Babe Ruth Day was first celebrated on this date in 1947 thanks to Albert B. Chandler, American politician and Commissioner of Baseball from 1945-1951 to pay homage to perhaps the greatest individual who played our national pastime. On a bright and sunny Sunday afternoon, more than 58,000 fans packed the “house that Ruth built’ to salute “The Sultan of Swat” or “The Colossus of Clout” to get a glimpse of their Bambino and hear a brief speech from the man who was a shell of his former self fighting the ravages of cancer.
Twenty years earlier during Ruth’s historic 60 homerun season, a monumental battle of brute strength and formidable wit was taking place in the gymnasium of Art McGovern in NYC where two behemoths, Babe Ruth and Paul Whiteman were going one round for “bragging rights” of the gym! Of course, this was one big publicity stunt; however, none other than John Philip Sousa found himself right in middle as referee! Here’s the amusing story that goes with this priceless image and Happy Babe Ruth Day, everyone!
Toward the end of June 1927, a mock boxing match with home-run king Babe Ruth at the McGovern gymnasium in the Liggatt Buidling at 41 East 42nd Street. Both Ruth and Whiteman had been working out there lately in their spare time to take off excess weight. Someone – perhaps Jimmy Gillespie – came up with the smart idea that this was the ideal setting for a publicity stunt, and the “fight” was planned between “Knock-Out” Ruth and “One-Round” Whiteman.
The Babe weighed in at 217, Whiteman at 254, which seems light for Whiteman at the time; the workouts must have been succeeding. John Philip Sousa, who also habitually visited the gym, was elected as referee with the gym’s owner Arthur McGovern as a second.
Both Whiteman and the Sultan of Swat milked the event for all it was worth, playing it for laughs for the benefit of the onlookers.
“I am always so nervous before a fight,” Whiteman whimpered from his corner stool.
“Don’t let that guy slug me,” Ruth quavered from the opposite side of the ring. “I’ve got to work this afternoon.”
Sousa meticulously checked both men for concealed weapons prior to the start of the bout. To his surprise, he uncovered an Indian club from beneath Whiteman’s left glove, which he quickly confiscated. “Break clean,” he warned the two bulky men, “or I’ll brain you with this club!” With that the match began. A reporter from the New York Evening World was at ringside and gave this humorous, blow-by-blow account:
“The pair of behemoths tripped into action, each landing blows on the other’s gloves with force sufficient to seriously annoy a fly. After a series of seconds of these interchanges, Whiteman poised himself, closed his eyes and swung a haymaker from the knees with his right, in the general direction of Ruth’s chin. The blow landed instead on the jaw of McGovern, some ten feet away from the mark and the round ended in confusion, with both principals rushed to the aid of the second. He was restored to consciousness by means of fluttering towels and Sousa, after warning the Jazz King to abstain from wounding the bystanders, rang the gong for round two. The warriors leapt ponderously, but with unabated savagery, into the fray, inflicting deep gashes in the atmosphere with their murderous lunges. Time and again, the referee was compelled to brandish his massy baton in the neighborhood of one skull or another… Ringside experts noticed that Whiteman had been unmanned by the accident during the first stanza and were not surprised when he dropped both hands. Quick as a flash, the Yankee outfielder launched an uppercut to his opponent’s chin. The blow crushed brutally home with an impact that would have made a peanut rattle slightly inside its shell. After looking about carefully to locate his stool, the stricken boxer dropped upon it in a state of coma, from which he roused himself only to admonish the photographer to be sure and get the pose. The referee might have counted a hundred, but was too excited to count at all. He finally gave the verdict to Whiteman on the ground that he should have picked on someone his own size.”
Famed composer John Philip Sousa agreed to serve as the referee, and Christy Walsh was Babe Ruth’s corner man (also in the photo is Artie McGovern, owner of the gym).
Recent Comments