Fun Baseball Facts Released
Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Times Square today released a list of fun baseball facts to coincide with the start of the baseball season. It also formally announced its unique year-round collection of historical baseball memorabilia. Ripley’s Believe It or Not! founder Robert Ripley was a renowned baseball enthusiast and collector, and Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Times Square has extraordinary baseball artifacts on display.
“New Yorkers are in baseball heaven this week, celebrating the openings of the new Yankee Stadium and Citifield,” said Michael Hirsch, General Manager of Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Times Square. “Baseball is an historic American game, and there was no greater fan than Robert Ripley. He amassed an amazing collection of baseball memorabilia during his lifetime, and Ripley’s Believe It or Not! has carried on his tradition. Ripley’s Believe it Or Not! invites New Yorkers to celebrate the 2009 season with a visit to our Times Square odditorium.”
Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Times Square collection of baseball relics include:
- A 1931 Wooden Novelty postcard signed during Spring Training that has 16 autographs including Lou Gehrig, Babe Ruth, and Believe it or Not!, Claire Ruth, Babe Ruth’s wife.
- Three seats from the original Yankee Stadium from behind home plate taken in 1923.
- A movie in the theater room with a feature on The Bandits, a one-armed softball team.
- A collection of Ted Williams mementos from his 1994 induction and unveiling of the Ted Williams Hitters of Hall of Fame which includes his autograph, a 1950s Player of the Decade Baseball Heroes baseball card, inaugural cover to the opening of the museum, and more.
- During WWII, Robert Ripley was committed to fundraising. In 1939, he put together a charity softball game at Madison Square Garden that included 60 celebrities to raise money for The Boys Club of New York. Ripley stacked his own team, the Believe it or Nots, that included Walter Johnson, Babe Ruth, heavyweight boxing champion Jack Dempsey, Jimmy Durante, W.C. Fields, Al Jolson, William Randolph Hearst, to name a few. In its day, the combined assets of the team members made it the richest and most valuable team ever assembled. We have on display 12 of the original uniforms worn by the team and a classic photograph of the Believe it or Nots with Babe Ruth laying in the foreground of the photo.
The following baseball facts, courtesy of Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Times Square, were released to the public today for their enjoyment.
Fun Baseball Facts Courtesy of Ripley’s!
- Ty Cobb walked up to 30 miles a day during the off-season with lead in his shoes to maintain his lower body strength.
- In 1968, San Francisco Giants Manager Alvin Dark told reporters that NASA would "put a man on the moon before Gaylord Perry hits a home run." On July 20, 1969 Perry connected for his first ever home run - 20 minutes after Neal Armstrong walked on the moon!
- Toledo, Ohio's professional baseball team was known as the Mud Hens as early as 1896 and remains the only professional sports franchise in America with a feminine name.
- Stabbed to Death by a Baseball! Stanton Walker attended a ball game and was seated between two friends when one attempted to pass an open pocket knife to the other. Just as the knife passed in front of Walker it was struck by a foul ball and driven into his heart - killing him. (1902 incident reported by Ripley in 1939)
- Belt loops did not become standard on men's trousers until after WWI, but baseball players were using them on their knickers as early as the 1800s!
- The words "strike" and "hit" mean the same in every situation except in baseball parlance.
- There are 12,386,344 possible plays in baseball!
- Carlos May is the only Major League Baseball player to ever wear his birth date on the back of his uniform - May 17.
- The odds of a baseball fan being hit by a ball at a major league game are 300,000 to 1
About Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Times Square
Situated in the heart of Times Square in Manhattan, New York, Ripley's Believe It or Not! offers visitors the ultimate insight into the world of the odd and bizarre. Hundreds of weird and unusual artifacts are displayed in more than 20 themed galleries spanning two floors. Whether examining a six-legged cow, a lock of Elvis' hair, 24 shrunken heads (the most on public display anywhere on the planet), a section of the Berlin wall, or a life-size albino giraffe, the amazing Ripley's Believe It or Not! collection proves that fact is indeed stranger than fiction. Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Times Square (www.ripleysnewyork.com) is located at 234 West 42nd Street and is open daily 9 a.m. to 1 a.m. Call 212-398-3133.
About Ripley Entertainment Inc.
Ripley Entertainment Inc. (www.ripleys.com), keepers of the venerable Ripley’s Believe It or Not! brand, is a global leader in location-based entertainment. More than 13 million guests visit its 60-plus attractions operating in 12 countries annually. The Orlando-based company also has divisions that oversee publishing, licensing and broadcast operations. Ripley Entertainment is a Jim Pattison Company, the third-largest privately held company in Canada.
Contact: Bill O’Reilly
212-938-0004
Madalena Phillips
Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Times Square
212-398-3133 X 221
