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 Vintage 1930s Baseball Photo Gallery
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Oh Boy! Do I Have a Film Clip For You!

It’s Opening Day at Yankee Stadium, 1931!

…And you don’t have to be a Yankee or Red Sox fan to enjoy it, either!

Read first before viewing the film clip!

 

If you’re like me and you enjoy watching old baseball footage, you’re in for a real treat!

Do you have 15 minutes to spare? I know you love baseball history, so do yourself a big favor and travel back in a virtual time machine to 1931 to see this incredible footage, filmed with an early Movietone Sound camera.

It’s Opening Day, April 14, 1931, at Yankee Stadium. The Yankees are hosting the visiting Red Sox. You’ll see amazing footage and hear the original voices recorded in this pre-media-savvy age. The exciting Opening Day atmosphere is captured in all its splendor. I felt like I was visiting Yankee Stadium back in the ‘30s.

The baseball footage is spectacular enough; but as you view the clip, you’ll also experience a real slice of “Americana” as it existed in the 1930s. It was an era when baseball was king…and you can sense it as you watch the clip. To speed things up, you might want to scroll ahead through some of the crowd shots. 

Here’s a few highlights:

• This was Joe McCarthy’s first game as Yankee manager. You’ll see a real awkward pre-game handshake between managers Joe McCarthy and John “Shano” Collins.  There’s also awkward pre-game comments from starters Red Ruffing and Wilcy Moore. No one ever quite seems to know what to say!
• There’s closeups of pre-game batting practice swings of Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. Once the game starts, there’s plenty of action shown from the game itself, all surprisingly crisp and clear, with the wonderful sound of baseballs hitting the wooden bats echoing throughout the clip.
• One of the highlights is a real neat scene and recorded conversation between Babe Ruth and wife Claire in the stands prior to the game. Hear Claire giggling while asking the Babe, “What do you want me to say?” in her sweet Southern drawl.
• You see how uncomfortable the players were in front of microphones when pressed for comments in these early days of broadcasting. For many this was the first time a microphone was shoved in front of their faces. This gives the clip a “genuine” feel, unlike the often canned and rehearsed responses we hear from today’s media-savvy players.
• Complete Opening Day festivities are shown, including marching bands, player processions, raising of the flag, singing of the National Anthem, and the ceremonial First Pitch thrown out by the dapper New York mayor, Jimmy Walker amidst his entourage.
• The flag is shown at half-mast, probably due to the recent death of Ban Johnson, or possibly the death of Notre Dame coach Knute Rockne a few days earlier, which was considered a national tragedy at the time.
• You’ll see the fans “Dressed to the Nines” in the stands (as they said back then), with suits, ties, fedoras, and dresses. Even the kids have ties and sweaters. Compared to today’s cell phone, texting, slovenly dressed generation, those people in the 1930s had style and class!
• Watch for the “Betting Is Prohibited” sign.
• There’s nice footage of the integrated crowd in the bleachers, even though, of course, the game itself was segregated, and it was still many years until the arrival of Jackie Robinson.

This is a great film clip, one that all baseball history buffs will enjoy! Spend the 15 minutes to watch it…Trust me, you won’t regret it!

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Gary Livacari 

Photo Credits: Footage found on You Tube

Check out my latest book, recently nominated for the SABR 1919 Lawrence Ritter award: Reflections On the 1919 Black Sox: Time to Take Another Look now available on Amazon in e-book and paperback. All profits go to the Illinois Veterans Foundation

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