Babe Ruth, the Boston Braves, and Bushy Beards
The Boston Braves, looking to boost spring training attendance, signed Babe Ruth and played a game against the House of David commune and their hirsute squad.
Pregame Pepper
Did you know…
. . . Babe Ruth’s final game at Yankee Stadium as a member of the Yankees was on September 24, 1934, in a game against Boston — he walked in his only plate appearance.
. . . Babe Ruth’s final game as a Yankee came a week later, on September 30, 1934, against Washington — he went 0-for-3 with a run scored (the 2,161st of his career).
. . . The House of David commune began to play competitive baseball in 1913, and began barnstorming around the country in the 1920s.
Leading Off
The Babe and the Beards
By Bob LeMoine
This is the first of a five-part series.
Ninety years ago, in 1935, Babe Ruth took his last swings in one forgettable season. I walk through Ruth’s disheartening year, and his wilderness years in retirement, in my book “When the Babe Went Back to Boston: Babe Ruth, Judge Fuchs and the Hapless Braves of 1935” (McFarland, 2023). This series provides five glimpses into Ruth’s final season and his lasting legacy. We begin in a very odd place, in spring training, 90 years ago today.
Babe Ruth had been unceremoniously released by the Yankees, the franchise he put on the map, the year before. He had slowed with age and was a liability in the outfield. Yankees owner Jacob Ruppert and GM Ed Barrow could not find a team to take Ruth, either as a part-time player or as a manager. How do you get rid of the most famous icon in the game? The Yankees were willing to give Ruth away for nearly nothing; but they needed a team desperate enough for the aging legend. They found one in the Boston Braves.
Judge Emil Fuchs, the Braves cash-strapped owner, was swimming in debt. He lost money on the team and owed back rent on Braves Field. He frantically attempted to place a dog racing track at Braves Field, which was met with expected resistance from Commissioner Landis. Fuchs concocted an emergency plan to sell advance ticket books just to pay for spring training. What he needed was a reason for the turnstiles at Braves Field to click. The discarded Ruth seemed the perfect solution. The club was saved, and pennant fever was in the air.
Crowds swarmed to see Ruth that spring. He was the headline, whether he was goofing around with fellow oldie Rabbit Maranville, going fishing, or saying all the right things. On March 18th, the Braves were visited by the barnstorming beards, the House of David.
The House of David was a Christian commune founded in 1903 in Benton Harbor, Michigan, by Benjamin Franklin Purnell. The sect focused on the second coming of Christ, giving all their possessions to the commune, and refraining from sex and alcohol. Oh, and, based on the Book of Leviticus, their men were forbidden to shave. They formed a baseball club, and the whiskered bunch became a gate attraction. They even hired ringers such as Satchel Paige and Grover Cleveland Alexander, who were allowed to wear some fake fuzz. The Braves were no strangers to the bearded bashers. In 1932, they hosted the House of David at Braves Field. Those crafty beards brought their own portable lights, and this is considered the first night game in the history of professional baseball in Boston.
This 1935 game at Waterfront Park in St. Petersburg, Florida, was far less enlightening for the thousand fans whom John Drohan in the Boston Herald quipped must have had nowhere else to go. The Braves beat the HOD by far more than a whisker. Boston’s shortstop, “Barber” Billy Urbanski (nicknamed such for his bald noggin), singled sharply through the box. “Handy Randy” Moore and Ruth both walked. Ruth was nearly beaned on a throw to first. Wally Berger launched a grand slam into Tampa Bay. Hal Lee singled and third baseman Pinky Whitney launched a home run of his own. Pitcher Mike Janesko found himself in a hairy situation down 6-2 after the first inning. In the second, he allowed a Les Mallon double, singles to Lee and Whitney, and three walks to give the Braves another five runs. This is when Janesko let his hair down and began lobbing cricket pitches to Ruth, who slammed a massive drive over the fence in right, just a hair’s breadth foul. That’s how that spring went for the Bambino. Ruth walked again, and since the game was starting to get in his hair, he called it a day.
Janesko was replaced by some guy named Sloan and the chatter among the faithful was how he looked like General Grant. Hiker Moran was manager Bill McKechnie’s starter and Drohan commented he was better at finding the plate in the dining room than the ballpark. Moran allowed a two-run home run in the first, walked three, and must have made McKechnie pull out his hair out. Deacon Bill brought in three more youngsters to keep the David attack to a mere stubble. None of these three had even a brush with a major league career. Moran briefly saw time with the Braves in 1938-39, when the team was known as the Bees, but he wasn’t there long enough for even a five o’clock shadow. But on this day, these four limited the HOD to four hits while the Braves buzz cut the beards, 17-6.
The House of David dwindled over the decades, finally folding in the 1950s. Ruth and the Braves dwindled long before that and would be remembered as one of the worst teams of all time. This game is insignificant in the big picture, but let’s not spend time splitting hairs. It’s a lighthearted moment of baseball history with dedicated whiskered men playing their game and living their faith, while a fading icon did all he could to counter the razor-thin margin he had to return to what he once was.
The author was greatly assisted by articles from the Baseball Hall of Fame, Bill Nowlin, and The Boston Globe, as well as game summaries from the Globe, Boston Herald, and The Tampa Bay Times.
Bob LeMoine is a librarian, adjunct professor, high school teacher, and union president who still dreams of working in baseball. He is a SABR member, researcher, and author of the book When the Babe Went Back to Boston: Babe Ruth, Judge Fuchs and the Hapless Braves of 1935 (McFarland, 2023). You can see his numerous SABR writings https://sabr.org/authors/bob-lemoine/ and can be reached at LIBRARYBOBL(AT)GMAIL.COM. Bob lives in New Hampshire.
Extra Innings
Babe Ruth may have played his last game at Yankee Stadium in 1934, but he last appeared in the “House That Ruth Built” in 1948 when the team retired his famous #3 uniform. He died a mere two months later.
Know Your Editors
HERE’S THE PITCH is published daily except Sundays and holidays. Benjamin Chase [gopherben@gmail.com] handles the Monday issue with Dan Freedman [dfreedman@lionsgate.com] editing Tuesday and Jeff Kallman [easyace1955@gmail.com] at the helm Wednesday and Thursday. Original editor Dan Schlossberg [ballauthor@gmail.com], does the weekend editions on Friday and Saturday. Former editor Elizabeth Muratore [nymfan97@gmail.com] is now co-director [with Benjamin Chase and Jonathan Becker] of the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America, which publishes this newsletter and the annual ACTA book of the same name. Readers are encouraged to contribute comments, articles, and letters to the editor. HtP reserves the right to edit for brevity, clarity, and good taste.