The Historical Society of Avon ParkAVON PARK, FL · EST. 1886
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Babe Ruth in Avon Park, 1928

On Friday afternoon, March 16, 1928, Babe Ruth and the reigning World Series champion New York Yankees played a Grapefruit League exhibition game against the St. Louis Cardinals at Cardinal Field in Avon Park.[newspaper-1928-03-17][fhb-cardinals-1927-1929] In front of an estimated crowd of 5,000 spectators—significantly exceeding the town’s resident population of approximately 3,500—the Cardinals defeated the Yankees 8 to 3.[newspaper-1928-03-17][fhb-cardinals-1927-1929]

Prior to the game, Avon Park civic boosters and fans presented Ruth with a custom, hand-lettered commemorative presentation bat inscribed “To Babe Ruth, Fans in Avon Park,” an artifact now preserved in the collection of the Avon Park Depot & Baseball Museum.[aphs-baseball-museum][fb-depot-museum-photos]

The 1928 Yankees Exhibition Game and Date Resolution

The exhibition took place during the second year of the St. Louis Cardinals’ three-year spring training residency (1927–1929) in Avon Park (see The St. Louis Cardinals in Avon Park, 1927–1929).[fhb-cardinals-1927-1929][fgl-roar-of-the-20s] The Yankees traveled south from their training headquarters in St. Petersburg across the central Florida ridge.

Published secondary accounts and museum display labels preserved a minor date conflict:

  • Published baseball and Florida histories recorded the game on March 16, 1928.[fhb-cardinals-1927-1929]
  • The display card beside the presentation bat inside the Depot Museum recorded the ceremony as occurring at noon on March 17, 1928.[fb-depot-museum-photos]

Contemporary newspaper coverage resolves this discrepancy: the game was played on the afternoon of Friday, March 16, 1928, and detailed game accounts, box scores, and Associated Press/United Press wire dispatches were printed and distributed nationwide in morning editions on Saturday, March 17, 1928.[newspaper-1928-03-17] The 8–3 Cardinals victory was widely reported across the country alongside Ruth’s home run and his reception by the crowd.[newspaper-1928-03-17]

Exhibition baseball at Cardinal Field continued throughout the week. Wire dispatches published in The Indianapolis Times on 20 March 1928 and The Brownsville Herald on 23 March 1928 (datelined “AVON PARK, Fla., March 21”) documented the heavy flow of major league clubs into the facility, as the Cardinals completed spring workouts before heading north.[indianapolis-times-1928-03-20][brownsville-herald-1928-03-23]

The Presentation Bat Artifact

Before the game, local civic organizers presented Ruth with an oversized commemorative wooden bat.[aphs-baseball-museum][fb-depot-museum-photos] The bat features decorative lettering reading “To Babe Ruth, Fans in Avon Park.”[fb-depot-museum-photos]

The bat remained in private hands for decades before being acquired and repatriated to Avon Park. It is displayed in an illuminated museum case in the baseball wing of the Depot Museum.[aphs-baseball-museum][fb-depot-museum-photos] Measured dimensions reported by local observers describe the bat as 52 inches in length and weighing approximately 14 pounds.[fb-depot-museum-photos]

The Home Run and Ruth Street

During the game, Ruth hit a towering home run that cleared the right-field fence of Cardinal Field and landed across the dirt roadway flanking the northern boundary of the ballpark.[fhb-cardinals-1927-1929]

Local tradition holds that the city immediately named the roadway West Ruth Street to commemorate the blast.[fhb-cardinals-1927-1929] West Ruth Street exists today as the thoroughfare bounding the northern perimeter of the Charles R. Head Field complex at 400 N. Anoka Avenue.[osm-avon-park-streets] While the physical street name commemorates Ruth’s 1928 visit, surviving 1928 Avon Park City Commission minutes contain no formal renaming resolution, indicating that the designation evolved from community usage into municipal adoption.

References

Where this comes from

Evidence
corroborated — More than one independent source agrees.
Review
unverified — Drafted from sources but not yet checked by a volunteer.
Rights
society

Sources

  1. Associated Press / United Press Wire Dispatches, 17 March 1928: Cardinals Defeat Yankees 8–3 at Avon Park (1928) · newspaper
  2. Cardinals Training Notes and Exhibitions, The Indianapolis Times, 20 March 1928, page 8 (1928) · newspaper
  3. Cardinals Camp Dispatch (datelined 'AVON PARK, Fla., March 21'), The Brownsville Herald, 23 March 1928, page 10 (1928) · newspaper
  4. Jason Byrne, Cardinals Played in Avon Park from 1927–1929 — Florida History Blog (2023) · secondary
  5. The Roar of the 20s in Two Centuries — Florida Grapefruit League (2026) · official
  6. Avon Park Baseball Museum — Avon Park Historical Society (2026) · official
  7. Babe Ruth Fan Appreciation Bat Case & Display Label — Avon Park Depot & Baseball Museum (2026) · official
  8. Nominatim / OpenStreetMap — Avon Park street names (2026) · official

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