Can you believe that it was played in only 1 hour and 55 minutes? And this in a game with nine runs scored and four pitchers! Today two hours wouldn't even get you to the fifth inning.
Thank you. Now that there is almost no one alive who actually saw these games, these videos are very important and wonderful to watch.
@Larry W The famous actor (now 106) Norman Lloyd could have seen the game. Per the Wikipedia article: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_Lloyd "On October 25, 2017, just two weeks shy of his 103rd birthday, Lloyd attended Game 2 of the 2017 World Series in Los Angeles. Ninety-one years earlier, at the age of 11, he had attended Game 1 of the 1926 World Series at Yankee Stadium.[33]"
@@stephenharper4440 super cool. thanks
Sir there is no one alive who could’ve seen this game
@@raulcelaya9410 Why not? A kid who was 8 years old in 1931 could still be alive today at 99.
@@brendanjobe6895 not likely
That was one of the coolest things I've ever seen. I've been a baseball fan for 50 years and had only read stories about Gehrig, Ruth, etc and seen a few highlights. Seeing what the stadium and crowd was actually like was amazing. i never knew that Ruth's right foot was so close to the plate when he was at bat.
Wow. Footage, Sound and the radio broadcast. Amazing!
This was not a radio broadcast there is no radio broadcast of Babe Ruth playing a regular season game other then 1 all star game.
@@bobmilin It definitely wasn't TV as that didn't yet exist. So what is this? A film that people could see in theaters? Anybody know who the announcer is? He sounds like Red Barber.
GOD I would love to go back in time to be at the stadium and watch these guys play
Think how cheap the beer would be too
Me too. I’ll go with ya.
❤to watch babr ruth& lou gehrig batting practice
Me three. I'll even bet on who wins the AL Pennant (A's) and Series (Cardinals). Make a killing!
I love just listening to the radio broadcasts, but most were live and therefore lost. Very few of Ruth's playing days survive.
What a special treat to watch 90 years later. People on film will never die
April 14, 1931 My Dad turned 2 years old! I love and miss him so much.
My dad was 18 months. God I miss him.
My dad was 1 year 2 mos old. Taught me so much about the game of baseball. He just passed at 94, I miss him so much as well.
My cousin, earl combs from Richmond Kentucky. Played center field.
The Colonel!
Earle was a Hall of Famer. Great hitter. I have his 1933 Goudey baseball card.
Woe, legend of his own,part of murder row, with lou gehrig &babe ruth
@@theaterdreamer Tony "Poosh Em Up" Lazzeri played 2nd base. Bob Meusel played LF. "Jumping" Joe Dugan played 3rd base. Mark Koenig played SS. Pat Collins and Johnny Grabowski split the Catcher duties.
Earle Combs frequently batted first in the lineup, with his speed, exhibited by his 125 Triples. OPS+ 125 which means he was 25% better than the average position player, , between 1924-1935, 12 seasons, ages 25-36. Bats: L Throws: R
Earle "The Kentucky Colonel" Combs, 77 (May 14, 1899 Pebworth, KY -Jul. 21, 1976 Richmond, KY.). Inducted into the Hall of Fame (1970) by the Veterans Committee. Fans and the general public have to realize those great Yankees teams were not just Ruth and Gehrig! An above average group of others on the team (ex, Combs and Lazzeri), PLUS superb pitching, which is frequently not mentioned on why those teams were so highly rated! You can't win numerous pennants and World Series without superb pitching, and defense too!
www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/combsea01.shtml
I heard of him
So thankful that this film still exists! Two of my favorites of all time.
I feel like a little kid watching this coverage. Amazing. Thanks for uploading this video.
There was an interesting quirk at the old Yankee Stadium before the remodel in 1938. A player could hit the ball 405 feet to straightaway left field at the edge of the bleachers, and it would be a home run, but if he hit the ball 430 feet to straightaway left field, the ball would sail over the bleachers back into fair territory for a likely triple.
noticed that porch in left field, never seen that before, i'll bet those were some very sought after tickets, you're literally watching the game from left field. and then as you say, the fair territory behind it. i'll bet that left field porch ruined many a right hand batter, trying to pull everything, and how tricky for the left fielder.
why did they remodel the stadium after 1938? Also right field looked totally different after the remodel.
@@joesmith9483 The wooden bleachers were replaced with concrete, shrinking the "death valley" area of left and center substantially, although the area was still much deeper than in most ballparks; and the second and third decks were extended to short right center. Runways were left between the bleachers and the triple-deck on each end, serving as bullpens.
I just noticed that after you pointed it out. Wonder if the same thing existed in right field?
I think they shouldn’t use batting helmets today
At 2:25, that's a distant uncle of mine, Earle Combs. Great HOF player. Met him once around 1970, very nice man.
Lots of people don't realize that Babe Ruth didn't bat cleanup when Lou Gehrig was on the team. In my opinion, one of the most remarkable records in baseball history was Lou Gehrig's 173 RBIs in 1927. Think of that - he was batting after Babe Ruth in 1927. So, he came up to bat 60 times that season after Ruth had hit a home run. That is, he came up to bat with the bases empty 60 more times than he might have - and had 173 RBIs.
Most baseball fans DO know that. It's why Ruth was number 3 and Gehrig was number 4
@@tnyc3265 yes. Absolutely
But the record for most rbi in a season is 191 by Hack Wilson who played for the Cubs in 1930
@@TonysMusic1974 I was wondering if their famous uniform numbers had anything to do with their batting lineup positions. Could be!
@@teddykypriss1671 A fluke, to say the least! Never got close to that amazing RBI number again! He had 159 in 1929, then his 191. He had 123 in 1932, then dropped off a cliff in his final two years, 1933-34. I remember his record was originally 190 for decades, then a researcher found another RBI he was not credited with, hence the 191.
Truly amazing! I have a few questions. 1) Did the original footage zoom in on the plate while Ruth was batting but not during any other players’ at bats? 2) If so, why just Ruth and why not Gehrig? 3) If that was done in later editing (like by the archivists), why not do the same for Gehrig at least? 4) Most importantly, at the 4:26 mark Ruth is stealing second after his single - why in the world would you edit out that!?!? Arguably the greatest player ever is stealing a base, and you can’t give us those five seconds of history. 😢
Eric, my boy, you're a Whiner.
What a treat to watch Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth!
Thank you so much for sharing these rare photos of some of the players responsible for the solid foundation of the wonderful game of baseball. God bless everyone from Patrick
Most underrated video in sports
i love that the announcer doesn't jabber constantly like they do today...you can hear the crowd too..packed stadium..love it..
Wow. Seeing the Babe and the Iron Horse both at the plate in 1 game. Little did anyone know, this was 1 of, if not the greatest team of all time, simply for the fact that they were both on it. But seeing that Gehrig hit in the lineup right after Babe, that’s even more historic. That’s just the icing on the cake. Oh, my God, man.
In ‘31 they were about the 3rd best team behind St Louis and Philly A’s
The 1927 Yanks were a better team, halfwit
I would rather watch this in its quality than any modern games today.
I do have one question, maybe someone could clarify. Is this how the tape was discovered? Or was the fast forwarding between pitches done in post production? If it’s possible to see the tape unaltered, even if it means longer periods between pitches, I’d love to see it that way. Taking in the ambiance and full play by play would be amazing.
I’d love to see the Babe and Gehrig, especially, between pitches.
Baseball so much history
Wish I had $1000 and a time machine. I’d buy as many baseball cards as I could find, come back to 2022 and live like a King!!!!
See (at 3:30), the Babe was not a real "fat" man in 1931, showing him running well to first base after his first hit that year in the first game. Started to weigh more than in his peak fitness at 215 (6-ft, 2-in.), but by two more years, he started ballooning up to how many remember him from later playing pics. But in his early pitching and then years hitting (1914-29), he was much slimmer, faster--on the bases and in the field, and a superb physical specimen. In 1931, at 36,, he hit a blistering .373 (199 Hits in 534 AB), 149 Runs, Slugged .700 (31 Doubles, 3 Triples), and hit 46 home runs with 162 RBIs. He led the AL in HR, Walks (128), OBP (.495), that .700 SLG, and 1.195 OPS, plus his OPS+, an un-real 218, which means he was over twice as good as the average position player, adjusted for the ballpark! He remains the only player to ever have a lifetime 200 OPS+ with his 206. The next best (Ted Williams) was far behind at only 191!
In this first game for the Yankees in 1931 vs. the Red Sox at Yankee Stadium, the Babe was 2-for-3 including his first HR, and a Walk.
www.baseball-reference.com/players/r/ruthba01.shtml
[Standard Batting]
www.baseball-reference.com/players/gl.fcgi?id=ruthba01&t=b&year=1931 [1931 Game Log]
Looks like Ruth stole 2nd after he singled, but it's not included on this film. Later in Gehrig's at bat, the Babe is standing on 2nd base. Was it a steal? A wild pitch? Passed Ball?
@@kikovazquez7277 Retrosheet lists it as a stolen base.
HOLY SHIT !!! Do you SEE WHAT LEFT CENTERFIELD LOOKED LIKE BACK THEN ??? I thought it was AMAZING when I went to my first game in 1977 when it was ONLY 430 feet but this BLOWS THAT AWAY !! The CONFIGURATION IS INSANE - left field just basically ENDS like it ran into a wall and then it just goes STRAIGHT BACK !! I think left center was 475 feet then - originally it was 490 feet when The Stadium opened in 1923 . God I WISH I HAD A TIME MACHINE !!!
Yeah there wasn’t as much of an emphasis on power overall back then. Players like Ruth and Gehrig were still kind of anomalies. But yeah what a massive park to left field. Talk about Death Valley!!!
My first Yankee game I went to was in 1973 which was the last year of the original Stadium. I was 11 years old. That outfield was gigantic! The monuments were on the field not behind the wall! It almost looked like a park was in the outfield! In fact in my young mind I couldn't comprehend it was part of the field! I was in awe of the whole place! The friese on the roof was amazing!
@@df5295 Yeah you and I are the SAME AGE ! I BEGGED my father to take me to a game in 1973 because I knew it was the last year in the original HOUSE THAT RUTH BUILT ! He was just AGAINST IT for some reason that he never explained to me - I think he just HATED the way New York had gone DOWNHILL ALREADY [ I think you KNOW WHAT I MEAN ] then since he was a kid in the 20's and 30's and had watched Gehrig and Ruth ALOT back then. It will always be a REGRET that I never made it there .
@@perryegolson833 FOR SURE !! Mantle and Dimaggio both said they lost 25 - 30 homers A YEAR because of it which IS AMAZING when you consider how many they hit ANYWAYS !
@@thebambino4728 That's an awful lot of homers! Yeah you really had to pull the ball down the line there at least to left field. I wonder how many would-be home runs ended up being doubles/triples?
The great catch that Al Gionfrido made against Dimaggio in the World Series would have been a homerun at any park these days, for sure! MAN Dimaggio was great! I think he and Willie Mays might have been the best 5-tool players to ever play. They both played the toughest outfield position (center) and extremely well, both hit the ball for power, both hit for average, both were flawless on the base paths. Dimaggio, according to teammates and colleagues "never make a mistake" on the field, and it was next to impossible to strike him out.
It's cool that you went to Yankee Stadium before the remodel. Great memories! I never got that opportunity.
Players actually sprinting to 1st base even on outs. Baseball today is a far cry from what it used to be in so many ways.
That's great footage. Thank you for posting this. If you have any more I would love to see it.
Wowwww…any footage, really , of these times is priceless to me…pretty cool though I must say.
The game is timeless.
Man I wish there were full games to watch
That was pleasing on so many levels for me thank you for posting.
Wow. This is amazing. Game play footage with sound of Babe and Lou in the original (and greatest) Yankee Stadium.
The brush back pitches along make this very wonderful indeed. When baseball was baseball.
At 4:27 the "big guy" stole second base - the film unhappily skipped at that moment.
The Bambino swipes second and , even after the film skips, the announcer never updates the situation. All the nicknames for The Babe, but “wheels” was not among them..
Watching this all white fiasco saddens me. An era where the National Pasttime was excluded from the black man. Ruth and Gehrig were fabulous players. They weren't the only ones. Oscar Charleston, Cool Papa Bell and maybe the greatest of them all. "The Black Babe Ruth," Josh Gibson. These men were the predecessors of Willie May's, Hank Aaron and the parade of black stars later on. Black players competed and excelled under conditions white players never faced. They had to constantly travel to make ends meet. Hotels and restaurants denied them entry. Even the opportunity to bathe became a hit and miss proposition. Little wonder black men dominated head to head meetings against the white major leaguers. When finally given the opportunity, their trials enobled them. Too sentimental a look at these old time games misses an honest look at the bigger picture. A time where equal opportunity was excluded to people of one race. The Caucasian one.
The Boston pitcher is Wilcy Moore who was a pitcher on the great 1927 Yankees.
Love it, no batting gloves being messed with every pitch, no helmets, arm pads, ankle pads. These were men, and many had to work a Summer job after the season.
Helmets were the only good addition for equipment in baseball history.
But they also didn’t have the level of athleticism you see now. Sure you had a few rare players but now, we have some super human players that throw lasers that pitchers of this era couldn’t. They would of used that stuff too back then if pitchers were throwing 100 plus and nasty breaking balls inside. It’s fun to watch these old school players nonetheless, seeing them swing wildly, weird batting stances, half ass swings but this was baseball and I love it.
The pitcher is probably throwing 80 tops. Catcher stands up telling me it's coming in pretty damn slow.
Oh my God. This is fantastic. This game was 90 years ago.
Why do they keep these films hidden? Baseball was brutally discriminating back then, just like the rest of America,, but these films are still interesting to watch
Things were better off back then.
@@TheBatugan77 Only if you were white.
@@TheBatugan77...Better off for the white man. You DO know that at that time, black people were "banned" from playing in the major leagues because of a color of their skin.
This film is amazing. I play strat-o-matic and have the 1927 Yankees team among my oldtimer teams so it was like seeing Ruth and Gehrig actually play in that statistic based Baseball game that is just so realistic. The Cardinals beat the Philly A's in the 1931 world series as the Philly A's are an overlooked great team as well. The thing I find most amazing about Ruth is that prior to becoming a great hitter he was first an excellent pitcher for several seasons with the Red Sox. The Red Sox pitcher Wilcy Moore mentioned in the video was a very good reliever / spot starter for the 1927 Yankees. Thanks for placing on RUclips. Cards fan.
The '27 team in SOM was 🔥And that's even factoring in that the staff was nothing too remarkable. That lineup tho 😳😬
@@nashbruce4196 Waite Hoyte, Herb Pennock, and Urban Shocker were good starters and they had a complete lineup with others like Lazzeri, Combs, Meusel, and good defense. They were a complete team. Playing the old teams in strat-o-matic game I have really gotten me an appreciation they were more than just Ruth and Gehrig otherwise it would not have been enough to make them the best team. The Philly A'S were coming on strong at that time.
I think Wilcy Moore was the one Babe Ruth poked fun at because of his (Moore's) poor hitting.
@@brendanjobe6895 Interesting.
@@larryloveless2967 It was something like, "You won't get 5 hits all season" - and Wilcy Moore got exactly 5 that year. Babe paid up, whatever it was.
Watching this is fascinating ..
Amazing head pulling wild swings! I think their secret was just being bigger than everyone else! Pretty awesome.
It's interesting how the game of baseball back then compared to now is still recognizable and is still fundamentally the same. That's definitely not the case when comparing modern football, basketball and hockey to their past incarnations. You can barely recognize those.
This was pretty great. Yankee Stadium...still a "new" stadium at this point. So sad its gone 😞
I love watching these old baseball films. Thanks for posting this.
My birthday is April 14. This was decades before I was born.
Opening Day, 1st inning for both teams. Yankees go on to win 6-3. Ruth went on to homer. Awesome video!!!!
This is a gem
*1:14** The announcer calls the batter (Boston's first baseman Sweeney) the "first **_sacker"_** because they used to use actual sacks for bases.*
I encourage Babe Ruth fans to read 'The Year Babe Ruth Hit 104 Home Runs.'. It explains how big parks were in his day, versus today. Educational!
What ruth was doing compared to the rest of the competition then is like a guy hitting 100 home runs today.
@@MrAitraining In the early-'20s, yes. But by the 1930s, he wasn't hitting as many as the other teams combined compared to his peak from1920-23. The other teams caught up in the home run derby, if you want to label it that way.
@@freeguy77
In the early 30s, Ruth was past 35. For all of the talk about Ruth's lifestyle, the man did remarkably well for a man in his baseball 'old age'.
@@TheBatugan77 Agree! Except for his 1934-35 final year and almost 2 months (age 39-40), his batting and power numbers were outrageously sky-high. All the wannabes who hit 50+ HRs, can not have a .340+ BA and ,440+ OBP as he regularly did! Not to mention the ,700+ SLG%. The only hitter (excl The Chester) who was anywhere near those incredible same highs was Rogers Hornsby. Jimmie Foxx for his top years over .700 SLG% but not as high in the BA/OBP areas. Only Ruth combined the 2 areas: BA/OBP + SLG as high as someone could! The others fall down in one area or the other. Nobody has a .340/.440 or .700 SLG year singularly. Only B.R. could put them together regularly in the same year, almost every year from 1920-32, except his two "bad" years 1922, 1925.
Seeing all those people in the stands... god life musta been fun, nobody had their heads in a phone and people actually spoke to each other. Also, 3 bucks and you get to have the time of your life at the ball park. A tall beer a dog and some chips. Probably wasnt even that expensive.
WOW!! This is MAGNIFICENT!
Per Baseball Reference, Babe Ruth homered for Bombers and Tom Winsett went deep for the BoSox in this game.
just outstanding ! what a treat ...different world
Doesn't look much different then baseball I'm watching in 2022. Baseball is timeless.
I know. I love that about baseball. Every other major sport is pretty unrecognizable from how it was 50-60 yrs prior. Baseball from the batters box, to the dimensions, balls, strikes and the sound is just so pure and true.
Wow! That's field of dreams stuff right there. Please post more.
If there was a newborn baby in the stands...he/she would be 90 years old now (if still alive). This was written in spring of 2021.
This is so cool. That’s Red Ruffing pitching for the Yankees. Top 10 Yankee of all time. And the player he strikes out in top of 1st inning is Earl Webb, who in that year of 1931 set the triples record in a season with 36.
They must have had some interesting ground rules at Yankee Stadium back then with the left field porch jutting out like that. It's conceivable a player could have hit a ball ove those stands only to have it land in the field of play. 😮
I’m so amazed that for the first time in hosrty we can sit and watch people from 100 years ago playing baseball just wow
Great footage and interesting contrast with the archive footage from 1920 on RUclips (Yanks vs Cleveland). You see Babe Ruth and the great Tris Speaker doing what the text (it was silent) called " the follow through swing." It was so new, introduced primarily by Ruth, and later Speaker and others in the 20s, they had to name it. You see the other hitters of that day just pushing the ball, almost half swings or push hits. Even some fairly big guys were doing those push swings , which would look very odd today. But in 1931, you see a much more modern form of baseball -- bigger swings by the big guys (not so much the lead-off hitters) and a regular wind-up and hard follow thru of the pitcher. Great footage, great contrast in the years, and shows Babe Ruth as an innovator (hard pull swing to take advantage of the short porches in Polo Grounds, Yankee Stadium and other ball parks of the day -- deep centerfields but short down the lines.
That is really good you get to see Babe Ruth's stance from behind like that. I never knew how close his feet were together then he would uncoil very good piece of film you have there.
Ruth had a stance like a cobra attacking and held the bat low to his waist.
Is that how Shoeless Joe Jackson was too or did Ruth just copy the swing I think it was just the swing.
funny how the catchers then kinda half stood for each pitch,Babe had a lot of wrist action in his swing with a closed stance.
Such a strange batting stance right?
@@Funkbutterfly The umpires called the correct strike zone back then, not like it has been for the last 30 years. From the top of the knees to the bottom of the armpit. You hardly ever see strikes called today at the letters.
Wow how blessed was people living in that lifespan
You're kidding right?
13 years earlier thousands of Americans come home in bodygbags during world War I and in 11 more years thousands more Americans would come home in bodybags during world War II
Caused the greatest imbalance between 2 teams in the history of sports!
I was there that day and got autographed baseballs from Ruth and Gehrig after the game. I also now own the Brooklyn Bridge. 😀
I hear you blow people under the Brooklyn Bridge, liverlips.
Could watch all day and all night
The Babe, ate 100 hotdogs with 3 pichers of beer, stayed awake until 3am. Then, he went to a 6am batting practice.
More than man less than a god ♥️
wow, a Red Sox film from 90 years ago with a really cool public address system announcement at the end
I didn't know Gehrig did the one step same as Ruth. You don't see many batter these days doing the one step. I guess Gehrig got it from Ruth.
I wish I owned a time machine, this is the next best thing, no batting gloves, no batting helmets , megaphone 📣 and all, thanks for posting 👍
"Webb's at the plate for the Red Sox" (1:45). Earl Webb hit 67 doubles that year. Remains the all time single season record.
I love their PA sound system. A guy with a megaphone announcing some change to the fans. Can you just imagine? Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig playing that day so long ago.
When I was young, I knew people who saw the Babe and Lou play. We used to talk about them quite a bit.
my grandfather said whem they were kids playing stickball they called louie bottle legs he was good at everything football.basketball whatever the kids were playing
Earl Webb, the cleanup hitter for the Red Sox (who struck out in this video), would go on to hit 67 doubles in 1931. That record still stands.
The Red Sox actually had 16 STRAIGHT non winning seasons from 1919-1934. Crazy just more proof trading away the babe was the worst trade in sports history!!
Malcolm, and so does the lifetime record for Doubles, from the superb centerfielder Tris Speaker, from 1907-28, that will likely never be broken, with 792. Pete Rose is a distant second at 746. Stan Musial 3rd with 725, and Ty Cobb 4th with 724. Albert Pujols 5th with 686.
The jersey numbers correspond to the batting order 1-4 - is that a coincidence? Or is that the origin of Babe’s #3 and Gehrig’s #4?
Yes, that was the origin of those numbers.
Can you believe that was 90 years ago now. My gosh all those non-existing souls here on earth, all gone. Where are they now I wonder? Will they ever return? Were their lives only a moment in time? Can't be folks. That goes to all those dummies that think we come and go forever, no longer in existence. Can't be. Gives light to the idea of a creator who gives eternal life.
Wow ! the house that RUTH built , very awesome stadium !
1931 was a good year; a baby was born, in Commerce, Oklahoma, who'd go on to great things in Yankee Stadium
DAVID R Babe and Lou were already playing in the stadium by then so I can only assume you mean Joe DiMaggio or Hank Aaron.
Rodney White hes talking about Mickey Mantle of course. Born in Oklahoma
Hunter Lewis oh. Cool.
1931 gave us Mays, Mantle & Ernie Banks. And my Dad. Good year.
@@rodneywhite3651 some kid , who was a "switch" hitter, who hit tape measure home runs, and could run like a deer
The person who filmed this wouldn't have thought someone would be watching this 90 yrs, later.
This is too marvelous for words. Note that left field on the fair side of the foul pole was triple decked in1928. The right field extension wasn’t added until 1937. Yankee baseball is life
@@marksolomon4248 and 10 yrs. from now there might be a dome covering the park or better yet, a new pastime comes along and the "domed" or :doomed stadiun becomes a parking lot. I can hear Joni Mitchell singing that song.
I bet it was awesome to watch these guys play in person!
Very awesome, thank you so much
We need this colorized
Can't believe # 99 just overtook the Babe. Excellent footage.
60... The Babe
61... Roger.
62... All Rise.
All Yankees right fielders.
I can’t imagine pinch runners in those days so I am guessing we get to see a Babe Ruth stolen base here. Great video
at 4:25 you can see Babe Ruth steal 2nd base.
And he has a pretty big lead on 2nd after that.
@Edward Szewczyk True, but this time he made it
My Dad & his twin sister were six days old when this game was played.
Notice how catchers, back in the day were practically standing up when the pitch was about to be delivered.
I think the American League was known for the high strike zone due to the chest protectors the umpires wore
Wonderful video.
Was watching Mickey Mantle's retirement in 69 the other day. Yankee Stadium had become quite the dump by that time..
There is nothing wrong with this camera angle to watch a game on TV. MLB should use it instead of the constant centerfield shot that they've used on every singe pitch for 50 years.
This gives a better sense of the speed of the pitch. You can follow where it's going and see the angle at which it leaves the bat. You can see the alignment of the fielders.
The problem with centerfield camera is that it's off axis, so you can't really see if the ball is over the plate. And you can't tell where the ball is as it breaks the plane of the plate; you can only see where the catcher catches it 3' later.
great footage. opening day 1931, film from the 1st inning. the depression taking a firm grip on the country, (yet the announced attendance 70,000) the house that ruth built. at a cost of 2.4 million. and unlike today, the owner, jacob ruppert, paid the full cost. the babe towards the end of his career and still looking fairly fit, he'd lead the league in homers (46) for the 12th and last time in 1931, he'd also hit .373, 2nd to al simmons of the a's. also 2nd with 162 rbi, behind teammate lou gehrig with 185! and despite those numbers the yankees finished 13.5 games behind the a's.
Many people would have trouble hitting a golf ball over the fence in left center or dead center. Babe had to try to pull everything as the dimensions to center field and left center was ridiculous, 475 feet. Judge can hit opposite field dingers all day in the current Yankee Stadium.
If Babe played in current Yankee stadium, Judge would still need 10 more home runs to catch the Babe. GOAT.
Awesome stuff. Any idea who the radio announcer was?
This was not a radio broadcast the announcer was doing a film of the game.
Anyone know what the deal is w/ the marching band? I found that most interesting.
LOL - with the parade of players following. Yeah...that was a headscratcher for me too.
Opening day ceremonies. First game of the 1931 season.
Priceless
Just as much as watching the Players, I would love to be in the stands watching the peanut hawkers and the crowd, Then take the El wherever it goes...
I just checked the box score from this game. Can you believe that it was played in only 1 hour and 55 minutes? And this in a game with nine runs scored and four pitchers! Today two hours wouldn't even get you to the fifth inning.
Good video -----Thanks!⚾
Did catchers not crouch as low back then as they do now?