When Babe Ruth Came to Jamestown

Babe Ruth came to Jamestown on October 18, 1921.

John McGraw’s Giants had beaten the Yanks, five games to three, of the first series meeting of the two New York teams. Ruth was lost to the Yanks after the fifth game because of an infected arm, but was able to launch his barnstorming tour with Bob Meusel, Carl Mays, Wally Schang, Tom Sheenan and Bill Piercy.

Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis, however, ruled against the tour and all but Ruth, Piercy and Meusel backed out. The three were in the lineup of Ruth’s All-Stars, otherwise composed of pick-up players from the high minors with a sprinkling of semi-pro talent.

The world series that preceded the much debated tour in 1921 was the first played under the reign of Judge Landis, who had been installed as the czar of baseball in 1920 following the Black Sox scandal of the year before.

It also marked the first time the team winning the first two games eventually lost the series and it was the first and only ti me the complete set of series games were played in one park.

Hugh Bedient (right) of Levant, here of the 1912 world series who had hurled for Toledo of the American Association that year, was named to face Ruth in the exhibition, which was played on the old Celoron diamond.

Bedient had been a teammate of Ruth with the Red Sox, so it was quite a reunion for the great righthander and the Bam.

Ruth and Meusel were at the Hotel Samuels during their Jamestown visit and Stanley Parkhurst, a local barber and father of pitcher Lyle Parkhurst, recalls his several trips to the hotel to shave the two stars in their rooms.

Behind Bedient when the locals went out against the Ruth Stars were the late Lehman Peterson, leadoff and shortstop; Billy Webb, the old Celoron maestro and manager of the famed Spiders, on third; Billy Wright, now an employee of Rane Tool, in left field; Emil “Jake” Jacobson, now a Falconer businessman, in center; Hank Johnson, currently employed at Art Metal, on first; Art Larson, living in Pasadena, Cal., at present, in right field; “Rabbit” Lindstrom, now an electrician at Art Metal, on second; and George Mellor, presently proprietor of a liquor store near the boat landing, was behind the plate.

Ruth (left) failed to get a home run during the game and so great was the mighty Bam’s prowess as a circuit clouter that the Jamestown Morning Postbanner the following morning read, “RUTH FAILS TO GET HOMER HERE.”

When Ruth failed to hit for the route, it was banner news, even in an exhibition.

The Ruth Stars won 14-10. The Babe hitting third, came up to face Bedient six times and connected twice, both doubles. Both Ruth and Meusel, however, treated the big turnout of fans to some terrific clouting over the trees in centerfield and into Lake Chautauqua as they gave a demonstration of fungo hitting prior to the game.

Bedient and Ruth chided each other unmercifully each time Ruth came to bat. At one time, Bedient called for a new ball, remarking, “I’ll be able to see this one better if it comes this way.”

A brief flurry of fisticuffs between Umpire Pat Riley and Eddie Osborne, catcher for the visitors, livened the exhibition. Ruth took no part in pulling the men apart, apparently enjoying the flurry immensely for he laughed uproariously.

Rain came down shortly before the game got underway and Ruth and Meusel took shelter under the stands, where they were surrounded by a group of fans, mostly youngsters, who plied them with questions.

Ruth made an appearance at the Mozart Theater during the evening where he was introduced to the audience and the following day his stars departed for Warren, where they defeated a picked team of Warren stars, 5 to 3, with Ruth clubbing a home run.

During his Jamestown stay, Ruth received a wire from Jake Pitler, manager of the Oil City nine, offering him $1,000 to play in that city. Ruth had no open dates, however . Pitler later became well known to Jamestown fans as manager of the pennant winning Olean Oilers of the 1939 and 1940 PONY League campaigns.

Shortly after the Jamestown appearance, Ruth called off his barnstorming trip at the insistence of Commissioner Landis, who slapped a fine on the Bam and suspended him for the first 39 days of the 1922 season.

2026 POSTSCRIPTS

1. CSHOF inductee (2012) Greg Peterson wrote an article for the Society of American Baseball Research about Babe’s appearance at Celoron titled “Yes, Irene, Babe Ruth Played in Celoron and hit a Ball into the Lake:”
https://www.chautauquasportshalloffame.org/2019/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/32015.pdf

2. Pitcher Hugh Bedient and sports editor Frank Hyde were both inducted into the CSHOF in 1983:
https://www.chautauquasportshalloffame.org/hughbedient.php

https://www.chautauquasportshalloffame.org/frankhyde.php

3. The Hotel Samuels where Ruth stayed still stands on the corner of Third and Cherry Streets in Jamestown. Now called Covenant Manor, the CSHOF occupies space on the ground level.