Who saw the Babe in the Magic City?

American baseball player George Herman Ruth (1895 - 1948) known as 'Babe' Ruth. (Photo by MPI/Getty Images)

A key step in Billings’ development as a baseball hub occurred two years after Archie Cochrane came to town, and it involved the biggest name in the sport’s history, Babe Ruth.

On July 13, 1947, the Billings Gazette reported that the Bambino, one of Ruth’s nicknames, might attend the American Legion junior baseball sectional tournament in Billings,

Legion baseball officials had invited Ruth to appear at the August 20–22, 1947, event, in his capacity as a consultant of the Legion youth program,

Harry Perrigo, Montana Legion athletic officer, told the Gazette that John F. Cooney, of Fargo, N. D., had informed him that Billings was on Ruth’s itinerary.

“However, due to the Babe’s health, none of the appearances are positive until you see him at the park,” Cooney told Perrigo. Ruth was scheduled to visit Billings during the tournament, and Cooney promised to provide details about his appearance.

“You may be sure we will do all possible to get the Babe out there. Bear in mind, however, all this is dependent on a very sick man’s health,” Cooney said.

Ruth was recovering from what was described as a “serious” neck operation, as reported in the Billings Gazette on January 9, 1947, and he was seldom seen unaccompanied by his nurse.

Perrigo said he expected a number of Legion and sports dignitaries to attend the tourney. Among them Mickey Cochrane, newly inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Cochrane told Perrigo that he was returning to Detroit in the near future, but that he would attend the Billings tournament if business matters permitted his return.

On August 20, 1947, the Gazette headlined the former Yankee slugger’s arrival the day before (August 19) in the Magic City: “Billings Throng Greets Babe Ruth.” After flying into the city’s airport, where a short ceremony honored him, the Ruth party boarded a stagecoach that took them on a parade through the business section.

Ruth showed signs of the effects of the lengthy illness that had required him to be hospitalized for much of spring and summer. He appeared, however, to have regained much of his weight.

“I am most happy to be in Billings,” he said to the airport crowd, speaking in a deep, raspy voice, “since I feel that Legion baseball is one of the finest things in the world for youngsters. I hope to see you all again at the tournament tomorrow and later in the week.”

The Midland Roundtable presented Ruth with a black, ten-gallon Stetson hat and gave Mrs. Ruth a bouquet of flowers. Then a police guard escorted a caravan of cars from the Rimrocks to the Billings Commercial Club–now the Chamber of Commerce. Billings Saddle Club members formed a horseback guard for the parade.

Afterwards, the Ruths checked into the Northern Hotel, and Babe retired to his room to rest for the Legion tournament banquet in his honor that night.

A Gazette reporter who interviewed Ruth before the banquet asked him at what age a youngster should start playing baseball.

“As soon as he can walk. The younger the kid starts, the quicker his muscles get into the rhythm of the game. Then he is bound to come out on top.

“That’s why I am all for junior Legion ball, because it gets the kids out in the field with proper equipment at an early age. No longer do boys in smaller cities have to worry about being spotted if they (don’t) have the goods. Junior Legion ball takes them throughout the nation–as this sectional tournament shows–and gives them the ability to display their abilities.”

Billings was the tenth city where the so-called “King of Swat” had appeared as the Ford Motor Company’s junior Legion baseball consultant. A Ford press representative accompanying the contingent said more than 3,000 cities had requested an appearance by Ruth, but organizers had to whittle the list to 13 because of his health. Billings was the smallest city Ruth visited on the tour.

Ruth stayed in Billings through Thursday, Aug. 21, 1947, and then he, his wife and his nurse flew to Seattle. After an overnight stop there, the party flew to San Francisco and then to Los Angeles to take part in opening ceremonies for the American Legion Little World Series.

Bambino’s legacy in Billings

Babe Ruth came to Billings 77 years ago (four years before I was born 220 miles down the Yellowstone River valley in Glendive, Montana), and the Yankee slugger left behind a lasting mark on the city.

Actually, what he left behind from his visit were autographed baseballs. At least two of them survived into the 21st century and became items prized by collectors. The Billings Gazette captured a sense of the Sultan of Swat’s time in Billings through articles published in 2008 and 2010.

The stories involve a retired dentist from the Dallas suburb of Garland, and two brothers who grew up in Livingston. One of the siblings was living between Dallas and Fort Worth in 2010 when Ed Kemmick wrote about them, and his brother was living in Phoenix then. Gazette reporter Clair Johnson wrote about the dentist who ended up owning another baseball, which was later sold in an online auction for $81,075.

How I wish I could board a time machine and travel back to 1947 when the Babe stopped in Billings and signed those baseballs!

Carvel Lincoln owned the ball that got the first dose of local publicity through Johnson’s article. He got the ball in August 1947 when he came to Billings to play in the regional American Legion baseball team for his Boise, Idaho, team.

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