The Story Behind the "Babe Ruth Photo"

The Babe tried. He had the heart, but the skills that had once made him the most feared hitter in the game were gone.

On April 15, 1935, Babe Ruth, now a member of the Boston Braves, came to Fitton Field to play an exhibition game against Holy Cross. His trip to Worcester was special, since it reunited him with his friend and former Red Sox teammate and manager Jack Barry, who was the Holy Cross baseball coach.

The game drew more than 10,000 spectators to Fitton Field to see the legendary Sultan of Swat.

Just before the start of the game, a boy in the bleachers suffered an epileptic seizure. He was carried from the seats and laid down in front of the Braves bench. The Babe walked over and asked the boy how he was feeling.

“Okay, now,” the boy said. “Knock a home run, will you Babe?”

The Babe replied, “You stick around, and I’ll knock you one.”

The Babe tried, but there would be no storybook ending to add to his Bunyanesque legend. On this day, Ruth would only play five innings. He grounded out weakly to first base and walked twice after running the count to 3-2.

But Ruth still loved the limelight and signed autographs that day until his hand was cramped and sore. In this photo, he clowns around with the Holy Cross band. Ruth played only 28 games that year with the Braves before he hung up his spikes for good. But anyone who was at Fitton Field that April afternoon would forever recall being in the presence of greatness.