Babe Ruth lit up Hilo park in 1933 exhibition ballgame

Last week I spoke to the Honolulu Quarterback Club. This is a group of Hawaii sports enthusiasts that meets every Monday for lunch at Maple Garden restaurant on Isenberg Street. The club was founded in 1947, and many athletes, coaches and sports reporters from the 1950s to the present have been guest speakers.

Readers of my Friday "Rearview Mirror" column may think I’ve drifted out of the money section of the paper and onto the sports page, and maybe they’re right.

I like to think my interests are broad.

One of the subjects of my talk last week was what I call the greatest game of baseball ever played in Hilo. It took place at Ho’olulu Park on Oct. 29, 1933, nearly 80 years ago.

It was the day Babe Ruth came to Hilo to play an exhibition baseball game. At the time, Ruth was near the end of his career but still one of the most popular athletes in the country.

Ruth, wife Claire and daughter Julia came to Hawaii for two weeks where he played exhibition games in Honolulu and Hilo.

In Hilo the Waiakea Pirates played an "all-star" team composed of Ruth and some of the best players on Hawaii island.

My father-in-law, Henry Honda, who grew up in Hilo, and his brother, Ray, a photographer, were in the crowd. My wife’s uncle "Kuro" played in the game. My wife has a scrapbook of photos from that day.

When Ruth arrived at the stadium, he found more than 200 kids waiting outside, unable to afford the 25-cent admission. Ruth wasn’t having any of that. He threw open the gates and invited the kids into the outfield while he took batting practice. He offered to autograph any ball they caught.

After the opening ceremonies, the Pirates took the field and the game was under way. The crowd came to see Babe Ruth hit a home run, and he didn’t disappoint: He hit two. The second one was blasted 427 feet.

Manoa resident Jane Okubo says her father, Hideo "Kuro" Yoshiyama, played for the Waiakea Pirates that day. "He was excited to play with Babe Ruth, even years later. He had a ball signed by him and kept a big picture of Ruth and the Pirates under glass on a coffee table for 50 years. It was one of the high points of his life."

Ruth’s all-stars lost to the Waiakea Pirates 7-6, but it didn’t matter. It was one of the greatest games ever played in Hilo, just because Babe Ruth came to play.

While he was in Hilo, Ruth planted a banyan tree on Hilo’s Walk of Fame. Today it is directly in front of the Hilo Hawaiian Hotel.

More than 50 celebrities and political leaders have planted banyan trees there, including President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Amelia Earhart, filmmaker Cecil B. DeMille and Louis Armstrong.

Ruth’s real name was George Herman Ruth. His teammates gave him the nickname "Babe."

He was also called the "Bambino" and "Sultan of Swat."

The Quarterback Club supports and promotes sports at all levels and ages throughout Hawaii. Its meetings are open to the public.

Stop by sometime and congratulate the group on its 66th anniversary.

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Bob Sigall, author of the “Companies We Keep” books, looks through his collection of old photos to tell stories each Friday of Hawaii people, places and companies. Email him at Sigall@Yahoo.com.