Wonderful newsreel footage (with sound!) of opening day at Yankee Stadium 1931
 

https://youtu.be/HNe9OM43EZs

This was posted on Youtube today. See Babe Ruth take batting practice. See Lou Gehrig ground into a double play. Goosebump quality.

That IS INSANE footage!!!! The clarity...and the awkwardness...AWESOME!!!

Amazing! The crack of the ball coming off Ruth's bat at 0:42 and 0:50 is unreal. Wish you could bottle that stuff and sell it.

And I don't think I've ever seen someone swing the bat as fast as he does right at the 10:00 mark.

That was a really cool video. Best quality for 1931 that I have ever seen. So cool to see the players on the cards that we collect come to life.

When Ruth said No scorecards, I wonder if he refused to sign scorecards. Probably worried that someone might sell it on eBay one day.

Was that Bing Crosby throwing out the first pitch?

Thanks for sharing!!!!

There is a smorgasbord of films like this at the U. of South Carolina video archives, including lengthy segments from many big league spring training camps in the early 1930s:

https://mirc.sc.edu/islandora/search...%28baseball%29

The beauty of these for me is that they are outtakes, not the polished newsreels, so you get to see and hear the players and other personalities as they really were.

That really is amazing. I think Ruffing was wearing a warm-up jacket while running the bases.

Here's a box score for the game.

So good!

Wow
 

Outstanding. Thanks for posting it, Joe. The clarity was amazing. Loved the candor....Babe and his wife had to be coached on their interview. The first ball was tossed out by NYC Mayor Jimmy Walker. He was a real crook!

The Yanks won 6-3 that day. Attendance was 70,000! I enjoyed seeing the fans crammed into the stands, The men all wore hats. Everyone was smoking. The game started at 3:00 PM so that everyone could attend and it would get dark early in April. Notice the pace of the game. They finished in 1:55.

I could watch that video over and over! Thanks for posting! The "Dec 7, 1929 - Driving Through Broadway At Daytime, NYC" is great, too.

The outfield dimensions are great . Left Field is very short ( under 300 ft ?) , left center was a Mile ! and Center Field is about 500 feet. I believe Right Field was under 300 feet but I didn't see it in the video. Anyone know the dimensions in 1931 ?

Great Video, thanks.

Interesting seeing a fielder picking up his glove at 12:52 for the next inning. Back in the day they didn't take their gloves back with them to the dugout but left them in the field.

Game Film
 

That was awesome....

I noticed the flag at half staff (why?)
I loved how the train stopped during anthem
Never see this again - hats and wool suits
and what a huge ball park from that 1st base vantage point

Thanks for sharing!

Wow wow wow. Just incredible.

Mike I also noticed the dimensions, wow, todays players would whine if they had to hit in that stadium--and yet Babe and Lou hit shots there---left/center and center field was deep and huge.

Great stuff. I might have to start watching more footage of old games.

Thanks for posting the link to this 1931 film (I love the banter between the Babe and Claire :-) ... plus the link to the USC video archive. Some cool film in there!

Great video, thanks for sharing.

I noticed, at the 7:50 mark, the cameraman (seemed?) focused on 2 black gentlemen in the stands. The cameraman didn't move/pan away until the one black gentleman began to stare at the cameraman.

With Jackie not debuting until 1946, I also thought blacks had to sit in their own segregated areas while attending ball games and a whole other bunch of stuff. (back of the bus, etc)

I assume this was only certain states/ball diamonds?

History is funny, and I guess it all depends on who tells it, but I did find that surprising, those 2 gentlemen sitting there, among white people, all the way back in 1931.

When was the last time any of us attended a game where almost every man wore a suit and tie?

I love this. Reminds me of the stories that my grandfather would tell me about going to games. I could close my eyes and smell the mix of cigarettes, cracker jack, and grass.

Outstanding film. Always love watching these. Thanks for posting.

I didn't think the camera was focusing on them. Didn't even notice them. Just a couple of faces in the crowd to me.

Fans in the bleacher seats:


"Pay less, cheer louder, and know more about Baseball than anyone else in the park .......... yet sit farthest away from home plate."



:):):):):):):):):):):)

That's why I wrote seemed?

All that aside, I was just looking for a history lesson on what I asked. With Jackie not debuting until 1946, which was 15 years after this film was shot, it just struck me seeing these black gentlemen siting among whites.

I am glad to see it, don't get me wrong. It was just surprising for me to see them when I didn't think it was allowed/open like that back in 1931?

got me charged up for the new season!

Ricky Y