BABE RUTH 13 HRS 1934 TOUR OF JAPAN EARL WHITEHILL PLAYER TOUR METAL PASS PSA 4

Description: American baseball players began touring Japan for exhibition games as early as 1908. But in November of 1934, a virtual all-star team of American League standouts - headed by Babe Ruth - embarked on a whirlwind, 12-city, 18-game tour of the country. Washington Senators pitcher Earl Whitehill was one of the All-Americans, and this was his pass for the tour. Measuring 2.5x4" with "J.E Caldwell & Co." stamped on back, the front features the engraving: "Earl Whitehill, All American Baseball Team, 1934, Japan." There is a red, white and blue All American baseball shield as well. Some minor surface wear is evident but it hardly diminishes such a terrific, uncommon item. The 1934 Japan Tour was a 12-city barnstorming baseball tour of Japan that took place in November and December 1934. It featured American League baseball players that formed a special team called the All Americans. The baseball stars were both tourists and ambassadors of good will. This was not the first baseball tour of the country (there were tours in 1908, 1913, 1920, 1922 and 1931), but the Americans in those tours had played Japanese amateur or college ballclubs. The tour included Earl Averill, Lou Gehrig, Charlie Gehringer, Lefty Gomez, Connie Mack, Jimmie Foxx, Babe Ruth, Moe Berg and other American League players, as the National League would not allow their players to participate. Ruth, “still the most popular and famous athlete of his day” was the face of American baseball at the time. 500,000 Japanese filled the streets of Tokyo to welcome Ruth and 14 other all-star baseball players for the barnstorming tour. The Americans played 18 games against the All-Nippon team, featuring many of Japan’s top players, in front of tens of thousands of fans.[3] The games were played in Meiji-Jingu Stadium in Tokyo, Koshien Stadium in Kobe, Yagiyama Baseball Field in Sendai and others throughout the country. The Americans won all eighteen games.[2] Ruth would hit 13 home runs during the tour.[4] Staying in the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo, there was a knock on the door of Babe Ruth’s hotel room one night. The Babe answered to find a gentleman wearing a kimono, asking for Ruth’s autograph on a baseball. Ruth happily obliged; the man then proceeded to pull out another dozen or so balls from his kimono for Ruth to sign. Ruth’s wife and daughter witnessed the event. His daughter also recalled how popular Ruth was during the tour: fans would rise to their feet every time he came to bat and waved Japanese and American flags.[5] After the Japanese games, the team played games in Shanghai and Manila. Most players then went home while Ruth and his family continued westward for four months.[5] The Japanese portion of the tour was filmed by Jimmie Foxx and his wife using eight millimeter black-and-white film. A copy of the film has been digitized by the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.[1] Moe Berg also brought a 16-mm Bell and Howell movie camera and made short films of important Japanese installations; this was thought to be one of Berg’s first missions as a spy. Many of the players were shadowed while on the street in Tokyo while their luggage was being searched back at their hotel. Earl Oliver Whitehill (February 7, 1899 – October 22, 1954) was a Major League Baseball pitcher. He played for the Detroit Tigers for the most significant portion of his career (1923–1932), and later with the Washington Senators (1933–1936), Cleveland Indians (1937–38), and the Chicago Cubs (1939). Consistently winning in double digits for thirteen years (1924–1936), left-handed Whitehill went on to become one of the top winning pitchers of all time. He was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Price: 9999 USD

Location: Henderson, Nevada

End Time: 2025-01-28T04:42:55.000Z

Shipping Cost: 9.95 USD