Get the Book:
Five
O'Clock Lightning
There
is always the debate among baseball aficionados, experts, fans - -what was the
greatest baseball team of all time?
Perhaps
after reading this new edition of Five O’Clock Lighting, you will have the
definitive answer, the 1927 New York Yankees.
When Yankee owner Colonel Ruppert's
"Rough Riders," as some called them, were not going head to head
against their American League competition, they were playing exhibition games
in Buffalo, Omaha, Rochester, Columbus, Dayton, Indianapolis, all kinds of
places.
Everyone in the little cities
and small towns wanted to catch a glimpse of the Babe, Lou and the others.
Wherever the Yankees went, there were always packed ballparks and playing
fields. The team was a magnet, a syncopated jazz band playing a baseball song
with the Babe leading, striking up the band with his home run baton, his bat.
Whole towns came out early and they stayed late studying the moves of "the
Colossus of Baseball." How the Sultan of Swat walked, how he ran, how he
swung a bat, how he caught and threw a baseball, how he joked and wrestled with
kids in the fields of play, how many different kinds of home runs he hit.
Demand for the Yankees came from all over.
Murderers'
Row even played exhibition games in Pittsburgh and Cincinnati, National League
cities.
In Omaha, Nebraska, the King of
Clouts, Ruth, and his protégé the "Prince of Pounders," Gehrig seemed
genuinely happy to make the acquaintance of one "Lady Amco" who was
known as the "Babe Ruth of chickens." She was a world champ at laying
eggs. The morning the Babe and the Buster met her she produced on cue, laying
an egg for the 171st straight day.
In Indianapolis, the Sultan of Swat
failed to homer or even swat the ball out of the infield in his first three
times at bats. Each time the smattering
of boos and heckling became louder, all good natured, of course. According to
reports, Ruth in his fourth at bat tagged the ball, and it leaped over the
fence in right field into the street bouncing into box cars in a nearby freight
yard. That was the story.
And its punch line: "I
guess I did show those people something, make fun of me, will they," the
Big Bam boomed going into the dugout.
In a dilapidated park in Ft. Wayne,
Indiana before 35,000 against the Lincoln Lifes, a semi-pro team, the scene was
all too familiar. Hundreds of kids screamed, ached to ogle, to get an autograph
or just to be close to George Herman Ruth, their idol.
The Bambino, to save his legs,
played first base, as was his custom many times during those exhibition games.
Gehrig played right field. Going into the tenth inning, the score was tied,
3-3. Mike Gazella was on first base when Ruth stepped into the batter's box.
Always the showman, signaling to the crowd that they might as well start going
home, the Big Bam poked the ball over the right field fence giving the Yankees
a 5-3 win. Hundreds of boys who had been relatively controlled and contained
mobbed their idol as he crossed home plate. It took quite a while before Ruth
and the Yankees could clear out of the park.
Wherever the exhibition games were
staged, overflow crowds sat in the outfield watching the action. Attendance
records were broken. Mobs cheered. They roared and howled and jumped to their
feet, marveling at the power and magic of the mighty Yankees and especially
George Herman Ruth. "God, we liked that big son of a bitch. He was a
constant source of joy, Waite Hoyt said. "I've seen them kids, men, women,
worshipers all, hoping to get his name on a torn, dirty piece of paper, or
hoping for a grunt of recognition when they said, 'Hi-ya, Babe.'
He never let them down; not once.
He was the greatest crowd pleaser of them all." In a game played at
Sing-Sing, New York against the prison team, Ruth slugged a batting practice
home run over the right field wall and then another over the center field wall.
"I'd love to be riding out of here on those balls," one of the
prisoners joked. During the game the Sultan of Swat turned to the crowd of cons
in the stands and bellowed in that big booming baritone voice of his:
"What time is it?" Many of the cons shouted back the answer.
"What difference does it make?"
the showman Ruth yelled. "You guys ain't going anyplace, any time
soon."
The Yankees were going anyplace
they could play baseball. On May 26 they were at West Point. Entering the Mess
Hall at noon to dine with the Cadets for lunch, the team from the Bronx
received a standing and enthusiastic ovation from the 1,200 West Pointers.
Before the baseball exhibition game began at West Stadium, "Jidge"
Ruth presented members of the Army nine with autographed baseballs and a
specially autographed baseball to the leading ball player of each of the twelve
companies.
The Yankees used virtually their
regular lineup except that Ruth and Gehrig switched places in the field. Earle
Combs walked to start the game. Mark Koenig singled. Babe Ruth was struck out
by Army pitcher Tim Timberlake and that got a mighty rise from the Cadets.
James Harrison later described the
scene in The New York Times: "'Aw, he didn't try to hit the ball,' said
one of the cadets. 'He was just trying to make us feel good.' “However, the
truth of the matter was that the Big Bam was so eager to hit a homer for the
Hudson folks that he went after bad balls which he couldn't have reached on a
stepladder.
No matter. A good time was being
had by all until lightning, thunder and a soaking rain brought the festivities
to a quick conclusion after just two innings. The Yanks, as usual, won another,
2-0. It was said that the Babe got a big kick playing in exhibition games. It
was said that he liked that time to show off his skills, play without pressure,
and have fun. That was what was said. But there was also the unpublicized
financial benefit. At the beginning of his participation in exhibitions gigs,
Ruth received 10 percent of the gate receipts. That arrangement ballooned later
to a guaranteed $2,500 against 15 percent of gate receipts.
Just how many became fans of the
Yankees after attending those exhibition games cannot be measured. Just how
many heard about the dramatic doings of the team and became lifelong fans of
the team that were calling "Murderers' Row" is also beyond
calculation.
The ’27 New York Yanks were the greatest
baseball team of all time. Read on in the book and find out why.
--Harvey Frommer, Lyme, New
Hampshire, 2015
About the Author
Dr. Harvey Frommer received his Ph.D. from New York University. Professor Emeritus, Distinguished Professor nominee, Recipient of the "Salute to Scholars Award" at CUNY where he taught writing for many years, the prolific author was cited by the Congressional Record and the New York State Legislature as a sports historian and journalist.
His sports books include autobiographies of sports legends Nolan Ryan, Red Holzman and Tony Dorsett, the classics "Shoeless Joe and Ragtime Baseball," "New York City Baseball: 1947-1957 (original issue)." The 1927 Yankees." His "Remembering Yankee Stadium" was published to acclaim in 2008. His latest book, a Boston Globe Best Seller, is "Remembering Fenway Park." Autographed and discounted copies of all Harvey Frommer books are available direct from the author. Please consult his home page: http://harveyfrommersports.com/remembering_fenway/
