This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Health & Fitness

The Bambino and the Brick City

Newark's lost Ruppert Stadium was the city's field of dreams...and in 1935 its fans witnessed history...

Newark has known challenges in its long and storied past. Wars, religious conflicts, economic depressions, Nazis on Springfield Avenue, and riots have all confronted the Brick City, and lost. If there is one theme that is a constant in my Arts High history classes, it is this: don’t count Newark out. Ever. With all of its problems, the city will endure. The Renaissance will continue.

 

But there is one person who, time and again, got the best of Newark. Put it in its place when it felt like boasting. Humbled it completely. Kicked it down a notch. There was one person who let the Brick City know that he was boss, and when he was in residence, Newark was going to be schooled. Perhaps you have heard of him?

Find out what's happening in Newarkwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

 

His name was Babe Ruth.

Find out what's happening in Newarkwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

 

Whether it was in his prime years in New York pinstripes or during his sunset days as a Boston Brave, Ruth, time and again, taught Newark’s Bears how to play the game.

 

In the days before the Second World War, Newark was a major baseball town. It was home to the respectable, and sometimes champion Newark Bears. The Bears started out as an independent professional team before becoming a minor league affiliate of the New York Yankees in the 1920’s. Bear Baseball was located in the city’s beautiful and lively Ironbound Section, at Ruppert Stadium. There, at 258 Wilson Avenue, where today traffic zooms by on the New Jersey Turnpike, was the Brick City’s field of dreams.

 

Ruppert Stadium deserves a blog of its own, and will get one soon, as it was also the home of the city’s hallowed Negro League team, The Eagles.

 

But back to The Babe for now. The first encounter Newark would have with him and his legendary Yankee teammates wasn’t anywhere near the Garden State. In was in Clearwater, Florida, in 1934, at Spring Training.

 

One could only imagine how the manager, coaches and players of the Newark Bears felt that day. Sure, it was exhibition baseball, and they were thousands of miles away from home. But how could anyone in opposition feel confident against an opposing team whose line-up included Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and Bob Rolfe? What strategy could a team possibly adopt to counter this force?

 

True to form, and hitting better than last year (if that were even possible?), Ruth and Gehrig blasted two home runs each over the fences that day. In the end, Newark lost, 15-5. Hell, I give Newark’s boys credit for inflicting five runs on one of baseball’s most legendary lineups. Still, Ruth wasn’t done with Newark, not by a long shot.

 

The next year, The Babe travelled to Newark, personally, to show the city’s fans that despite his move to the Boston Braves, he still had it. He still could command the field, both home and away. He could still set records and demonstrate his personal power, and demonstrate he did at Ruppert Stadium on April 7, 1935.

 

On that date, at another Bears exhibition game, Ruth came to the plate and in a stroke took the breath out of all 20,000 lungs present. The local paper reported that when he was up, Ruth let the first two throws by. It seemed like he wasn’t trying, or perhaps waiting for one he liked. Then he stepped back, tightened his belt over his legendary portly belly, and gripped the bat tightly. What happened next was history, at least in Newark. Ruth blasted the ball over of the players, beyond the outfield, above the bleachers, and out of the stadium entirely. Some observers claimed that it sailed “500 feet or better.” It was the hero’s shot in the Brick City. He didn’t disappoint.

 

The city’s historic Ruppert Stadium did not survive the 1960’s, a decade that was not particularly kind to the city as a whole. It was demolished in 1967; the area is now an industrial zone. The crowds no longer cheer there, but because this is Newark, this is not the end of the story. Not even by one of Ruth’s long-shots.

 

In 1999, right in step with the city’s continuing renaissance, the Bears came back to Newark. The team opened their season in their brand-new, gorgeous Riverfront Stadium. Throwing out the first ball was baseball legend Yogi Berra. Since that time, I have been to many games, and seen many home runs…but a 500+ foot rocket blast?

 

You’d have to raise the dead for that one.

 

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?