Original fan photos of Johnny Vander Meer's 2nd consec no-hitter- 1st night game NY

[Scott Garner]

I just recently acquired 4 very rare original B/W fan photos from Johnny Vander's historic 2nd consecutive no-hitter which was also the first night game at Ebbet's Field on June 15, 1938. All photos were shot with a 35mm camera and are 4' x 6" in size.

As background, very few photos exist to this game. To find four that were shot from a fan's perspective is exceedingly rare. The lucky fan that attended this game sat directly behind the Brooklyn Dodgers dugout.

The photos feature:
1) Brooklyn Dodgers players out on the field to watch the Drum and Bugle Corp celebration event that immediately preceded the game. Olympic hero Jesse Owens was the honored guest in celebration of the 1st night game ever at Ebbet's Field. BTW, does anyone recognize any of the Dodgers players in the foreground?

2) The postgame celebration following the last pitch of Vandy's no-hitter. Fans stormed the field and what you see is Vander Meer surrounded by crazed fans as he literally had to be escorted off the field.

Although the hometown Dodgers were Vandy's victims that night, he was very much considered a local hero having grown up not far away in Midland Park, NJ. Over 500 people from Midland Park and Patterson, NJ were in attendance that night to honor Vandy before the game for his no-hitter on 6/11/38. During this ceremony he received a Key to the City of Midland Park from the mayor. It's important to note that Vander Meer, being Dutch, was a hero to the many people of Dutch heritage that transplanted to the NY and NJ region when they first settled in the US.

3) A downtrodden Brooklyn Dodgers team sulking back to their dugout after the game.

4) The last photo is an interesting one!! Anyone care to guess who the person is in the light colored suit and dark tan at the bottom left that is walking across the field to greet to Dodgers players out in front of the Brooklyn dugout?

Hint: His presence was historic as the Dodgers made a major announcement regarding him in the upcoming days following Vandy's no-hitter.

[GKreindler]

Mr. Ruth was indeed in attendance that night!

GREAT pick-ups, Scott. I've seen prints of them on eBay every now and again, but never the originals. Way to go!

Graig

[deebro041]

Looks like The Bambino! Great photos Scott!

[jerseygary]

The Babe later sat down next to Vander Meer after the game and he said that meeting Ruth was a bigger thrill to him then pitching no-hitter number two! Those are really great pictures to see, thanks for sharing them!

[whitehse]

Those are just way too cool!! Nice pickups!

[thecatspajamas]

Nice pick-ups, and an appropriate resting place/collection for them to be added to!

[Scott Garner]

Originally Posted by GKreindler

Mr. Ruth was indeed in attendance that night!

GREAT pick-ups, Scott. I've seen prints of them on eBay every now and again, but never the originals. Way to go!

Graig

Graig & Dan,

You are indeed correct! That is The Big Bam, in the flesh!
Babe actually met with Johnny Vander Meer prior to his historic second consecutive no-hitter. Vander Meer recalled the meeting in fan letters and interviews through the years following his double no-no. Ruth visited him to congratulate him on his first no-hitter that occured on 6/11/38, four days earlier. They discussed the possibility of hunting together since they were both avid sportsman. Vandy and Babe did hunt and possibly fish several times together. Vandy stated that he did not have a subsequent meeting with Babe after the 2nd no-hitter, for the record.

Here is a postcard that features this conversation on the bench prior to the first night game at Ebbets Field that I picked up recently. The player to the right is Reds pitcher Paul Derringer and this postcard originated from his estate a number of years ago.

I also attached a scan of a fan letter where Vandy recalls his first meeting with Babe Ruth out of my collection.

The game ball from Vandy's 2nd no-hitter I do not own (but wish I did ), but was part of Seth Swirsky's collection that Heritage sold a few months ago.

[mcgwirecom]

sweet pics Scott! Ruth sporting the open collar. I read that he forgot his tie at the original HOF induction and thats why he had an open collar at that, but I guess he liked it!

[Scott Garner]

Gary, Andrew, Lance and Randall,
Thanks for the kind words! I'm glad you liked seeing them.

[doug.goodman]

just wow

[Kawika]

The Babe would have been right at home in the Disco Era in that leisure suit.
Very cool photos, Scott, a glimpse into another time. Somewhere in the borough of Brooklyn that long-ago Wednesday evening my young mother,
eleven years old at the time, was probably doing homework or listening to the radio. She's not in your picture, but that's what I'm seeing.
It's hard to make out the players' faces but Baseball Almanac dot com http://tinyurl.com/bjnubqj tells us that number 4 was Dolph Camilli.
The player sporting what I make to be number 6 on the right would be second baseman Johnny Hudson. (If that's an "8" it would be third-string
catcher Paul Chervinko who wasn't in the box score, and, besides, Hudson's bbref.com photo suggests he's your man). Three players on the roster
had a zero as their second digit: Centerfielder Ernie Koy #20, Utility Man Gibby Brack #30 and substitute catcher Roy Spencer #10. I'd go with Koy
by virtue of his large size; the vague look we get from the back doesn't disagree with his bbref.com pic (how's that for science?). The short guy
with his head turned to the right might well be Gibby Brack. He was a bit of a funny looking fellow and he was in the lineup that night. Or it could be
the batboy. We can be pretty sure that number 32 is not Koufax; the guy in the fedora next to him is almost certainly Barry Sloate who was a Cub Reporter
in the Spelling Department at the Brooklyn Eagle at the time.





Yeah, I know. I've got a lot of time on my hands.

[Scott Garner]

Wow David,
Thanks for checking in! That's some terrific detective work and I appreciate you taking the time to add the possible player info.

You are correct that Babe could have fit right in with the disco era. I suspect that the time he spent in FL in the off season probably made this an easy choice to sport the open collared look.

When I first looked at these photos, I was also struck by what a different era it was. Male patrons all wore suits and hats. I particularly was grabbed by the panoramic shots that show the grandstands at Ebbets in all of its grandeur, packed to the hilt with over 38,000 in attendance for the first night game ever in NY. Two of the photos feature the newly installed GE lights. To most of the patrons in attendance this was something completely new, as baseball in NY was always played during the day.

Perhaps many of you know this, but night baseball in the major leagues was the innovation of HOF'er Larry McPhail. Night baseball was already being used very effectively in the minor leagues, and while with the Columbus Red Birds, McPhail saw the dramatic improvement in night game attendance first hand.

As GM of the Cincinnati Reds, McPhail was tasked with increasing annual gate attendance during the Great Depression. He knew that the men of the household mostly worked during the day, so it was a huge challenge to increase day baseball attendance. McPhail reasoned that adding 7 night games a year would increase gate attendance enough that they could afford to add one star player to the roster every year instead of every third year. Seven night games was chosen because it would allow them to play each of the other teams in the NL in a night game. After much resistance, McPhail successfully introduced night baseball in Cincinnati in 1935.

When Larry McPhail came to the Brooklyn Dodgers as GM in 1938, the Dodgers organization was virtually bankrupt. Bringing night baseball to Ebbets was McPhail's first prime initiatives as he knew this would be essential to successfully turn around the franchise.

Here is a photo of Larry McPhail in January, 1938 when he first took over as GM of the Brooklyn Dodgers.

[Kawika]

[Kawika]

Scott: The foregoing photos are four panels of a 1940 panorama of the Ebbets Field signage prepared by the Harry M. Stevens Co. for the purpose of touting their advertising capabilities to potential vendors. (I have similar contemporary panels for Yankee Stadium and the Polo Grounds). They might make interesting "ancillary" dakine for your snapshots. I posted them nice and large so you can get all the detail. You can see that some of the signage from your photos still remains two seasons later.

[Scott Garner]

Originally Posted by Kawika

Scott: The foregoing photos are four panels of a 1940 panorama of the Ebbets Field signage prepared by the Harry M. Stevens Co. for the purpose of touting their advertising capabilities to potential vendors. (I have similar contemporary panels for Yankee Stadium and the Polo Grounds). They might make interesting "ancillary" dakine for your snapshots. I posted them nice and large so you can get all the detail. You can see that some of the signage from your photos still remains two seasons later.

Great photos of the signage, David! Thanks for posting them.

[Rjskead]

Great stuff. i just joined the forum. I'm a Vandy fan as well. See www.johnnyvandermeer.com, read the story behind the story under the kids book tab to see why. Vandy's granddaughter justed inherited vandy's game balls that he had lent to the town until his granddaughter became a certain age.

[Big Dave]

Here is film from that event.

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?...s_mlb&c_id=mlb

[Scott Garner]

Originally Posted by Rjskead

Great stuff. i just joined the forum. I'm a Vandy fan as well. See www.johnnyvandermeer.com, read the story behind the story under the kids book tab to see why. Vandy's granddaughter justed inherited vandy's game balls that he had lent to the town until his granddaughter became a certain age.

Rob,
Welcome to net54! Thanks!
I've seen your website and read about your Vandy children's e-book.
Very cool!

[Scott Garner]

Originally Posted by Big Dave

Here is film from that event.

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?...s_mlb&c_id=mlb

Hi Dave,
Thanks for providing the link. I love the old footage. Definitely a different era!