Babe Ruth and Professional Baseball at Hanlan's Point
The Babe in Toronto? When? Where? Why? To find the answers to these vexing questions, let's read these plaques which you can find on the road curving off to the right at the Hanlan's Point ferry dock on Toronto Island. One plaque, erected in 2006 by Heritage Toronto says:
Near this site, in Maple Leaf Park on September 5, 1914, the now legendary baseball player Babe Ruth hit his first home run as a professional. It was to be the only home run he ever hit in the minor leagues. As a 19-year-old rookie, playing for the Providence Grays in the International League, he connected with a pitch from Ellis Johnson of the Toronto Maple Leafs, sending the ball over the fence in right field and scoring three runs. Pitching for the Grays, Ruth allowed only one hit, earning the title "southside phenom" from the Toronto Daily Star. The final score was Providence Grays 9, Toronto Maple Leafs 0. Babe Ruth quickly moved up to the major leagues, and played his way to a phenomenal career. The Toronto team went on to win a total of eleven pennants before folding in 1967.
Location Co-ordinates: 43.627129 -79.390522
Photo by Alan L Brown - May 2007
A second 2006 Heritage Toronto plaque says:
In 1867, Toronto's professional baseball club moved to the new Hanlan's Point Stadium - part of the larger Hanlan's Point Amusement Park on this site. Baseball and lacrosse joined other attractions here, including hotels, thrilling amusement rides, and such curiosities as a diving horse. In 1910, the baseball team, now called the Toronto Maple Leafs, replaced its wooden stadium with a concrete, 18,000-seat structure named Maple Leaf Park. The team remained there for the next 15 years, winning pennants for adoring fans in 1912, 1917, and 1918. In 1926, the club was moved to a more accessible, state-of-the-art stadium at the foot of Bathurst Street. The island stadium was eventually demolished and the site was redeveloped for the Toronto Island Airport.
Photo by Alan L Brown - May 2007
A third plaque, erected by the Toronto Historical Board in 1985, was removed when the two new plaques were installed in 2006. It said:
Near this site, at the old Hanlan's Point Stadium, on 5 September 1914, baseball's legendary Babe Ruth hit his first home run as a professional - the only home run he ever hit in the minor leagues. The lanky 19-year-old rookie, playing for the Providence Greys in the International League, connected with a pitch off Ellis Johnson of the Toronto Maple Leafs, sending the ball over the fence in right field and scoring three runs for his team. Ruth, as pitcher of his team, allowed only one hit and the Greys shut out Toronto 9-0. His later career made Babe Ruth a monumental figure in baseball history. This plaque commemorates both the extraordinary career of Babe Ruth and the important contribution made by Toronto to the game of baseball from "Little League" teams to the Toronto Blue Jays of the American League.
Photo by Alan L Brown - September 2006
Related page:
Toronto's First Professional Baseball Stadium
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