Watching the Game at Drake

I helped clean up the picnic supplies. There weren’t any food leftovers to worry about because Mother had shared them with kids who came to play on the swings and ride their coaster wagons down a few of the steep hills at the park. She was always so generous. We shook the leaves off the blankets we had laid down in the grass and then folded them. With the car loaded, we proceeded south to University Avenue and then west to Drake Stadium, to meet the greatest baseball hitter ever, Babe Ruth.

The closer we got to Drake, the more I talked. I was going over Babe’s statistics out loud, and it was driving Burnie plain crazy. “I know he had fifty-four home runs this year. No, it wasn’t the sixty he had last year, but it was a lot. I know he scored the most runs he’s ever had, at 163. I love baseball, too, remember?” Burnie said impatiently, then queried his father, who was driving, “Are we there yet?”

Burnie’s mother laughed out loud. Actually, she laughed so hard, she nearly snorted out of her nose! Mr. Orwig was laughing, too. Burnie’s mother said, “Where did that come from? You haven’t asked us that since you were about eight years old!”

His father added, “I don’t think Mable is the only baseball fan who is excited. I know I am, too. I am trying really hard not to floor this gas feed pedal and run all the stop signs.”

That was a scary thought! “Oh, please don’t do that,” I pleaded. “I want to get there in one piece. Remember, we don’t get to meet and interview him until after the scrimmage, so we have some football to watch first.”

I was thinking that the scrimmage could be pretty interesting, even if Babe Ruth had not been playing in it. I told them that Drake University had quite a football team the past few years. They were completely undefeated back in 1922 and even got invited to the White House. They were also the first college football team from Iowa to play in the Rose Bowl Stadium. It wasn’t for the Rose Bowl game, but they had beaten UCLA 25-6 in front of 40,000 people! The Bulldogs were also the first Iowa team to go all the way to Hawaii to play. Now Drake football was about to make another big splash in football history, having a scrimmage with Babe Ruth during the Homecoming festivities this weekend. I was so excited, and Burnie’s mother was totally surprised to hear that I knew all these facts. Thanks, Dad!

Uncle Albert’s car, with Mother in it, was right behind us. Mr. Ashby had pulled out of the park before we did and his car was nowhere in sight. He most likely wanted to get there ahead of us, talk to Drake’s coach, Bill Williams, and make sure all the post-game arrangements were in order. Ted was very professional about his interviews. He never wanted to inconvenience any of the sports figures he wrote about. He told me that it was because he wanted them to think well of him in case he ever asked for another interview, or some free tickets to a game.

Back when he told me that a few months ago, I didn’t understand why he would want free tickets, because he had a press pass and could enter any event he wanted to attend for free. He explained that he gave those free tickets or passes to disadvantaged kids, ministers, or high school athletes. I told him I guess I should have met him sooner and then I would have been able to go to more free sporting events when I was in high school! Ted laughed and agreed. He was a wonderful role model for me.

We approached Drake heading west on University, turned right just before the stadium and parked the car on 27th Street. There was quite a bit of a downhill slant there, so Burnie’s father double checked the emergency brake and then pulled a couple of bricks out from under the front seat. He put them in front of the wheels headed downhill, just for good measure. He had already turned the wheels toward the curb, so with three-way protection, I was absolutely certain the car would be where we left it when we came back. Burnie and I piled out of the back seat while he was arranging the bricks and Mr. Orwig asked us what we thought. Since neither of us were licensed to drive yet, we were not quite sure why he wanted our opinion, but it made us feel more grown up. My second thought was that he intended this to be a learning opportunity, for our future reference when we did begin driving. It was most likely the latter.

Ted hollered and waved at us from the east side entrance to the stadium. That is usually where the visiting team’s entrance was, but the only visitor today would be Babe Ruth. I remember thinking that I hoped they let him come in the main entrance and not the side door! The main entrance was on the south side, but Ted motioned for us to come over to that east door. Burnie and I raced over, hoping maybe The Babe was there with him, but he wasn’t. Burnie’s mom scolded us from the other side of the street for not looking both ways for cars before we ran across. Golly, one minute Burnie’s father was treating us like grownups and the next minute his mother was acting like we were five years old. What a strange day.

We waited for the Orwigs, Mother, and Uncle Albert to join us, then Ted led us all down a brick-lined outer passageway that went along the north end of the stadium. We could see into the stadium through some brick archways but could not see the street. It was much cooler in there, probably from the bricks providing shade from all directions. It was not wired with electricity, but there was plenty of daylight left. Ted escorted us to some seats on the west side of the field. There were a couple of hundred Drake students on the east side. The stadium would have held thousands more, but regular folks were not being admitted. You had to be from Drake or you had to be invited, as we were. Ted told me he thought it was because Babe Ruth had never played football before, and he was a tiny bit unsure of how he would look. He had to keep up his all-star image, I suppose.

When we reached the west side of the stadium we went down the steps to the section they told us to sit in. Since it was on the west side, we would be facing east, so Mother did not have to worry about being in the sun, and we did not have to squint into the afternoon sun in order to watch the scrimmage. Ted told us, as we took our seats, that the Drake “blue” team, which was the varsity, and the Drake “white” team, which was the sophomore team, would take turns with having the ball on offense. One team would get it for a certain amount of time and be given the chance to score, and then it would be the other team’s turn to be on offense. That sounded fair to me.

“What position do you think Mr. Ruth will play, Ted?” inquired Burnie’s father.

“I heard that he wanted to try kicking and running. The coach said he was told that they didn’t want to put Babe in the position of being tackled hard or getting hurt,” replied Ted, “and that makes good sense to me. How ‘bout you?”

Mr. Orwig agreed, “I would bet they have talked to those burly Drake boys long and hard about taking it easy on Babe, for sure.”

“Yep,” added Uncle Albert. “Sure bet they do not want those big ol’ Iowa boys bringin’ Babe Ruth down. He might not be able to get up.”

Those were the first words I had heard out of Uncle Albert all day! He is not a very talkative man, and I guess I was so wrapped up trying to figure out how to tell Mother about my quitting school and figuring out what to ask Babe Ruth when I finally met him, that I really did not think about my mother’s brother. He had gone to a lot of trouble to bring my mother down to Des Moines. He was not a crazy baseball fan like my father was; he drove all that way to make my mother happy. I thought for a moment about what a wonderful family I had, and then the crowd suddenly stood up and started to cheer and clap wildly.

The Drake football team was running onto the end of the field. There were players in blue and white striped uniforms and players in white uniforms, running side by side. When they reached the far side of the field, they split apart, with the crowd cheering the whole time. The striped team turned and ran down the far sideline to the visitor benches and the white team kept trotting straight across the field, to our side of the stadium, and ran down to the home team benches. When both teams were in their places on each side, the announcer began to speak from the press box that was set high in the bleachers behind us. The clapping and cheering became an expectant hush.

“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Drake Stadium, home of the Drake Relays and home of the Drake Bulldogs. This afternoon we have a special scrimmage for your viewing pleasure. The varsity and junior varsity football teams of this wonderful university will scrimmage, and will share the field with a very distinguished teammate for this once-in-a-lifetime event. Please give a warm and resounding welcome to The Sultan of Swat, the Great Bambino… Mr. Babe Ruth of the New York Yankees!”

The crowd went into a clapping and cheering frenzy. There was yelling and whistling. Men wildly swung their hats over their heads and women waved their hankies high in the air. One lone player, helmet still on, stepped forward out of the line of striped uniforms on our side of the field. He took off his helmet and waved back at the crowd, facing us, and then turned to wave to the fans on the other side. It was then that I realized that we were sitting in the home bleachers with the other non-Drake people who had been given special invitations, and that the Drake students were all sitting on the other side.

I looked around me for the first time. I saw the mayor, players from the Des Moines Demons, and Governor John Hammill! He was a Republican and my parents really liked him. I liked him even more because he had introduced a constitutional amendment that allowed women to be elected to the Iowa General Assembly. Mr. Ashby had arranged for us to be included in a notable group of football fans, or maybe they were just Babe Ruth fans. I really doubted if those men would all have been there for a simple Drake scrimmage without Babe Ruth. It did not really matter, it still made me feel extremely special. I elbowed Burnie, who was still cheering and waving his hat. He looked at me and I pointed to the governor. Burnie nodded his approval. As the cheering subsided and Babe put his helmet back on, the referee blew his whistle.

Drake had striking uniforms. The striped jerseys had bright Drake blue shoulders and five wide white stripes running down a blue background on the chest and in the back. They came to an arrow point right below the neckline. They wore blue pants. The white team had white sleeves and three thin blue stripes running down a white background. They wore white pants.

I saw Mother lean over to Mrs. Orwig’s and heard her say, “I would hate to be the washwoman who has to keep those white trousers clean!” They both giggled like little girls.

The Babe’s striped team, the varsity, got to have the ball first. The white team lined up to kick it off to them, but Babe Ruth was the one kicking the ball. He was kicking off for the white team and for the striped team, the announcer informed us. He apparently fancied that kicking was a part of the game he would be good at, so they were going to let him try. Well, his first kick went fairly straight, but not very far. The crowd cheered anyway. After all, it was Babe Ruth.

There was some hard-hitting tackling, but none of it happened anywhere near the New York Yankee. Those Drake boys had been instructed well on how to protect the baseball star, which was good because he was on the field almost the entire fifteen minutes that the varsity Bulldogs had the ball. They scored one touchdown, just as the time ran out.

The Babe had played a few different positions and carried the ball twice for a total of twelve yards. A humble beginning, but a beginning for sure. Burnie thought he should have been able to get a lot more yards since the players had been discouraged from any real tackling of him. They just sort of caught up with him and pushed him over. It did not look like college football, but I kept reminding everyone that Babe Ruth had never played football. I thought it was a respectable first half for him.

There was just a brief break at the end of fifteen minutes, not a real football half-time. Then Babe Ruth kicked off and the white team had the ball. This time his kick went much farther. He came out of the game after the kickoff. Mr. Orwig was sure it was because the Yankees did not want their most famous and much beloved slugger to get hurt. I told Ted that I thought Babe looked tired and they decided to give him a break. Even though he was an incredible athlete, he was nearly twice the age of the Drake boys.

He came back into the game when the white team was about twenty yards away from the goal line. The quarterback lobbed him a little pass on the far side of the field, and The Babe caught it easily and ran for the touchdown. The crowd went wild, and I could tell by looking at him that he was ecstatic with himself. Both teams played well, but the white team did upset the blue team, with a score of 13 to 7.

As the clock wound down, I started paying less attention to the game and was thinking more about my questions. I fumbled around in my bag to make sure I had my notepad. I felt around and also located my pencil. Everything I needed was there, but both Ted and Burnie noticed my fidgeting.

Ted leaned over and said to me, “Relax, star girl reporter. Take a deep breath.”

Burnie elbowed me. Thinking it was a payback for me elbowing him earlier, I ignored it. Then he gave me a wink and a smile, with “You can do this, Mable.”

That wink instantly reminded me of Father. That wink. Burnie knew what it meant to me, and he knew I knew. I smiled back, but was totally unable to reciprocate the wink, as usual.

“I am as ready as I will ever be, you two.” I was reassuring them, as well as myself. “Don’t worry. I won’t embarrass anyone. I’m actually thinking that maybe if I write this interview up correctly, I could get it in the Daily Iowan. They should be begging me to put it in, and they would have to give me a byline! Really, fellas, I can do this, you’ll see.”

We had seen Babe Ruth play both ways, watched him punt, and he even caught a pass and ran for a touchdown for the white team. No one had hurt him, so the Yankees would be pleased. Baseball was definitely his game, not football. However, for the age he was and for playing with a bunch of college athletes, he showed well.

When the final whistle blew, everyone stood and cheered again. They announced that he would be shaking hands and meeting spectators at the front gate after getting his street clothes back on, so folks should line up out there. There would not be time for autographs, they added, but he would definitely stay there until everyone who wanted to had greeted him. I could hear some people grumbling about the no-autograph part, but I also heard others appreciating how he would shake hands with everyone.

Ted then told me that we would have about ten minutes with Mr. Ruth after he changed out of the uniform, but before he went to the gate. Ted said my family and Burnie’s family could go along, and greet Babe, but then Ted and I would take him aside to interview him and get a photograph. Mother was beaming. I could just tell she was thinking about how it would have been wonderful if Father had been there to meet Babe Ruth, but I know her smile was also for her pride in me. I hurt a little bit when I briefly contemplated telling her about my decision to quit the University of Iowa. I had to push that quickly aside in my head. First, I had to get this interview right.