Contribution from Baseball historians Bill Jenkinson and Tim Reid
Plant Field, Tampa, Florida – April 4, 1919
As we progress through the next sixteen years, we will live through numerous 100th anniversaries for the amazing accomplishments of the one and only Babe Ruth. After a while, it may seem repetitious. Yet, his life was so extraordinary and truly unique that we should guard against any such inclinations. Babe was a potently pervasive cultural icon, someone who comes along only once. He belongs to all of us, and we should never tire of hearing his story.
One of the best chapters in that remarkable tale occurred in Tampa, Florida on April 4, 1919
There were many wondrous components to Babe Ruth’s persona. Most apparent, of course, was his astonishing athletic ability, featuring nearly superhuman batting power. However, there was more to this amazing man than just great athleticism. Much more. He was an extraordinary showman as well as a great humanitarian. Babe Ruth was baseball’s greatest ambassador while creating the template by which all modern athletes are judged for their charitable and philanthropic activities. In this case, we are primarily focused on Ruth’s tremendous physical might, but there are also insights into his unparalleled showmanship.
The Boston Red Sox switched their spring training site from Hot Springs, Arkansas to Tampa, Florida in 1919. They believed that they would benefit from even better baseball weather in Florida than in Arkansas. Other teams had started to train in the “Sunshine State”, including the Tampa Bay area, and the results had been encouraging. Plus, Florida was just coming into its own as a popular tourist destination, and the statewide infra-structure was improving rapidly.
In modern times, it’s easy to forget that Florida wasn’t always a place where folks wanted to be. For much of its history as the twenty-seventh state (1845), it was regarded by many Americans as somewhere to avoid. The common perception of Florida was that it was a hot, mosquito-infested swamp with little else to offer. Then, in the late 1800s, along with other visionary industrialists, two wealthy railroad tycoons by the name of “Henry” ventured south. They were Henry M. Flagler, who developed the railroads on Florida’s Atlantic Coast in the East, and Henry B. Plant, who did the same on the Gulf Coast in the West. It was Plant who significantly impacts this story.
In 1891, he opened his world famous Tampa Bay Hotel to attract wealthy visitors to the rapidly growing city of Tampa. Constructed in a combination of Moorish Revival and Victorian architectures, it featured 511 rooms in its spacious five stories along with six minarets, four cupolas, and three domes. From the day it opened, it was a breathtaking vision of elegance, luxury, and fanciful dreams.
While preparing to lead his “Roughriders” during the Spanish-American War in 1898, Theodore Roosevelt stayed at the hotel. The following year, Plant decided to expand the facilities even further, and added an all-purpose athletic field on the grounds. It included a half-mile, elliptical track for horse racing with space for a baseball field inside. Commonly referred to as Plant Field, the grounds were also home to the annual county fairs. It was there that the Chicago Cubs came to train in the spring of 1913, and it was there that the Boston Red Sox followed in 1919.
Most of the team arrived at the hotel on March 21, 1919. Babe Ruth, after a brief salary dispute, showed up two days later. Ruth had been seeking a three year deal totaling $30,000, but settled for $27,000 (9K per season). Initially, Babe’s forthcoming season was not marked with the usual optimism. As soon as he stepped onto Plant Field on Monday, March 24, the assembled newsmen took notice of the off-season weight that he had gained. It was the first of many times throughout the remainder of his career that this issue would be a topic of discussion. Until then, Ruth had comfortably distributed about two-hundred pounds of rock-hard muscle on his large six-foot-two-inch frame.
Shortly after beginning his first batting practice, Babe broke one of the only two bats which he had brought with him. Two? That’s correct. With today’s ultra-light toothpicks, a modern slugger wouldn’t even consider coming to camp with less than two dozen bats. But conditions were vastly different back in 1919; that included the bats. They tended to be made of heavier wood (sometimes hickory) with the handles being particularly thicker. Ruth, of course, famously used the heaviest bat of all. In recent years, there has been some inaccurate revisionist history claiming that Babe never swung a 50-ounce bat in official games. The truth is that Babe Ruth purchased his bats from more than one manufacturer, and, in his early years, including 1919, hefted a 54-ouncer against Major League pitching. By 1927, he had dropped down to 44 ounces, and, by the time he retired in 1935, had reduced all the way to 37.5 ounces. It was a normal downward progression for an aging athlete. So, the bat that Babe splintered in his first swings of that 1919 pre-season was more like a small tree trunk. It was also a symbol of the unbridled power which was churning inside Ruth’s increasing girth. The man was always a biological anomaly.
Within a few days, Babe had taken the measure of his new environs, and identified an appropriate distance plateau at which to aim. At Plant Field, that was the so-called back stretch of the race track in right centerfield. Home plate was situated just inside the inner rail of the track directly in front of the middle of the grandstand with dead right field in the middle of the track on the opposite side. The distance to the inner rail in right deep centerfield was almost 500 feet from home plate.
A troubling sub-plot was emerging at the same time, and, in retrospect, it was inevitable. After playing about half the time as a pitcher and half the time in the field in 1918, Babe Ruth had decided that he preferred playing in the field. Knowing Ruth the way we do with the benefit of informed hindsight, it was a natural and predictable preference for him. Babe hated to sit on the bench. Yet, everyone recognized that the season-long juggling act of 1918 could not continue indefinitely. A decision had to be made: Ruth could pitch every fourth game and bat ninth, or he could play every game and bat fourth. Babe wanted to bash baseballs as often as he could.
So, he immediately started complaining about a sore left shoulder to Manager Ed Barrow. That was never going to work. Barrow was old school all the way, not willing to give an inch to a stubborn ball player. So, after a harsh rebuke from his tough (physically and behaviorally) manager, there was superstar Babe Ruth pitching batting practice in a rubber suit on April 1, 1919. Obviously, such a scenario could never happen now. The notion of a sore-armed, superstar pitcher being forced to throw batting practice would be total anathema.
Edward Barrow was a key figure in the development of Major League Baseball. Early in his professional life, as a Minor League executive, he was credited with “discovering” Honus Wagner. Barrow moved in and out of the Big League scene until becoming manager of the Boston Red Sox in 1918, and stayed for three seasons. In 1921, he followed Babe Ruth to New York, becoming general manager of the Yankees. Under his stewardship over the next quarter century, the Yanks won fourteen pennants and ten World Series. He died in 1953, and was elected into the Hall of Fame later that same year.
But, back in early April 1919, Barrow was locked in a battle of wills with Babe Ruth, his equally obstinate star player. Later that same month, the two men would openly clash over this matter before finally arranging a truce by way of a compromise. Babe wound up pitching 133.1 innings for Boston in 1919, but he ultimately won the argument and turned into a slugging outfielder. After that year, he never again pitched regularly during the Major League season.
Returning the focus back to April 1, 1919, after pitching BP to his teammates, Ruth stripped off his rubber shirt, and went 3 for 3 in an intra-squad game. One of those hits was a monstrous home run onto the track in right field. It was hailed as the longest drive in the history of Tampa baseball. Yet, it wasn’t to the back stretch in right center (the most distant part of the field), and Ruth vowed to do better. Three days later, he did.
The Boston Red Sox suited up against the New York Giants on April 4, 1919 at Plant Field in Tampa, Florida. It was the first scheduled game of that spring for both teams, and 4,200 energized fans attended. Babe Ruth played left field that day, and batted fourth. Leading off the second inning against journeyman right-hander “Columbia” George Smith, Babe ran the count to 3-1. The next pitch was the one that everyone remembered for the rest of their lives.
Ruth walloped a Smith offering with all his might, and it headed on a line drive trajectory to deep right centerfield and the back stretch of the race track. Right fielder Ross Youngs ran in pursuit, but soon surrendered. As he neared the inside rail, marking the outer limits of the baseball field, he slowed and watched. The ball sailed high over the rail, and landed beyond the far side of the dirt track, kicking up a small cloud of dust. A security guard (hired to ward off free-loaders), stationed by the outer rail, witnessed the precise landing point. Ruth easily circled the bases for a home run as Giant Manager John McGraw and his players blinked in disbelief.
In the next day’s Tampa Morning Tribune, their reporter (no by-line) used a series of short references to capture the essence of what he had seen: “wallop stupendous”, “punch extraordinary” and “tremendous hoist.” When it came time to actually describe the landing point, he wrote:
It was certainly the longest hit made here, as it struck the far edge of the race track almost in direct center field.
That specific description of the line of flight (“almost in direct center field”) is particularly helpful. In those days, many baseball writers referred to home runs tracking anywhere between the right field foul line and direct center field as “right field.” For blows to the left side of the field, they used the same standard, saying only “left field” even if the ball sailed into deepest left centerfield. That was the case with the New York Times in this instance. They wrote that Ruth’s record-setting drive flew “far over a distant racetrack railing in right field.”
It has been difficult for modern historians to research old-time home runs because of these opposing writing styles. It took this writer many years to fully understand how it all worked. In the process, numerous home runs of noteworthy length were initially overlooked. If not for subsequent research, using additional sources, much factual history would be lost.
In the matter of Babe Ruth’s Tampa home run on April 4, 1919, we are blessed with, at least, a dozen primary-source, contemporaneous descriptions. A few said that the ball landed near the back of the track while many others asserted that the drive completely cleared the outer railing. The New York Times notwithstanding, there was a clear consensus that Babe’s homer had rocketed toward deepest right centerfield. The overall conclusion, therefore, was that this majestic blow came back to earth beyond the far track railing just to the right of center field.
That same coverage from the Tampa Morning Tribune went on to say that the Giants “were still marveling last night.” It further added a quote from New York manager, John McGraw, who said, “I believe that it’s the longest hit I ever saw.”
Until that moment, McGraw had steadfastly sworn that the longest drive he had ever witnessed had been hit by Big Dan Brouthers when both future Hall of Famers played for the legendary Baltimore Orioles in 1894. It was a reasonable conviction. Big Dan had been tremendously strong, and likely had been baseball’s mightiest batsman until Babe Ruth arrived. All that changed the instant McGraw watched Ruth’s blast soar over the distant race track.
It was a peculiar moment. At the time, McGraw was riding high as the enormously successful manager of those New York Giants. He had come to prominence as the star third baseman and leader of the Orioles during the 1890s when he had earned a reputation for winning at any price. Taking over the reins of the traditionally mediocre Giants in 1902, the “Little Napoleon” immediately molded them into a winner. He remained at that helm for thirty years, winning ten pennants and three World Series.
As of 1919, he was the unquestioned king of the New York baseball world. So, he was lavish with his praise when Babe Ruth launched that colossal home run. Neither man knew that Ruth would move to Gotham within a year, and take over as the top man in the city’s sports hierarchy. When it happened, McGraw bitterly resented Ruth and all that he represented. “Mugsy” liked the hit-and-run along with all other manifestations of the cerebral side of baseball. Babe, contrarily, had no time for any of that. Although highly intelligent himself, Ruth preferred to swing for the fences, scoring runs spontaneously. A century later, with the help of computer science, we know that Babe had been right and that McGraw had been clinging to ineffectual and obsolete methodology.
We also know that John McGraw never recovered from his “shock and awe” upon seeing Babe’s 1919 Tampa drive. In his 1923 autobiography, My Thirty Years In Baseball (as told to Boze Bolger), McGraw said:
I didn’t believe it possible for a man to hit a baseball as far as that. He caught the ball squarely on the nose and it started like an ordinary long fly. Instead of coming down, though, it kept rising. “My God,” exclaimed one of the players, “where is that ball going.” The drive cleared the field, a race track and then the fence. Interest in its length was greater than in the game itself. For the rest of the game that was all we talked about. To be sure of its length a party of newspaper men and players went out and measured the distance accurately. The ball had traveled 587 feet. Mind you, that is just thirteen feet short of two hundred yards! Can you imagine such a drive? That hit by Ruth would have cleared the bleachers and the center-field fence in the Polo Grounds. It was easily the longest hit I ever saw, or ever expect to see.
John McGraw was a feisty and flawed character, but he was never known as a liar. His account of the events in Tampa on April 4, 1919, therefore, are truly compelling.
Along with Ruth, Barrow and McGraw, there was a fourth historically intriguing personality on the field that day. When Babe’s stupendous homer stopped rolling, it was recovered and delivered back to the team. Babe and Barrow autographed it, and handed it over to renowned evangelist Billy Sunday. In an odd coincidence, Sunday had been a highly successful Major League player back in the late Nineteenth Century. Known for his blazing speed and defensive prowess, Sunday had even trained in Hot Springs in 1886 and 1887. Some have speculated that Sunday may have begun to question the morality of consuming alcohol when visiting the wide-open Spa City.
After the 1890 season, when he stole eighty-four bases, Billy Sunday suddenly quit baseball, entering into Christian service. Sunday was primarily known for his fiery Temperance oratory, but also championed the issue of abolishing Sabbath baseball. Taking a running start, he would slide onto the stage, then, jump up to deliver his message. By 1919, he was nationally recognized for his spirited revival meetings. Sunday had his own tent adjacent to the Tampa Bay Hotel, and had thrown out the first ball in that memorable April 4 ballgame.
At the conclusion of that game, which Boston won 5-3, Boston Globe writer Mel Webb decided that the length of Babe’s homer needed to be recorded for posterity. There were many sportswriters on hand that day, but Webb was the one who seemed to best understand the historical importance of what Ruth had accomplished. He journeyed to the exact landing spot of the epic Ruthian poke in the company of Ross Youngs, while personally pacing off the distance. In the April 6 edition of the Globe (with an April 5 timeline), he wrote, “I measured the distance covered by Babe’s homer yesterday, making it in 179 strides of slightly more than a yard. The boost was certainly better than 540 feet.” Further pondering the immensity of what had occurred, Webb then procured a steel measuring tape and completed his task with exactitude.
Despite investing such significant effort into this task, for unknown reasons, Webb did not write about his findings again until April 20. Ruth and the Red Sox had continued their training in Tampa for only two more days before breaking camp on April 6. They, then, started working their way north while engaging in a series of exhibition games with those same Giants. There were six contests all together (including a second one in Tampa) with the last in Spartansburg, NC on April 10. The originally scheduled finale in Winston-Salem on April 11 was postponed by rain.
Since the two teams were set to open the official season in different cities on the twenty-third of April, they parted company. The Red Sox had planned games in Richmond, Jersey City, and Baltimore. With Ruth being a native Baltimorian, the two games from that city were the most anticipated. What happened there on April 18 & 19, 1919 eventuated with almost as much historical importance as the Tampa event. Babe blasted four long home runs in four official at-bats on the 18th, and followed with two more in his first two times up the next day. That was six consecutive homers, nearly miraculously produced with only seven swings. It was all accomplished against the highly competitive Orioles, then of the International League. Professional baseball had never witnessed anything like that, and it hasn’t since.
The single longest of those six circuits was number five, the first of the two on the second day. At least that’s what Mel Webb thought, and he responded with the following remarks in the Boston Globe on April 20, 1919, “Babe’s first home run cleared the center-field fence, passed across the street and landed far back on the roof of a house. It was the next longest wallop to his 550-foot drive in Tampa.” There it was: the first of many subsequent references by Webb about the distance that he had personally measured earlier that month.
Babe Ruth eventually broke Buck Freeman’s single season record of twenty-five home runs (legitimately set in 1899) by smashing his record-breaking 26th homer on September 8, 1919 in New York. Mel Webb summarized The Babe’s sensational year in the Globe the next day. In part, he wrote:
The greatest wallop of all of these was that made against George Smith then of the Giants but now with the Phillies on April 1(sic), at Tampa. Babe’s homer that day was a wonder of wonders. The ball carried away across the field, over the back stretch of the Tampa race track and nearly 50 feet beyond. The writer measured the distance three times, and found the length of the ‘carry’ was 551 feet.
This time, we see a specific reference of “551 feet.” Yet, six years later in the Boston Globe on May 29, 1925, after observing another unusually long home run (this one by Frank Snyder), Webb recalled Babe Ruth’s Tampa masterpiece for comparison. Part of his article read:
Those who saw that the clout made by Snyder yesterday now may understand a little better just what sort of poke was that which Babe Ruth made down at Tampa back in 1919. This was the homer which Ruth himself always has said was the longest he ever has made. That hit carried 557 feet, according to measurements taken several times by the writer and Ross Young (sic), right fielder of the Giants, who was closest to the ball and made a very accurate note of where it hit before bounding out of sight.
So, which was it, 551 or 557 feet? Perhaps, it was in between. It seems possible that Webb actually forgot the precise number resulting from his measurements, recalling only that it was somewhere in the 550s. Moving forward another twenty-three years, there was a very interesting article written by respected sports columnist Arthur Daley in the New York Times. He penned the following insights on February 6, 1948:
It happened back in 1919 when Ruth was with the Boston Red Sox. There was an exhibition game against the Giants on the sprawling Fair Grounds field at Tampa, Fla., and Babe really landed on one. Ross Youngs pursued the blast as far as the race track and a guard, who was protecting the outfield fences against gate-crashers, marked the spot where it landed with a pile of stones. Four extremely curious baseball writers, Burt Whitman, Mel Webb, Jim Harrison and George (Monitor) Daley, later borrowed a steel tape from the boss carpenter in charge of the construction work there. They measured from the plate to the stones and the tape showed the incredible distance of 552 feet and eight inches.
That was the single most specific figure ever given about the distance of Babe’s legendary Tampa home run, and there have been hundreds of them. Of all Babe Ruth’s many so-called tape measure homers, this one is, by far, the most well-known. It has engendered more discussion and debate than any other. Of course, Babe’s “Called Shot” homer in the 1932 World Series is even more famous, but that blow is celebrated for different reasons.
Accordingly, we have an almost endless list of written references about the Tampa home run. Yet, none of them contain the kind of detail which resonates, at least with me, as convincingly as the Daley article in 1948. First, the inclusion of inches as well as feet rings true for the function of taking an “exact measurement.” Second, the footage number (552) fits directly into the middle of the overall narrative created by the central figure of Mel Webb. Finally, when reviewing all the reported distances over time, most of them have ranged somewhere in the 550s.
What are some of those other alleged distances? They begin at 508 feet, and extend to 612 feet. In between, we find 549 feet, 550 feet (twice), 552 feet (three times), 557 feet, 559 feet (twice), 565 feet, 579 feet, 580 feet, and 587 feet. That last figure (587) is found on a historical plaque that still stands near the location of old Plant Field. Of course, not all the old articles provided a specific distance, but the aforementioned numbers were taken from those which did.
Next, there is an additional and important point (not yet discussed) about confirming the actual distance of Babe’s historic Tampa drive by way of modern analysis. There can be little doubt about where the ball landed. None of the aforementioned newspaper accounts substantively disagreed with any of the others. They may have used different methods of description, but there was no significant disagreement on substance. Similarly, over time, there have been hundreds of subsequent articles, and none have suggested an alternate landing point.
When you take that data and simply review old aerial photographs of Plant Field from that era, it is not difficult for qualified historians to compute the distance of Ruth’s blast. Many such photos are available, and those computations have been made by experts. Making the measuring process simpler and more reliable is that the site of Plant Field remains very much intact as an athletic field at what is now the University of Tampa’s Pepin Stadium.
There is a direct and essentially unobstructed view from the original location of home plate to where Ruth’s drive landed at what is now the university’s Robert A. Jaeb Computer Center. For those visiting the campus, it should be noted that the aforementioned plaque is located approximately 674 feet south of the home run’s actual landing spot.
Of course, we don’t have a literally precise line of travel from those written words, and deep right centerfield can range over a line of about fifty feet. Mel Webb knew the precise line at the time of his measurement because he had Ross Youngs with him. But, relying only on the written accounts, we don’t have that advantage. Yet, anywhere along the line of possible landing spots in deepest right centerfield, all on-the-fly estimates wind up in the 550 foot range. For example, historian Bruce Orser, who specializes in this function, has assessed the flight at about 550 feet based on comprehensive analysis of historical maps and photographs.
Additionally, both Bruce and the author have conducted detailed investigations at the site. During that process, they were assisted by local historians Tim Reid and Bob Ward who have both had extensive land surveying experience in the Tampa Bay area.
In effect, Babe Ruth’s Tampa home run on April 4, 1919 is one of the rare historic drives for which we have such reliable information regarding flight distance. And, yes, it has proven to be monumental in length.
Consider this: so far in the 21st Century, there has been only ONE confirmed 500-foot home run in Major League Baseball. That’s right. The combined rosters of every MLB team have managed only a single blow beyond that magical 500-foot plateau. It was a 504-footer struck by massive Adam Dunn in Phoenix on September 27, 2008. Some sources credit Colorado’s Trevor Story with a 505 foot blast at Coor’s Field in 2018, but subsequent investigation quantified that drive as more like 482 feet.
Contemplating Ruth’s Homeric blast in this overall context tells us, unequivocally, that it was truly epic in its magnitude. Yet, it was much more than just exceptionally long. The events of that day occurred at a pivotal moment for both Ruth and the Tampa Bay area.
******************************
Babe’s transition from star pitcher to slugging outfielder actually began in Hot Springs in the spring of 1918. It continued through the course of the subsequent official campaign with Ruth leading the Red Sox into the post-season while both batting and pitching heroically. He concluded the war-shortened regular season by tying for the American League home run leadership with eleven. However, in the World Series, which was won by Boston, Babe was particularly brilliant on the mound. He contributed a few key hits, but his true mastery was as a record-setting pitcher. As a result, when he arrived for spring training at Tampa in 1919, his future as a legendary power hitter was not yet secure.
Manager Barrow still wanted Babe Ruth to pitch. Big Ed was one of the most respected baseball minds in the country. As discussed, he was also an extremely forceful individual, and few could say no to him. In truth, Barrow had been conflicted the year before about the prospect of Ruth playing in the field. Heading to Hot Springs in 1918, Barrow had merely agreed to use Babe at first base for a few spring games. That was due to a temporary manpower shortage (mostly due to World War One). He had never intended for Ruth to permanently switch from pitcher to field player.
Then came Boston’s first game (on St. Patrick’s Day, 1918), and Babe Ruth did the “carpe diem” thing by seizing the day. Against the Brooklyn Dodgers, he recorded two massive home runs, including one that flew approximately 500 feet. One week later, in Boston’s second spring contest (also against Brooklyn), Ruth somehow exceeded his recent extraordinary performance by hitting baseball’s first-ever, authenticated 500-plus-foot home run. He added yet another homer six days later in Little Rock, and continued to bat effectively for the remainder of the spring schedule. At that point, what could Barrow do? Ruth got his chance, and the Red Sox became World Champions.
But, the World War ended on November 11, 1918, and the soldiers came home, including those who played Major League Baseball. Plus, Barrow was suspicious about the sustainability of Babe’s offensive fire power, and made up his mind to return him to regular mound duty in 1919. Of course, Ruth felt otherwise. Barrow decided to be diplomatic (for a change), and allowed Babe to start that first spring game in left field at Tampa. Those results have just been reviewed in detail.
Babe Ruth went on a batting rampage, and, with a few bumps in between, used the 1919 season to complete the historic transition that had started the year before in Arkansas. We take it all for granted now, but think of the improbability of the entire process. What were the odds of Ruth belting two gargantuan homers in his first opportunity in 1918? Would he have even gotten a second chance if that unlikely outcome hadn’t occurred? No one knows, but think about it.
Essentially, Babe was in an analogous situation when reporting for the 1919 season in Florida. His manager had serious misgivings about the prospects of his twenty-four-year-old stud pitcher changing positions. And please consider this: if there had been a Hall of Fame back then, Ruth would have been tracking for certain entry as a starting pitcher. Who knows how many games Ed Barrow intended for Ruth to play in the field before resuming his authoritative ways? If not for launching a historically long home run in his first game, where would Babe have played in game two? What happened that day is so amazing in so many ways. Could anyone but Babe Ruth have achieved such an improbable outcome? Not likely.
******************************
The folks in Tampa had just suffered a major setback a few months earlier when they were decimated by influenza. Nearly every American city had experienced loss in that worldwide pandemic, but Tampa had been hit especially hard. At the same time, the bay-front shipyards began closing down, thereby eliminating thousands of jobs. For a city trying to become a major urban center, it was a cruel double-blow. Then Babe Ruth came to town, and the magic of hope suddenly re-appeared.
It all seems surreal in retrospect. There were Babe Ruth, John McGraw, Ed Barrow and Billy Sunday all converging on Plant Field on that balmy afternoon in the spring of 1919. Just beyond the field soared those Moorish minarets that sparkled in the sunlight atop that outlandish, but beautiful, Tampa Bay Hotel. Knowing what we now know about how far a human being can hit a baseball, one implausible reality surpasses all others. No other living soul has hit a baseball as far as 550 feet in the air during the last century, and it is highly unlikely that anyone will do it again for the next one-hundred years. Thank you, Babe, and happy 100th anniversary!
Bill Jenkinson, Baseball Historian (Copyright 2019)
