Ruth Then Gehrig KO'd By 17-Year-Old Girl

Ruth Then Gehrig Ko'd By 17-Year-Old Girl

In the depths of The Great Depression, Joe Engel, owner of the minor league, Chatanooga Lookouts was always scheming for a crowd draw. Engel once sold a shortstop for a turkey then cooked it to feed sportswriters. In another instance, he held an elephant hunt at the ballpark and dressed several spectators in safari suits with wooden spears.

Even though it was easier than usual to get fans to the ballpark in the spring of 1931, when the popular New York Yankees were scheduled for an exhibition game, Engel still had a publicity trick up his sleeve nonetheless.

One week before, Engel had signed Jackie Mitchell a 17-year-old girl from nearby Memphis. Mitchell, a side-winding lefthanded pitcher was one of the first women to ever sign a contract to play professional baseball -- the first known female player was Lizzie Arlington of the Reading Coal Heavers of the Atlantic League in 1898.

Mitchell was a tom-boy at heart growing up playing directly against the best boys of her age who would let her on the field. By chance, Mitchell had a famous next-door neighbor, former Major Leaguer Dazzy Vance, the Hall of Fame pitcher who led the National League in strikeouts for seven seasons from 1922-28. Vance taught Mitchell how to throw his signature "drop ball," which later became known in baseball vernacular as a sinker.

Clyde Barfoot, a former pitcher for the Cardinals and Tigers, started the game for the Lookouts by allowing a double and a single. The team then brought in Mitchell. She faced none other than Babe Ruth. Her first pitch was a ball. Ruth swung and missed at the next two pitches and was then called out looking on a sinker that broke into the strike zone. Ruth threw his bat in disgust.

Next up came Gehrig who swung and missed at three straight pitches without even fouling one off. Mitchell then walked Tony Lazzeri after which she was pulled for another Lookout pitcher. The Yankees would eventually win the game 14-4, though Mitchell did not allow an earned run in her brief time on the mound.

The next day The New York Times sports page headline read, "Ruth and Gehrig Struck Out by Girl Pitcher." John Thorn who has been Major League Baseball's official historian since 2011, has called Jackie Mitchell's pitching performance "a stunt," saying "Mitchell couldn't break a pane of glass." Yet, Thorn wasn't even born until 1947 and of course never witnessed the game nor is there any surviving camera movie footage of Mitchell's outing.

It is also quite telling that Babe Ruth never admitted that he struck out on purpose. Moreover, Lou Gehrig didn't either and in fact it was definitely not his character to participate in gags. In fact, he adamantly sought to avoid any and all stunts throughout his career.

Jackie Mitchell insisted until her death in 1987 that her strikeout performance was totally legitimate. She once said: “Why, hell, they were trying—damn right. Better hitters than them couldn’t hit me. Why should they’ve been any different?”