Two games at two ballparks in two separate uniforms. The Bambino’s frenetic day across North Philadelphia nearly 98 years ago
PHILADELPHIA, September 4, 1923 – A black sedan idled by the players’ entrance to Shibe Park. The driver patiently waited for the game between the New York Yankees and Philadelphia Athletics to end in a timely fashion. His sole job was to safely deliver the most famous man in America to a parish rectory nearly four miles to the east.
By the start of the third decade of the twentieth century, Babe Ruth was the most popular man in the country – its preeminent drawing card. The Colossus of Clout, The King of Crash, The Sultan of Swat. Mention those names and reap an instant bonanza. The Yankees were baseball royalty and Ruth was its king.
Father William V. Casey was a man on a mission. As rector of Ascension of Our Lord Parish in the working class Kensington neighborhood, he pastored one of the largest parishes in Philadelphia. The parish was also home to hundreds of children who needed wholesome after-school activities. Casey took out a loan to construct a baseball field at the corner of I and Tioga Streets.
While the ball field received plenty of use between the parish’s semi-pro team and neighborhood children, the loan would not pay for itself. Trying to avoid going into arrears of the debt, Casey tried to concoct a money-making plan. It was his other job that provided – if agreed to – the plan for the perfect fundraiser.
In addition to being pastor at Ascension, Father Casey was also employed by Athletics manager Connie Mack to serve as the team’s chaplain. That summer, Casey devised his plan. The Yankees were in Philadelphia for a four-game series against the Mackmen in late-July. Sometime during that visit, Casey approached Ruth and gave him his best sales pitch.
Most likely remembering his days from St. Mary’s Industrial School in Baltimore and having a soft spot for kids, Ruth eagerly agreed to Casey’s plan. The benefit game would be played in early-September during New York’s next trip to Philadelphia. Weather permitting, the exhibition would certainly raise enough funds to cover the loan.
The event was officially scheduled. The Ascension Catholic Club would square off against the team from Lit Brothers Department Store on September 4 at 6 o’clock in the evening. The plan was daring. The Yankees-Athletics game at Shibe Park was scheduled for 3:30 in the afternoon. With the late-summer sun disappearing over the horizon earlier by the day, a 6 o’clock start time was precarious.
Fortunately for Father Casey and the baseball fans who descended upon Kensington, Sad Sam Jones was on the mound for the Bronx Bombers at Shibe Park that afternoon. Pitching the game of his life, Jones no-hit the Athletics in a crisp one hour and twenty-three minutes. Amazingly, Sad Sam struck out nary a batter (the second such no-hit game in major league history).
Once Athletics shortstop Chick Galloway was thrown out trying to reach on a bunt single – securing Sad Sam’s masterpiece – the Yankees bolted for their first base dugout, trying to avoid the onrushing crowd. Inside of the clubhouse, Ruth grabbed a bottle of Hires root beer and headed to his locker. He packed a glove, a few bats, and while still in his Yankees uniform, walked out to the waiting car on Lehigh Avenue.
With less than an hour to go before the start of the exhibition in Kensington, Ruth’s car sped along Allegheny Avenue to the church rectory at F and Westmoreland Streets. Once inside Father Casey jovially greeted the slugger and handed him a custom made, pinstriped Ascension uniform. Now suited up in his crisp, new togs, Ruth hopped back into the sedan which would take him the remaining few blocks to the ball field.
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The scene at the tiny field on Tioga Street was one to behold. Over 10,000 spectators crammed into the wooden grandstand and surrounding area. Factory windows with a view of the diamond were filled with curious onlookers. Behind the left field wall, a berm between Venango Street and tracks of the Pennsylvania Railroad were teeming with thousands of rooters – mostly kids – just hoping to get a look at the prodigious slugger.
The team from Lit Brothers had trekked from their home field at 48th and Spruce Streets in West Philadelphia earlier that afternoon. Pitcher Lefty Gransbach had the unenviable task of trying to keep Ruth from launching a ball to the moon. The thousands in attendance wanted to see long ball fireworks from The Colossus of Clout.
As usual, The Bambino did not disappoint. Ruth would bat cleanup and play first base in the field. As the Babe prepared to lead off the bottom of the second inning, Father Casey and the Ascension players walked to home plate for a small ceremony to show their gratitude. Father Casey presented Ruth with a diamond stick pin as a token of their appreciation. Ruth was left speechless.
Ruth would pop out during his first at-bat. During his next trip to the plate, in the bottom of the fourth inning, the Sultan of Swat gave the gawkers exactly what they had come to see – only without the expected result. Ruth pulverized a Gransbach offering over the short right field fence deep into the twilight. The ball was headed to K Street. Some in attendance would later state that the ball traveled some 600 feet. Since the distance to the right field wall was so short, even by semi-pro standards, the mammoth drive was ruled merely a ground rule double.
His next plate appearance produced a weak grounder to second base. With Ascension trailing 2-0 entering the bottom of the ninth inning, Ruth would provide the local denizens with a dash of theatrics. The Babe stepped to the plate with one out and promptly lofted a mile high fly ball to left field. The left fielder lost the ball in the twilight and Ruth ended up at second base.
The next batter, catcher Charlie White, walked and the tying run was on base. Ascension manager Bill Ferguson then called for a double steal. Quite a daring move considering the man occupying second base was the finest ballplayer on the face of the earth. The throw went down to second base and White was caught in a rundown.
The Babe was not satisfied just taking third base. With White caught between first and second, Ruth never broke stride. He threw his bulk over the dish, arriving in a cloud of dust for Ascension’s lone run of the contest. White was tagged out at second base at the end of the rundown for out number two. One batter later, the game was over and Lit Brothers was victorious, 2-1.
Despite the final score, the evening’s festivities were a rousing success. The financial windfall from the fundraiser exceeded even Father Casey’s expectations. The monies raised were enough to pay off the loan. In addition to the gate receipts, Ruth autographed dozens of baseballs for the princely sum of $5 apiece. For many in Kensington’s working class neighborhood, five dollars was a financial setback – a week’s salary in some cases.
In addition to the leather spheres that bore his signature, Ruth didn’t forget about the neighborhood kids on the berm beyond left field. Before the start of the eighth inning, the Babe walked over to left field and tossed a ball into the crowd of youngsters. An inning later, he tossed a few more as well as floating a few balls into the crowd with his bat. A mad rush for the prized souvenirs ensued to the delight of the Babe and the rest of the players.
As a man who did not shy away from the spotlight, Ruth was one hundred percent in his element. After the game, the Babe stuck around to rub elbows, indulge autograph seekers, and hold court with local kids. It was now dark and the Yankees had another game at Shibe Park the following afternoon. The driver finally got Ruth back into the car and they motored down Kensington Avenue so that the Babe could rejoin his teammates at the Bellevue-Stratford Hotel in Center City.
Father Casey’s plan worked to perfection! Babe Ruth happily fulfilled his duty. And, the residents of Kensington and parishioners of Ascension of Our Lord Parish had memories to last a lifetime and stories to be passed down for generations.
After all, it’s what baseball is all about!
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