Babe Ruth at Plant Field- Tampa — Old Tampa Photos Home

George Herman “Babe” Ruth at Plant Field, Tampa

105 years ago, on April 4, 1919, George Herman “Babe” Ruth, playing for the Boston Red Sox, reportedly hit a 587-foot home run while playing at Tampa’s Plant Field in a spring training game against the New York Giants. It was the longest home run ever hit.

Controversy has long followed the record hit, leaving skeptics wondering if it really happened- that the hit was as long as the records show. Nonetheless, Babe’s slam cemented his attachment to Tampa and spring training.

George Herman “Babe” Ruth at Plant Field, Tampa. Date unknown. Burgert Brothers. Courtesy of the University of South Florida Digital Collection.

Washington Senators Playing Baseball at Plant Field During Spring Training, March 18, 1923. The Hillsborough River can be seen in the background.

Plant Field was on the campus of the Tampa Bay Hotel. The diamond was in the middle of the race track that was later used for the end of the Gasparilla Parade and car races. Ruth went on to play for the New York Yankees and the Atlanta Braves. He died in 1948.