Babe Ruth In Memphis, 1922
 

On the Orpheum Circuit. From what I've read, he walked out on stage in civilian clothes, sat down on a stool, and answered questions on pretty much any subject from the 150 or so people who attended, and signed many autographs.

Joe DiMaggio and Fans, 1938
 

Some people say he could be difficult. These fans didn't find him so, and I have an official AL ball signed by him at the children's hospital over on the other coast of Florida. Nothing but gracious, easy to talk to. One of my all-time favorites.

US Navy CPO Bob Feller
 

I've heard people say he could be difficult also. For me, nothing could be further from the truth. When I was aboard USS Independence CV-62 in 1992, before we trans-Pac'ed (crossed the Pacific) from San Diego to Yokosuka, Japan, our new home port, the ship was visited by several of the "MCI Ambassadors of Baseball", Bert Campaneris, Graig Nettles, Johnny Vander Meer, and Bob Feller. They met with the officers in the wardroom for a while, then came to the aft mess decks, where tables were set up, and you could meet/greet with these fellows. Being old school, I got in line for first, Johnny Vander Meer, who signed a color post card of him in his Reds uniform. Such a nice man. He talked probably 5 minutes with everyone who he met with. Then, Bob Feller, the Van Meter Heater himself. He also spoke at length with all of us swabbies, asking how we liked the Navy, how things were going, etc. He signed and gave me an MCI basebal card with him in his Navy CPO uniform from World War 2 and in his Cleveland Indians uniform. Just another super nice man. Bob Feller didn't join the Navy just to sit comfortably behind the lines playing ball. He was also a Gunner's Mate on board the battleship USS Alabama BB-60, earning 8 battle stars in combat.

Derek Jeter and Yankee Stadium, 2008
 

A "Photoshopped" poster of Derek Jeter closing out old Yankee Stadium in 2008.

Crosley Field Info
 

I'm guessing from a media guide or something like that.

Eleanor and Lou Gehrig
 

A nice photo of them.

Lou Gehrig, 1936
 

Nice color painting or drawing.

Pitching Leaders of 1941
 

Whit Wyatt and Thornton Lee, a New York Daily News "Colorfoto" from 1941.

Great photos!!! Thank you for contributing to the thread!

Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig giving the rodeo a try, 1928.

My 1912 newspaper covering Walter Johnson’s trip to the Remington Arms Company complex in Bridgeport, Connecticut so that the speed of his fastball could be measured. The result is shown at being 122 feet per second (83MPH). While most baseball fans of today would scoff at such a low number and claim that the talent of yesteryear would struggle to compete with the standards we have now, I’ve taken the time to delve a bit further into this test to see how well it translates to modern methods. The test was performed on October 6, 1912, three days after pitching a complete game shutout to end the season in which he pitched 369 total innings! The test required Johnson to throw a baseball through a small wooden frame 60 feet 6 inches away with trip measuring wires that would start the speed test and a metal plate 15 feet behind the wires that would be struck to end the test. This means, that at the recorded speed, Johnson’s fastball was tested after traveling a total of 75 feet. For the test, Johnson wore dress clothes (including shoes) and would stand on flat ground (no use of cleats or a mound). The apparatus was also set up to measure at shoulder height and the ball had to strike the metal plate behind it, and according to Walter Johnson’s biographer, Johnson had to change from his usual sidearm pitching motion in order for the ball to strike the wires and the plate. The biographer also noted “after some effort and with a consequent loss of speed in an attempt to place the ball accurately” Johnson was able to complete the test as set up. With that being said, today’s speeds are measured 50 feet from home plate, a difference of 25 feet! A physicist measuring speeds of fastballs later corrected the variance and adjusted Johnson’s speed to have been at 93MPH at 50 feet from the plate. Even at the adjustment, no considerations were taken for the other variables and to my knowledge this was the only time his fastball was officially measured. With all of this in mind, it could be said that in playing conditions and modern measuring techniques, Johnson most likely was throwing in the mid 90’s on average, but we can never know for certain!

We'll never know. I believe that when he bore down, he was above 100 mph. It's just what I believe. I think Bob Feller and others could do it as well.

This photo was featured on Antiques Roadshow in 2018. Babe Ruth gifted this photo to a friend and said it was his favorite photo of himself. You can watch the episode online on the PBS website.

Behold the “Base-Ball Catcher,” designed by early 20th century inventor James Bennet. Filing his patent #OTD in 1904, the contraption never (ahem) caught on, but the document is preserved in our collection.

Baseball legend Rube Waddell poses with the St. Louis Browns mascot dog! (1909) Love that sweater too!

Goose Goslin, Dizzy Dean, Lyn Lary, Jimmy Foxx, and Hank Greenberg at the Deaville Cabana Club at Miami Beach prior to spring training, February 4, 1937.

Dave Winfield playing basketball for the University of Minnesota. He was drafted by the Atlanta Hawks of the NBA and the Utah Stars of the ABA.

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Im gonna get Ohtani to sign the other side.

Mark 'The Bird' Fidrych with Big Bird, 1977. Photo was used for the cover of Sports Illustrated.

The electronic umpire being tested during the Brooklyn Dodgers’ spring training in March 1950. The device relied on mirrors, lenses and photoelectric cells..

Jimmy Piersall of the Mets hits the 100th home run of his major league career and celebrates by running around the bases backwards, June 23, 1963.

Wendy Peffercorn

Hank Aaron is mobbed after his eleventh-inning homer gave the Milwaukee Braves a 4-2 victory over the Cardinals and the National League pennant, September 23, 1957.

Babe Ruth, Lloyd Waner, Lou Gehrig, and Paul Waner shake hands before the start of the 1927 World Series

⚾️In the 1970s, the Oakland Athletics introduced "ball girls" (young girls who would sit in foul territory to retrieve baseballs grounded foul by batters).
⚾️Debbie Sivyer, was one of the first ones hired. She was paid five dollars an hour and would use the money to buy ingredients for what would become her famous cookies. She instituted a "milk-and-cookies" break for the umpires.
⚾️In 1976, at the age of 19, Sivyer married Randall Fields, taking the name she would soon use for her business, “Mrs. Fields”.
⚾️Mrs. Fields began her business in 1977 in Palo Alto, California, and at its height franchised 650 retail bakeries in the United States and over 80 in 11 different countries.

Brooklyn Dodger rookies stretch during Spring Training, 1948

Mickey Mantle watching Game 3 of the 1951 World Series after injuring his knee in Game 2, October 6, 1951.

Indeed, triples were Earle Combs’ specialty. He hit at least 10 in every season in which he played at least 122 games. Three times (1927, 1928, and 1930) he ran out 20 or more, leading the league each time. His 23 three-baggers in 1927 are the most in an American League season since 1917, equaled only by Cleveland’s Dale Mitchell in 1949. The Deadball Era trio who had better single-season totals is impressive – Sam Crawford, Joe Jackson, and Ty Cobb.
He got off to great start, hitting .400 in the first twenty-four games. Then misfortune struck when he fractured his ankle and was out the rest of the 1924 season. His injury contributed to the Yankees’ missing out on the pennant when they finished 2 games behind the first-place Washington Senators.
Combs returned for the 1925 season, his ankle fully recovered. He slammed out 203 hits, scored 117 runs, and batted .342. But the Yankees did not win the flag. Ruth was out much of the season, and several other players had sub-par years. The Yankees finished in seventh place.
The 1926 Yanks-with Ruth back in shape, Lou Gehrig coming into his own, and Tony Lazzeri at second base-won the pennant and faced the St.Louis Cardinals in the World Series. They lost to the Cardinals when in a memorable moment Pete Alexander struck out Lazzeri with the bases loaded, just after Lazzeri had lined Alexander’s previous pitch barely foul into the left field seats.
Then came the magnificent year of 1927. Lindbergh flew the Atlantic solo, Dempsey and Tunney had their controversial long count fight in Chicago, and the Yanks with arguably the greatest team ever sailed easily to the pennant. Ruth hit his then astounding 60 homers, and Earle Combs set a club record with 231 hits not to be broken until Don Mattingly eclipsed it in 1986 with 238 hits. Showing his great patience at the plate, Combs set the table time and time again for Ruth and Gehrig and their cohorts.
Defensively the only knock on Combs was his weak arm. As the years went by, he strengthened his throwing arm through exercises, but it was never the rifle he would have wanted. Accordingly, Bill James in The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract ranks Combs only 34th in his pick of center fielders.

Lou Gehrig on TV

https://fb.watch/r0iaR733nc/

Buck O'Neil singing "Take me out to the ball game".

https://fb.watch/r5hdM2CWd2/

Babe Ruth and the Yankees on the first Opening Day for the new Yankee Stadium, April 18, 1923.

Babe Ruth giving hitting advice...


Things never change...Just the terminology.
Two Types of hitters over the years:
1930 Choke Hitter and Swing Hitters
1990 Contact Hitters and Power Hitters
2024 Line Drive Hitters and Launch Angle Hitters
Question:
In 2024, would Babe Ruth be a launch angle guy?

https://www.facebook.com/reel/1440623383208144

Awesome photo

Still pitching at 75:

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Doesn't take much to make it a Baseball Movie:

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Great photos!! And 3 excellent movies!

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Steve Bartman foul ball is blown up at Harry Carry’s restaurant, 2004

Throughout baseball history, the interaction between fans and ballplayers has proved an interesting experience when such an encounter occurred. Known as “bugs” during the Deadball Era and the Roaring Twenties, those devoted patrons who exhibited no inhibition insisted upon introducing themselves to major league performers, when an opportunity arose. Such was the case for Detroit Tigers portly outfielder Robert “Fats” Fothergill. Also referred to as Bob, Fothergill supplied a wicked bat for the Tigers in the 1920s. Bob topped the .300 mark each season from 1922 through 1929 with Detroit. Fothergill’s best campaign occurred in 1926 when he batted .367. One year later, the outfielder established a career high for RBIs with 114.
In the summer of 1927, a fan accosted Bob and posed various questions before boldly inquiring about how long it took a man like him, who weighed over two hundred pounds, to learn how to hit .300. Always known for his quick wit, Mr. Fothergill countered with a lengthy response that covered many different topics, other than the one put forward by this bug.
“There are 12 months in the year,” responded Fats Fothergill, “and 366 days in some years, and 52 weeks in any year, and seven days in each week, and 24 hours in each day, and 60 minutes in each hour, and 60 seconds in each minute, and some can kick a football 40 yards, and some kick it farther, and some kick it less, and you can throw a baseball, or you can muff it, or you can kick it, and sometimes you drive a golf ball 200 yards if the ground is hard and you are driving downhill and a gale is blowing behind you, and no one knows how deep the Pacific Ocean is 17 miles, 41 yards, nine feet, and four inches from the Golden Gate, and the price of potatoes on September 17 depends on many things, while the moon is full ever so often and Christmas trees may be cheaper next year and they may not, and the goose hangs high. Now let me ask you just one question: How long is a piece of string?”
This fan offered no response to Bob Fothergill, before he joined an approaching friend and walked away. The patron did make a comment about this interaction to his companion.
“The guy is sure bugs,” asked the man who hammered Fothergill with numerous questions.
In other instances, spectators, while viewing a game in person at the ballpark, preferred to make their voices heard from the stands, rather than act like baseball groupies. In 1925, infielder Edward “Eddie” Farrell debuted for John McGraw’s New York Giants on June 15. Farrell received no time in the minor leagues and joined the Giants days before his graduation from the University of Pennsylvania with a degree in dentistry. John McGraw had signed Eddie in 1923 with an eye toward the infielder joining the club once he completed his college studies. Also nicknamed Doc because of his vocation besides baseball, Farrell performed a utility role for New York in 1925 and 1926.
Receiving an opportunity to gain more playing time for the Giants in 1927, Doc blossomed as a hitter, batting .387 for the club in 42 games through June. Unfortunately, Farrell performed atrociously in the field at shortstop, committing 17 errors while playing that position in 36 contests. On June 12, the Giants packaged Eddie in a deal that sent him to the Boston Braves. Before Farrell exited the Big Apple, he had experienced a particularly horrendous game defensively at the Polo Grounds. Doc fumbled ground balls, threw wildly to bases, and did everything contrary to what a manager expected from a ballplayer. A generous portion of the Polo Grounds crowd started razzing Farrell as the game progressed. One patron offered an allowance, loudly expressing an alibi for Eddie’s inferior performance.
“That’s all right, Doc,” yelled the fan, “you’re a dentist and you got a right to gum ‘em up if you want.”
Oh those ballpark bugs. Offering tart and funny opinions from the stands, or asking ponderous questions when encountering a baseball player. Baseball history aside, as Bob Fothergill pondered: How long is a piece of string?
-Author Ronald T. Waldo

It used to be a rarity for a Canadian to crack the lineup of a major league baseball team, and even more uncommon for a northerner to shine in this American-dominated sport.
Since it’s MLB #openingday, we’re looking at the story of right-handed pitcher Ferguson Jenkins of Chatham, Ontario! #hofweekly
Fergie was an anomaly; a Canadian who took both the American and National Leagues by storm as he toured the majors for 19 years.
Fergie signed his first pro contract with the Philadelphia Phillies in 1962. After three years in the minors, he was called up as a relief pitcher for the Phillies in 1965, but before he had a chance to unleash his burgeoning talent, the team traded him to the Chicago Cubs.
The Cubs made Fergie a starting pitcher in 1966, and the young Canadian was soon hurling his way into the record books. He won at least 20 games in seven of his 19 seasons on the mound, six of which were consecutive years between 1967 and 1972. In 1971, his best season, he led the National League with a 24-13 record, 263 strikeouts, and a 2.77 ERA. He received the Cy Young award that year as the best pitcher in the game.
When Fergie failed to win 20 games in 1973, however, he was traded to the Texas Rangers, the last placed team in the Western Division. The Cubs must have been kicking themselves when, in his first season with the Rangers, Fergie bounced back with 25 wins and only 12 losses. The Rangers finished in second place, and Jenkins was dubbed American League comeback player of the year.
Fergie spent 1976 and 1977 with the Boston Red Sox before returning to Texas for three more seasons. He played his last two seasons with the Cubs, retiring in 1983.
Known as one of the best control pitchers in history, Jenkins's outstanding record includes more than 3,000 strikeouts and fewer than 1,000 walks, a rare combination of power and control. He was also only the fourth pitcher in history to have won more than 100 games in both the American and National Leagues. His career 284 wins against 226 losses, as well as his ERA of 3.31 are remarkable when one considers that he played 12 of his 19 seasons at Wrigley Field and Fenway Park, both of which are known as hitters' ballparks.
In addition, many of his losses can be partly attributed to his team's hitting ability. Jenkins never played for a pennant-winning club, and his team was shut out in 77 of his starting games.
Fergie was four times named Canada's top male athlete of the year and was the first baseball player to receive the Lou Marsh Trophy (now known as the Northern Star Award) as Canada's outstanding athlete, in 1974. He received the Order of Canada in 1980 and was honoured by the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in 1987. In 1991, he became the first Canadian to be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown.
Fergie Jenkins was awarded the Order of Sport & inducted into Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame in 1987.

Not bad work if you can get it...

Babe Ruth and Ted Williams choose sides schoolyard style before a hitting contest at a Field Day in Boston in 1942.

Babe Ruth making balloon animals at Comiskey Park

Brooks Robinson with his 16 Gold Gloves.

Rocky Colavito meets a very young fan. 1965

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