Ponce De Leon Park, Atlanta, GA, April 10, 1949 – More than 25,000 baseball fans showed up to see the hometown Atlanta Crackers of the Southern Association take on the Brooklyn Dodgers in an exhibition game days before the start of the MLB season. And because of the presence of Georgia-native Jackie Robinson and…
Before an exhibition game in Orlando, A’s manager Connie Mack, who is 84 years old, challenges Clark Griffith, the 78 year-old owner of the Senators, to a foot race from third base to home plate. The participants enter the Florida field in an ambulance before starting their contest, which ends in a photo-finish tie.
Cy Young, Duffy Lewis, Tris Speaker, Harry Hooper and Ty Cobb pose together prior to Old Timer’s Day on September 28, 1947 at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, New York. It was held on the final day of the season in front of 23,085 fans, the Yankees stage the first Old-Timers’ Day in major league…
In front of 5,000 fans at Havana’s new Gran Estadio de La Habana, the Yankees lose to the Dodgers in extra innings, 1-0, with Snuffy Stirnweiss’s tenth-inning single accounting for the Bronx Bombers’ only hit. Pete Reiser’s long double on a 3-2 pitch off Spec Shea scores Carl Furillo, giving Brooklyn the walk-off victory in Cuba.
Jesse Owens beats Indians outfielder George Case in a 100-yard match race held as a promo before a Cleveland game in 1946. Case was known as the fastest runner in the majors at that time. Owens ran 9.9 and Case 10.0.
March 17, 1946 Jackie Robinson finds himself a seat on Montreal’s bench as he joins the Royals for the first time in an exhibition game against their major league affiliate, the Brooklyn Dodgers. The game is played before a packed crowd of 3,100 in Daytona Beach, marking the first appearance of an integrated team in…
War Bond Game, August 26, 1943, Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner, Walter Johnson, Tris Speaker, Lefty Grove, Connie Mack, Eddie Collins, Al Simmons, Bill Dickey, George Sisler, and Homerun Baker stand in uniform before an Old Timers All Star game.
Walter Johnson pitching to Babe Ruth is the pregame attraction that draws 69,000 for the New York-Washington game at Yankee Stadium that provides $80,000 for Army-Navy relief. Ruth hits the fifth pitch into the right-field stands, and then adds one more shot before circling the bases. Sixteen relief games contribute $523,000 during the season. In the doubleheader between the Senators and the Yankees, the Senators win the opener, 7 – 6 and New York cops the nitecap, 3 – 0, in 5 1/2 innings.
A military all-star team that includes Bob Feller, Cecil Travis, Sam Chapman, Benny McCoy, Johnny Sturm and Frankie Pytlak loses, 5 – 0, to American League stars in a game at Cleveland in front of more than 60,000 fans. Jim Bagby wins against his Indian teammate Feller. Military relief receives $160,000.
1942 – At California’s Folsom prison, the annual game between major leaguers and the prison team is stopped when it is discovered that two prisoners have escaped. With the pros leading 24 – 5 at the end of seven innings, the game ends and guards go after the two lifers, who are found three hours later. The major leaguers include Ernie Lombardi, Tiny Bonham, Gus Suhr, Joe Marty, and Johnny Babich.
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