This great vintage film shows an "Old timers" game for war bonds in 1943, at the old Polo Grounds stadium in Washington Heights. The exhibition game featured several famous baseball players of the day, but is noteworthy for being the last at-bat of Babe Ruth, perhaps the most famous player ever to play the game. YouTube historian and film restorer Guy Jones recently dug up the mostly silent tape and added a bit of vintage audio in it for effect. Check it out!
Old, mostly silent reel of an exhibition game for war bonds held at the now demolished "Polo Grounds" in New York City on August 26, 1943. This game was Babe Ruth's last appearance at bat. Lots of other players and celebrities show up - Walter Johnson, Jimmy Cagney, Honus Wagner, Milton Berle, Jimmy Walker, Hank Greenberg, Johnny Beazley etc. Sadly most of the audio is lost, I attempted to tape the scattered reel back together and added in the record "Sometimes I'm Happy" by Lester Young (1943)
via YouTube
Matt Coneybeare
Editor in Chief
Matt enjoys exploring the City's with his partner and son. He is an avid marathon runner, and spends most of his time eating, running, and working on cool stuff.
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