CLE Myths: Babe Ruth's Home Run Ball

In the first three decades of the 1900s, League Park saw some legendary names play baseball, from Cy Young to Lou Gehrig and more.

But the ballpark, home to the Cleveland Indians and other baseball teams on and off from 1891 to 1946, was host to one of the sport’s most momentous icons’ biggest moments.

On Aug. 11, 1929, Babe Ruth, smashed a solo shot — his 500th career home run — that sailed over the right field fence on to Lexington Avenue, with kids and adults scrambling for the souvenir. The next day, The Plain Dealer described the person who caught the ball as “youth” Jake Geiser, who came all the way up from New Philadelphia, Ohio, to see the game.

Chronicled in their book, League Park: Historic Home of the Cleveland Baseball, 1891-1946, Ken Krsolovic and Bryan Fritz say that Babe’s 500th home-run ball was picked up by 12-year-old Geiser. But actually, Jake Geiser was no youth.

He was a fully grown 46-year-old man, from New Philadelphia, according to an Aug. 12, 1929, story from The New York Times. Ruth’s 501st home run, hit the next day, was picked up by a 12-year-old Charles Vance, from Erie, Pennsylvania, which may have caused some of the continued confusion.

For their part, any time Krsolovic and Fritz lead presentations on the history of League Park, they mention the error and correction.

“We took enormous pride in making sure the reporting was accurate,” Krsolovic says. “But we got the age wrong.

Status: Busted

Read More: Click here to read the full list of 30 Myths That Define Cleveland