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Arts & Entertainment

From the Archives: Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig Play in Fort Lee, 1931

A weekly look at historical images and their significance from the archives of the Fort Lee Film Commission and the Fort Lee Historical Society

This week our visit to the past has to do with America's pastime—baseball. As the Yankees and Mets opened their season recently, so too do the Fort Lee American and National Little Leagues.  

The photos from our Fort Lee Historical Society archive this week feature legendary Hall of Famers from the New York Yankees Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. Major Leaguers used to barnstorm all across America following the end of the season. The pros would play with and against local teams such as the Fort Lee ballplayers pictured here. No barnstorming tours were more successful than those of Ruth and Gehrig.  

Babe Ruth teamed up with the Fort Lee Athletic Club and Lou Gehrig with a West New York team on October 4, 1931 for an exhibition game. Before a crowd of 8,000 people, Fort Lee jumped to a 3-2 lead, which they held into the seventh inning. The Fort Lee team was defeated 7-4.

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Pictured in the photo with “The Babe” and “The Iron Horse” are George Whipple and Babe Maisano among many others (see caption).

Whipple became a banker with the First National Bank of Fort Lee. Maisano had the potential for a promising baseball career but was plagued with injuries.  He became the owner-operator of Babe's Taxi, which still has a baseball as its logo.

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The Fort Lee Museum meeting room at 1588 Palisade Ave. will have a dedication this spring in honor of the old Fort Lee Athletic Club, which was demolished in November, 2010. The  Fort Lee Athletic Club sign, which hung atop the old clubhouse from 1914 until 2010, will be permanently displayed in our meeting room along with a portion of the original flooring of the Athletic Club. We will also display archival photos such as the ones seen on this page.

Fort Lee Little League Season to Open: Hit the Sign Win Free Tickets to the Movies

The Fort Lee Film Commission will do its part to celebrate American baseball history by bringing back a tradition that started in the home of the old Brooklyn Dodgers, Ebbets Field. A sign for Abe Stark's Brooklyn clothing store was placed directly under the Ebbets Field scoreboard in right-center field and read, “HIT SIGN, WIN SUIT.” Any player to hit the sign on a fly ball would get a free suit from Abe's store.

This year the Fort Lee Film Commission designed the sign (also seen on this page), which will appear in the outfield in both the Fort Lee American and National Little League fields.  

Our sign reads, “HIT THE SIGN, WIN FREE TICKETS TO THE MOVIES.”  Any player to hit our sign will receive four free tickets to Cedar Lane Cinemas in Teaneck courtesy of Fort Lee Film Commission Chairman and operator of Cedar Lane Cinemas, Nelson Page.  

This is our way of saying to the youth of Fort Lee ... “Play Ball!”

Editor's Note: The author is Executive Director of the Fort Lee Film Commission.

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