he wrote something on the card and said that this would get us in - at least they’d know where to find him. He said “Sayonara!” and thanked us for our friendship.
We watched him walk away. The kids were tired and sleepy. We had no trouble getting to bed, flush with the night’s exploits. I told the kids that Ruth would tour Japan in 1934. The people loved him so much that he really made baseball popular leading to the real beginning of professional ball in Japan. Wonder if Genda-san had anything to do with it?
We slept in Friday morning, anxious for the big game that afternoon. I made arrangements for our return Saturday afternoon. I told the kids it would be a surprise, that traveling back to our time was a lot easier, the ‘snapback’ I called it. According to my calculations, we should be back on Sunday evening, two days after we left. No need to go back to Philadelphia, we could do it right in St. Paul.
“How will we get to St. Paul?” Lauren asked.
“That’s the surprise!”
We went to the lobby and the kids waited on the couches, behaving very well. I went in one of the phone booths and asked the operator to connect me to Grand Central Station to make reservations. After finishing there, I asked for long distance, please?
“Yes, Northwest Airways in Minneapolis. Thanks, I’ll hold. Hello? Is this Rosie, Operations? I’d like to make a reservation for three please, yes, I understand, there are only three planes, and they can only carry three passengers, yes, two children, Sunday, October 2…”
We headed again for Yankee Stadium this Friday, September 30, 1927 after lunch at the Rose Room. The Round Table gave the kids a round of applause as we sat down to lunch with them, Lauren and Jonathan giving a gleeful account of the nights exploits. At the table this time was Edna Ferber, the author of ‘So Big.’ She was discussing the soon-to-appear musical drama ‘Showboat’ based on her novel. Also there was a large Afro- American, none other than Paul Robeson, a Broadway star of some note.
She mentioned that the part of Joe, the stevedore who would sing ‘Old Man River’ was written for Paul, and said that Flo Ziegfeld was at fault for putting another Afro-American in the first production instead and said that Flo just needed a little time to see Paul’s talent.
“What Flo needs is a pretty right cross to the jaw, the big stiff.” Dottie said with a sly grin.
I explained to the kids that Ziegfeld, THE big shot on Broadway, got her fired in 1920 from her job as theater critic at another magazine, Vanity Fair, because she had severely criticized his wife, Billie Burke’s performance.
It was wonderful that there were no ‘raised eyebrows’ at a black man eating in the posh restaurant in those dark days of race relations. Dottie and her crowd were mostly unabashedly liberal and she would spend her later years supporting the struggle of Afro-Americans for their equal rights.
As me and the kids said our goodbyes, since we wouldn’t be dining with them again, the other diners in the restaurant looked at us in wonder and must have been thinking, who ARE these people? One of them said to her friend that she was certain that I must be Eugene O’Neil (the avant-garde playwright), she was certain of it… I had to smile.
SIXTY
It was so hard to leave the Round Table at last, for good and all. This group of writers was the beating heart of the literary and theatrical world of the Jazz Age, and the kids and I were privileged to have met them and be a part of them, even for so short a time.
Before taking the subway back to Yankee Stadium, I bought two baseballs. I kicked myself for the nth time at not having brought a camera with me, but on this first trip, I didn’t want to bring any modern electronic gadgets. Jonathan did bring his iTouch, but didn’t use it much. Only my glasses and plastic shaver were ‘modern.’
I noticed the crowds were a little bigger. We went to the ticket kiosks just outside the stadium gate and showed our note from Babe Ruth. The ticket clerk was skeptical and showed it to his manager, who said, “Yep, That’s the big lug’s handwriting alright…” He escorted us himself through the crowds, down the corridors to the Yankee’s locker room. Since Lauren was with us, we couldn’t go in, of course, so the Babe came out, as well as Gehrig, Koenig and Lazzari. They were smiling since the Babe had told them about last night how the kids had ‘saved his bacon.’
The players took the two baseballs and signed them. I was elated! Ruth AND Gehrig, as well as Koenig and Lazzari!! Briefly, the thought of how much money these would be worth ‘back home’ crossed my mind but there are some things worth more, some things that are sacred. I told the kids to cherish these two baseballs as heirlooms, something to hand down to their kids…
The guys tousled the hair of Lauren and Jonathan. We left them after handshakes all around and went to our box seats behind home plate. Jonathan asked why couldn’t we sit in the right-field bleachers.
“We can’t mess with history, kids, we’ve done enough already. Let’s enjoy the game and you have those two wonderful signed baseballs that many a collector would give, well, just about anything to possess.”
We chowed down on hot dogs and lemonade, cheering the Yankees on. The crowd got on its feet every time Ruth stepped up to the plate, you could feel the tension, expecting the Sultan of Swat to hit his 60th, each time a groan of disappointment when he didn’t. Still, unlike the slaughter of yesterday’s game, this one was close. The Senator’s pitching was very good.
In the first three innings, no score. They walked Ruth once. In the top of the fourth inning, the Senators scored two runs to the dismay of the crowd, then the Yankees scored a run. Ruth got a base hit. Then Gehrig drove for a single down the middle with Ruth rushing for third base. Then Ruth scored on the next hit by Koenig, the Senators 2, Yankees 1.
The Yankees scored again in the 6th, now the score stood 2 to 2. The game went on until the eighth inning. Zachary pitching for the Senators. One out, Koenig getting a triple, waited on third base when Ruth stepped up to the plate. The crowd was anxious now, the tension electric, even though there were only 10,000 attending, according to the Times.
Zachary’s first pitch was a fastball.
“Stee-rike One!” The Umpire called. The next was high, for a ball. One and one.
I took Lauren on my shoulders. “This is it!” I told them.
Zachary’s next pitch was high but the Babe stepped into hit and his bat hammered it with a resounding “CRACK” and the crowd gasped as it went high into right field and into the bleachers, was it fair or foul? It was right on the line it seemed, just inside fair territory. The Umpire called it fair, the Senator’s pitcher was protesting, but it was too late, it was what the crowd wanted to hear and their shouting ‘split the heavens.’
The crowd went crazy. We were cheering wildly! He did it! Number 60! I was relieved that the night’s shenanigans had no ill effect on him. There was pandemonium in the stands as Koenig scored and Ruth trotted around the bases very regal, with Gehrig’s traditional handshake as he touched home plate. It seemed that 10,000 handkerchiefs were fluttering as Ruth stood there and began saluting the crowd turning to each section making rapid salutes, grinning ear to ear. This is the record that will stand for the next 34 years…and we were there!! The kids were caught up in the pandemonium as well, jumping and cheering like mad. The Yankees stood 4 to 2.
When the cheering subsided, the game continued, but no score on either side, the Yankees the victors. The crowd went wild again, but the game was over and Ruth had his moment in history. We filed out with the crowd but went over to where the mob of kids waited for the Yankees by the locker room - we saw Pat and some of his gang who waved at us as they waited to get the Babe’s autograph, each sporting a shiny, new baseball.
The 60th home run ball had been caught by a long time Yankees fan, Joe Forner, aged 60, who was waiting to show Ruth that he had caught the ball, according to the NY Times. We waved at the Bambino and he gave us a big wink. We stood high in the great man’s opinion, that’s for sure. After he retires, the Yankees will retire his number
