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 “Dunsmuir Ball Park Today” Photo Gallery
Click on any image below to see photos in full size and to start Photo Gallery:

Babe Ruth’s 1924 Barnstorming Tour Visits Dunsmuir Ball Park…And It’s Still Standing!

 

Many thanks to Joe Shryock for sending me this neat photo of Dunsmuir Ball Park which was visited by Babe Ruth’s 1924 barnstorming team while touring through Northern California. He also sent some photos of the park taken by Zak Ford showing what it looks like today. As you can see from the two photos above, not much has changed in 96 years.

Before I go into details of the 1924 barnstorming tour, here’s a little background information:

With a rare second-place finish, the 1924 season was a disappointment for the Yankees. Miller Huggins’ crew was coming off three straight pennants (1921, ’22, ’23) and their first-ever World Series championship in 1923. The 1924 team was aging with four regulars and nearly all their bench over the age of 30. They slipped to a still-respectable 89-63 record but fell two games short of the pennant-winning Washington Senators. Many of their best players had off-seasons.

That is, except for Babe Ruth…

The Bambino had a phenomenal year, winning his only batting title (.378), and again leading the league in home runs (46), runs scored (143), total bases (391), walks (141), on-base percentage (.513), and slugging average (.739). His 124 RBIs were second to Goose Goslin’s 129.

The 1924 World Series between the Giants and the Senators found the Yankees cast in the unusual role of bystanders, with the Babe doing syndicated reporting on the Series (undoubtedly ghostwritten by his agent and manager, Christy Walsh).

Perhaps to forget about the team’s down year (and also to pocket a little extra dough), Babe and teammate Bob Meusel, along with Walsh, set out on what was to become the Babe’s most successful barnstorming tour. The troupe set out on October 15, heading west towards Northern California, with their first stop in Kansas City. The team traveled over 8,500 miles in a little over two weeks, playing in 15 cities before 125,000 fans. There were15 scheduled games on the tour, and Babe’s team won them all. He also hit 17 homers. West coast stops included: Spokane, Tacoma, Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Stockton, Los Angeles, and Santa Barbara. Baseball rules governing exhibition tours at the time mandated the last game be played by October 31.  

A few days were left open on the schedule for impromptu exhibition games. And so on October 24, 1924, the barnstorming team made a last-minute unscheduled stop in the northern California city of Dunsmuir, a tiny town of about 2,000 near the Oregon border. With a deal arranged by Walsh (and the $1,000 asking price having been met), the Babe and Meusel played a seven-inning game sponsored by the Dunsmuir Lions’ Club against local talent.

In the featured photo, we see a rare postcard photograph of the game played at Dunsmuir Field. It was taken by a local photographer, Paul J. Standard. It’s now the most memorable photo from the barnstorming tour.

The clear, high-quality image shows the Babe posing with a bat in front of the grandstands. “Silent Bob” Meusel is standing near the dugout. The photo was originally owned by Albert Souhrada, who was in the crowd that day. If you look closely, you can see his circled image in the grandstands. The photo was listed at Lelands.com with bidding surpassing $14,000. 

Ruth’s visit was understandably a huge deal for the small town and the beautiful surrounding area.  Over 900 fans and curious citizens—over half the population at the time– turned out to take in the scene, and many I’m sure were hoping to be lucky enough to get an autograph from the famous baseball icon  The price of admission was $1.10; 25 cents for kids.

Apparently Babe greatly enjoyed his warm reception and his stay in Dunsmuir. He later wrote the following letter (probably composed by Christy Walsh):

“To everybody (and that means everybody) in Dunsmuir. We don’t know yet how to tell you what a wonderful time we had in Dunsmuir. We have been treated royally in little towns and big cities, but when it comes to beautiful girls, wonderfully fine fellows, and the real two-fisted spirit of California — little Dunsmuir gave us more laughs, more hospitality, more thrills, and more things to remember than any place between Broadway & Shasta. We didn’t expect to visit Dunsmuir but believe us, we will positively be back (in person)!”

Ruth enjoyed the area so much, he returned two years later to go fishing on the Klamath River and presented a championship football trophy to the local high school team, thus making good on his promise. 

What’s of great significance to us is that Dunsmuir Ball Park is still standing and looks much the same today (see photo above and gallery). Little has changed in the almost 96 years since the Babe’s visit. The historic section of the field visited by Babe Ruth has been retained in its almost pristine condition. 

Recent photos taken by Zak Ford show us what the field looks like today. You can see the exact spot where Babe Ruth stood at the plate and took his cuts. The rustic grandstands give one the sense of baseball back in the 1920s when kids (and adults) played “for the love of the game.” As the Dunsmuir Chamber of Commerce says on their invitation: “Stop by and watch our high school teams or one of our adult amateur teams play with the same dedication.” Today, it’s the home of the Dunsmuir High School Tigers baseball team.

Many thanks to our crack baseball researcher, Don Stokes, who found this interesting tidbit about Babe Ruth and the tour: Apparently Babe Ruth was only slightly injured when he got a fish hook stuck in his finger the day before the game at Dunsmuir Ball Park. He denied he had been seriously hurt and was able to participate in the next day’s game. No other details are available. Had he not played, it’s safe to say the locals would have been highly disappointed!

So let’s spend a moment reflecting on the great day when Babe Ruth and his 1924 barnstorming tour visited the tiny town of Dunsmuir, California, and what a thrill it must have been for all in attendance. 

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Gary Livacari 

Photo Credits: All from Google search

Information: Excerpts edited from article about the 1924 barnstorming tour by Rich Mueller

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