October 31, 1924: The Babe vs. the Big Train In California

I don't know when this photo was taken,

and I don't know why they're holding chickens.

October 31, 1924: A postseason barnstorming tour brings baseball's greatest hitter, Babe Ruth of the New York Yankees, and baseball's greatest pitcher, Walter Johnson of the newly-crowned World Champion Washington Senators, to Brea, Orange County, California. Although born in Kansas, Johnson, a.k.a. the Big Train, spent his teenage years in Brea, and went to nearby Fullerton High School.

Also making the trip: Yankees Bob Meusel and Ernie Johnson (no relation to the Ernie Johnsons who went into baseball broadcasting), St. Louis Browns star Ken Williams, and, since he lived nearby, retired Detroit Tigers' star Sam Crawford, who would join the Babe and the Big Train in the Hall of Fame.

Johnson pitched for a team of all-stars under the name of the Anaheim Elks. Ruth, who hadn't pitched in a major league game in 3 years, started for a team called, without much imagination, the Babe Ruth All-Stars.

Johnson was the hometown favorite, but the Bambino spoiled the party. Not only did he pitch a complete game, he hit a towering drive off Johnson, said to have gone about 550 feet. Ruth's All-Stars won, 12-1. In the 100 years since, housing has been built on the site of the field.

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October 31, 1924 was a Friday, and Halloween. Baseball season was over. Football was in midweek. The NBA hadn't been founded yet. And the NHL season didn't start for another 29 days. So, this game aside, there were no scores on this historic day.

Two notable sports figures were born on this day. Dee Fondy was a 1st baseman, who played 8 seasons in the major leagues, batting .286. With the Pittsburgh Pirates on September 24, 1957, he became the last player to bat at Ebbets Field: Facing Danny McDevitt, he grounded out to shortstop Don Zimmer, as the Brooklyn Dodgers beat the Pirates 2-0. He later became a scout for the Mets and the Milwaukee Brewers, signing future Hall-of-Famer Paul Molitor in 1977. He died in 1999.

And Marcelino Huerta Jr. was a pilot for a B-24 bomber over Nazi territory in World War II. He was an All-American guard at the University of Florida. He went into coaching, at the University of Tampa and later Wichita State University. In 1963 he led WSU to the Missouri Valley Conference title. He finished with a record of 104-53-2. He died in 1985, and was posthumously elected to the College Football and Florida Sports Halls of Fame.