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e hot springs arlingtons from 1896 to 1903 and the hot springs blues in 1904 17 babe ruth s historic alligator farm home run edit hot springs alligator farm 1924 st patrick s day 1918 is nicknamed the day that changed baseball forever 10 on that day babe ruth hit a long home run into the arkansas alligator farm and petting zoo the story goes that on march 17 1918 babe ruth then an accomplished 23 year old boston red sox left handed pitcher altered the course of baseball history red sox first baseman dick hoblitzel was unable to play in the opening exhibition game against brooklyn at whittington park ruth coming off a 24 13 season was a last minute replacement at first base his first time at a position other than pitcher ruth would hit two long home runs that day while playing the field for the first time his first home run was a long blast that landed in a wood pile however his second home run is legendary in its record setting length and eventual effect on ruth it was a grand slam a shot that traveled an astonishing estimated 573 feet 175 m 18 19 sailing out of the park across the entire span of whittington avenue landing in a pond the alligator farm across the street even the dodgers stood and cheered amazingly ruth would prove it was no fluke as he hit another home run into the alligator farm a week later while pitching for the red sox 20 on march 15 2011 an event was held to recognize and celebrate the famous ruth home run at the site 20 bill jenkinson a noted baseball historian was part of the event visited the site and helped to authenticate the 573 foot 175 m home run 21 about the home run distance jenkins said no one can confirm it with complete certainty but the data points in that direction as an historian i must remain objective and i am simply stating that either way what ruth did that day was literally amazing 20 ruth s performance that day at whittington park led to a change in ruth s career and a major change in baseball history as a result of his hitting the red sox began rethinking ruth s dual abilities during and after 1918 to begin ruth would alternate in the 1918 season pitching less and playing the field often his dual abilities helped lead the red sox to the 1918 world series championship hitting more regularly in 1918 ruth hit a league leading 11 home runs to go with a 13 7 record and two wins in the series 22 eventually ruth stopped pitching and became a hitter with results of legend that exploded after his 1920 sale to the new york yankees lifetime 342 average 714 home runs 2062 rbi s 2174 runs scored 1 164 ops 13 20 22 23 24 honus wagner 1911 batting minor league baseball edit along with hosting eight major league teams whittington park was the home to hot springs minor league teams the hot springs bathers played in the cotton states league from 1938 to 1941 as an affiliate of the chicago cubs 1938 and the detroit tigers 1939 1941 and an earlier team called the bathers played in the arkansas state league in 1894 and 1897 and the southwestern league in 1898 the hot springs vaporites 1908 1909 and hot springs vapors 1906 also played in the arkansas state league 25 a p martin s barber college team vs vapor city tigers at whittington park baseball ad baseball schools edit babe ruth red sox 1918 in spring training 1918 pitcher babe ruth hit a ball 573 feet 175 m the ball landed in the alligator farm across the street from whittington park from 1933 to 1938 ray l doan operated the all star baseball school at the park 26 the school attracted thousands of younger players with 1938 topping at 450 attendees instructors included rogers hornsby grover cleveland alexander red faber dizzy dean george sisler bob feller tris speaker and burleigh grimes attendees included legendary female athlete babe didrickson who attended in 1934 after already being an olympic gold medalist in the 1932 summer olympic games 27 future major league player sam narron also enrolled in 1936 doan installed lights at the park to begin night usage and games 10 28 boston red sox players in hot springs arkansas for spring training left to right olaf hendrikson larry gardner buck o brien heinie wagner steve yerkes and hugh bradley boarding train to coincide with doan s baseball school major league umpire george barr operated his george barr umpire school which is recognized as the first ever umpire instructional school future major league umpires bill mckinley and scotty robb were attendees 29 in 1939 hornsby took over for doan and started the rogers hornsby baseball college hornsby s operation was housed at majestic field but utilized whittington park and other fields in hot springs including whittington park and fogel field which was located behind the alligator farm hornsby s college operated until 1952 hornsby s college would attract 100 200 prospective professionals with scouts present for six week sessions hornsby had legendary instructors cy young jimmie foxx tris speaker and schoolboy rowe 7 30 end of the ball field 1947 edit after world war ii halted many baseball leagues the bathers were gone and major league teams had moved to warmer climates for spring training in 1942 the st louis browns and pittsburgh pirates outlined plans to move their spring training from california to ban johnson park 31 however those plans never materialized and the future use of ban johnson field was affected in 1947 with no baseball tenants the whittington park speedway racetrack began operation on the site to replace ban johnson field jaycee park was built at the majestic field site on the corner of belding avenue and carson street later from 1948 to 1951 the chicago white sox would return spring training to hot springs utilizing jaycee field as their training site 7 32 wagner donates uniforms edit the pittsburgh pirates trained for over a decade at whittington park hall of fame shortstop honus wagner became a fixture in the city as evidence of this wagner purchased and donated basketball uniforms and equipment to hot springs high school in 1912 the uniforms were in the pittsburgh pirates colors of black and gold and subsequently the high school switched permanently to those colors wagner also refereed a basketball game for the school that season something he would later repeat 33 the first boys of spring documentary edit whittington park and ruth s home run are featured prominently in the documentary the first boys of spring 2015 produced by larry foley the documentary on hot springs spring training is narrated by actor billy bob thornton a hot springs area native 34 35 36 the documentary began airing nationally on the mlb network in february 2016 37 today edit baseball trail park at 1201 whittington ave is part of the city of hot springs park system it is named in tribute to the hot springs historic baseball trail and the ball fields that once existed nearby sam guinn field whittington park and fogel field 38 today the whittington park ban johnson park site is an asphalt parking lot for the weyerhaeuser company there is a home plate marker in the parking lot 39 a section of cement bleachers remains visible in the adjacent hillside the cement bleachers on the side of the hill was a fan section called the wolves den the arkansas alligator farm and petting zoo is still across the street with a marker for the landing spot of ruth s st patrick s day home run 19 40 41 artifacts related to ban johnson park are on display at the hot springs baseball museum on march 24 2018 a ceremony was held at the whittington park site to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the babe ruth home run babe ruth s family was in attendance related events included hall of fame inductee ferguson jenkins and former all star al hrabosky as well as noted baseball historians bill jenkinson and tim reid 42 historic markers edit today there are four plaques at the site as part of the hot springs historic baseball trail whittington park mel ott honus wagner and babe ruth the whittington park marker reads more baseball was played in the ballpark on this corner than anywhere else in hot springs built here in 1894 and used until 1942 whittington park which was later named ban johnson field was the epicenter of baseball in hot springs a partial list of those who played classic games here includes cy young honus wagner buck freeman sam crawford walter johnson tris speaker and babe ruth 43 the mel ott plaque reads as follows this hall of fame outfielder personally tutored by john mugsy mcgraw played his entire career with the new york giants hitting 511 home runs on his 30th birthday march 2 1939 in an intra squad game here at whittington park master melvin belted three homers over the right field fence he played alongside hall of famers bill terry and carl hubbell to lift the hal schumacher team over the carl hubbell team 10 6 44 the plaque for honus wagner states no player left a bigger legacy in hot springs than the flying dutchman he enjoyed the baths and all the activities hot springs had to offer he also participated in civic functions and coached the high school basketball team honus played in dozens of classic baseball games at whittington park on march 19 1911 he recorded a single triple and home run while his hall of fame manager fred clarke hit two home runs 45 the plaque for babe ruth at the arkansas alligator farm frontage states ruth trained here nine times and became a very familiar face around hot springs he hiked the mountains took the baths played golf patronized the casinos and visited the racetrack on march 17 1918 st patrick s day he launched a mammoth home run from whittington park that landed on the fly inside the arkansas alligator farm it has been measured at 573 feet baseball s first 500 foot plus drive 46 references edit dodgers rise up to smite yankees the new york times march 26 1921 p 12 spring training in hot springs by year arkansas baseball encyclopedia retrieved march 16 2016 whittington park historic district the encyclopedia of arkansas history and culture retrieved march 16 2016 whittington park national park service retrieved march 16 2016 1 2 ban johnson field baseball in arkansas project retrieved march 16 2016 johnson ban baseball hall of fame national baseball hall of fame and museum retrieved march 16 2016 1 2 3 4 ban johnson field arkansas baseball encyclopedia archived from the original on march 4 2016 retrieved march 16 2016 major league spring training in hot springs encyclopedia of arkansas history and culture retrieved march 16 2016 ban johnson park whittington park majestic park fogel field digital ballpark archived from the original on september 4 2014 retrieved march 16 2016 1 2 3 untold stories hot springs arkansas baseball trail retrieved march 16 2016 sam guinn stadium arkansas baseball encyclopedia retrieved march 16 2016 sam guinn field hot springs arkansas baseball trail 1 2 historic baseball trail documenting hot springs as birthplace of spring baseball will open on march 29 45 percent of hall of fame other legendary players included yahoo news march 26 2012 house of david baseball team c 1930 flickr 8 september 2014 retrieved march 16 2016 doster adam march 19 2012 the beards of summer the classical archived from the original on february 16 2016 retrieved january 11 2016 the house of david team research project retrieved march 17 2016 arkansas baseball encyclopedia hot springs arlingtons arkansas baseball encyclopedia from a fan rare photos of babe ruth in hot springs babe ruth central retrieved march 17 2016 1 2 bailey budd october 27 2014 hot springs arkansas babe ruth s home run road trips 1 2 3 4 hot springs baseball bill jenkins baseball retrieved march 17 2016 nelson rex march 12 2014 hot springs baseball sporting life arkansas 1 2 babe ruth baseball reference retrieved march 17 2016 jenkinson bill march 21 2012 the day that changed baseball forever home run that changed baseball roadside america retrieved march 17 2016 ban johnson park minor league history baseball reference com lent cassidy school days in arkansas national baseball hall of fame and museum retrieved march 17 2016 babe didrikson arkansas baseball encyclopedia retrieved march 17 2016 ray doan baseball school arkansas baseball encyclopedia retrieved march 17 2016 george barr umpire school arkansas baseball encyclopedia retrieved march 17 2016 rogers hornsby hot springs baseball tour archived from the original on march 4 2016 retrieved march 17 2016 farrington dick may 8 2012 browns a spring training favorite hot springs arkansas baseball trail jaycee park arkansas baseball encyclopedia retrieved march 17 2016 honus wagner hot springs baseball tour archived from the original on march 4 2016 retrieved march 17 2016 boys of spring arkansas life october 2015 archived from the original on 2016 01 25 retrieved 2016 01 16 home page first boys of spring retrieved march 17 2016 nelson rex march 28 2014 rex nelson larry foley digs into first boys of spring sporting life arkansas newman mark february 12 2016 7 reasons to watch first boys of spring mlb network archived from the original on july 8 2017 retrieved february 21 2016 baseball trail park city of hot springs arkansas retrieved march 17 2016 site of ban johnson field whittington park hot springs ar flickr november 2014 retrieved march 17 2016 arkansas alligator farm petting zoo hot springs arkansas retrieved march 17 2016 dead link home page arkansas alligator farm and petting zoo retrieved march 17 2016 staff a y january 17 2018 babe ruth family to visit hot springs for completion of historic baseball trail whittington park hot springs arkansas baseball trail retrieved march 17 2016 mel ott hot springs arkansas baseball trail retrieved march 17 2016 honus wagner hot springs arkansas baseball trail retrieved march 17 2016 babe ruth hot springs arkansas baseball trail retrieved march 15 2016 v t e chicago cubs established in 1874 formerly the chicago white stockings chicago colts and the chicago orphans based in 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