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    Barnstormin' Across America
    Barnstormin' Across America
    Barnstormin' Across America
    Ebook95 pages58 minutes

    Barnstormin' Across America

    By R. A. Cabral

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    About this ebook

    The Bustin’ Babes and Larrupin’ Lous


    The definitive history of the 1927 barnstorming tour featuring Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherR. A. Cabral
    Release dateNov 29, 2017
    ISBN9781386012894
    Barnstormin' Across America
    Author

    R. A. Cabral

    R. A. "Ricardo" Cabral is an established author. In fiction, primarily he specializes in Fantasy, a cross between Paranormal and Magical Realism. In non-fiction, he has published two e-books on baseball history.

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      Book preview

      Barnstormin' Across America - R. A. Cabral

      BARNSTORMIN’

      Across America

      The Bustin’ Babes

      and Larrupin’ Lous

      The definitive history of the

      1927 barnstorming tour

       featuring Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig

      By Rick Cabral 

      Barnstormin’ Across America

      The Bustin’ Babes and Larrupin’ Lous

      September 2013

      All Contents © Rick Cabral

      (except where others hold the copyright)

      BARNSTORMIN’

      Across America

      The Bustin’ Babes

      and Larrupin’ Lous

      Chapter One

      Introduction

      In 1927, few names were bigger than Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig, who led the New York Yankees to a four-game sweep over the Pirates in the World Series. Baseball’s biggest one-two punch set out on a nationwide barnstorming tour to showcase their skills and serve as ambassadors for America’s pastime.

      (Original oil canvas painting by William Feldman)

      ------------------------------------------------

      Capitalizing on America’s newfound fascination with the long ball, the Yankee stars barnstormed across the nation on a tour called The Bustin’ Babes and the Larrupin’ Lous. They headlined a string of exhibitions from Rhode Island to California that shattered attendance records and effectively closed down tiny hamlets like Lima, Ohio and Marysville, California—at least for an afternoon. Even larger cities such as Brooklyn, Denver and San Francisco filled ballparks beyond capacity.

      Newspapers contributed to the hype by employing the most flattering of monikers created usually by the New York sports writers: Spanking Yankees, Thumpin’ Twins, and Mighty Swatsmen typified the adulation in advance stories. The ultimate appellation, King Ruth and the Crown Prince of Swatonia, said it all. Ruth and Gehrig made a terrific act; baseball’s version of Barnum & Bailey’s.

      In October 1927 America still buzzed over Ruth’s record 60-home run performance eclipsing his mark of 59 set in 1921.  It was the fourth time he had raised the bar to unimaginable heights, and the only hitter who could challenge Bustin’ Babe was his touring sidekick, Larrupin’ Lou Gehrig. 

      During the ‘27 season they had mounted a friendly rivalry, alternately exchanging the home run lead like two thoroughbreds coming around the final turn at the Kentucky Derby. To everyone’s surprise, especially his own, on September 5 Gehrig notched his 45th and led Ruth by one home run. But in the second game of a double-header that day Babe hit three to take the lead for good, and two more the next day—each a prodigious blast according to baseball historian Bill Jenkinson. And just as Gehrig began to slump in the long ball category, the King of Swat surged by hitting a remarkable 17 homers in September. In the process, Ruth broke his record in the second-to-last game with number 60.

      The Yankees clinched the pennant so early that summer, and by such a wide margin, that the home run race offered the team some late season excitement. On the barnstorming tour Ruth admitted that after the Yankees had clinched, he focused exclusively on hitting home runs. According to Yankee shortstop Mark Koenig, the last living member of Murderer’s Row, the team didn’t split into Ruth and Gehrig factions. No one pulled for one or the other, Koenig told us from his retirement home in Orland, California a few years before he passed away. That team had great camaraderie.

      Chapter Two

      Christy Walsh—the Premier Sports Agent

      Christy Walsh, Ruth’s business manager—and possibly the first sports agent— organized the 21-game, post-season showcase. Walsh had been Ruth’s personal PR guru since 1921 and by this point had established himself as Babe’s most trusted business associate.

      Walsh got into the business by the quintessential definition of luck: when preparation meets opportunity.

      A native Californian, Walsh graduated from college in Los Angeles, went to work as a cartoonist for the Los Angeles Express, then took a position with the Maxwell-Chalmers automotive company in Detroit. He worked as editor of their external magazine Punch along with other PR duties. In 1917, he accepted a post with the New York advertising agency Van Patten, Inc., which handled the Maxwell-Chalmers account.

      In 1919 Walsh got the bug to syndicate his cartoons to newspapers in the West. That effort morphed into his first ghost writing attempt with World War I ace pilot Eddie Rickenbacker. Rickenbacker had committed to refereeing the Indianapolis 500 Motor Speedway and agreed to share his story with Walsh as ghost writer. Walsh placed Rickenbacker’s story in 37 newspapers across the country, netting $837 which they split between them.

      In January 1921, Walsh and others were fired from the ad agency due to an economic downturn. Intrigued at the idea of launching a newspaper syndicate to fill the sports niche, Walsh began pursuing Babe Ruth, the biggest name in sport. In 1920 Ruth had just finished his first season with the New York Yankees and in the process obliterated baseball’s home run record with 54 round-trippers. From the Big Apple

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