1924 Babe Ruth and 1954 Roger Bannister

I have an update I just had to share with you from this day precisely 100 years ago, and 70 years ago.

We’ll start with Babe Ruth in 1924 and then travel ahead 30 years to Roger Bannister in 1954.

DETROIT - August 7, 1924

Yesterday afternoon the Yankees finished up their series here in Detroit against the Tygers. That’s an intentional spelling of the Detroit club’s nickname, that some sportswriters have been using all season, since the club’s player-manager is the great Ty Cobb, now in his 20th season. Cobb is not quite the player he used to be but he is by no means nearing the end of his career as he is batting .340.

But the big man, the Bambino, Babe Ruth, at age 29, is at his peak and is having a fabulous season. In the 4th inning, Ruth hit a home run, his 36th of the season in the Yankees 106th game. That puts Ruth on a pace to possibly break his record of 59 in 1921.

But what’s more astonishing is that while swinging for the fences he has now pushed his batting average for the season up to .402!

This is a statistical season the likes of which have never been seen before.

Below you can read how the great New York Daily News sportswriter, Marshall Hunt, described Ruth’s gargantuan blast which was noted to be, “one of the longest ever made on these grounds.” And Ruth did it on a rainy day at Detroit’s Navin Field.

The Yankees hold first place in the American League at 60 - 46, one game ahead of the Tygers and 3 games in front of the slumping Senators who have now lost 6 straight games, but have Walter Johnson going to the mound today for the first time in a week to try and turn things around.

Babe Ruth is truly the sole reason why the Yankees are still in first place as demonstrated by a statistical analysis, that appears below, of the 4 game series against Detroit. I found this in The Battle Creek Michigan Moon Journal.

The Sports Time Traveler™ will continue following the 1924 pennant race and is keeping close tabs on Babe Ruth to see if he can hit 60 home runs or bat .400 for this 1924 season.

And now we move ahead 30 years in the virtual sports time travel machine to Vancouver, British Columbia.

VANCOUVER, BC - August 7, 1954

I’ve made the virtual trip back in time 70 years to Vancouver where the British Empire and Commonwealth Games are taking place.

NOTE From The Sports Time Traveler™

The Commonwealth Games, as they are known in the 21st century, are one of the largest sporting events in the world outside of the Olympics. They have been held every 4 years since 1930, with the exception of 1942 and 1946. In 2022, there were 5,054 athletes from 62 Commonwealth countries that participated in 20 different sports.

Now back to 1954.

Athletes from all parts of the British Empire are here in Vancouver for one of the largest sports gatherings in the world outside of the Olympics.

The track meet is particularly special in this edition because of the hoopla surrounding the mile run. The 2 greatest milers in the world were in the finals today:

DR. ROGER BANNISTER of England - He is the celebrated first man to break 4 minutes for the mile which he did 3 months ago yesterday. You can read or listen to my story about that at this link: Roger Bannister Breaks the 4-minute mile

JOHN LANDY of Australia - Landy just barely missed running a sub 4-minute mile on several attempts in the year prior to Bannister’s breaking of the barrier. But just 6 weeks after Bannister did it, Landy topped it and set the current world record with a 3:58 in Finland, cutting more than a second off Bannister’s time.

The race today between Bannister and Landy has billed around the world as the “mile-of-the-century” and the “miracle mile.”

You can watch the race on YouTube as it appeared on live TV today:

Here’s my recap of the race. The time stamps from the video are noted below.

2:00 - The 8 finalists are on the line waiting for the gun to begin the four lap race. Bannister is 4th from the left. He is the tall runner in the white top #329. Landy is farthest to the right on the inside.

2:30 - After 220 yards (half a lap), Baillie of New Zealand leads. Landy, with a white top #300, is on the outside in 4th. Bannister, with his characteristic rotating arm motion, is in 5th place. As they enter the turn, Landy makes a big move on the outside and bolts into first place.

2:50 - Coming into the homestretch for the first time, Bannister makes a big move and he pulls into 2nd place, about 5 yards behind Landy as they pass the quarter-mile. Landy’s time for the opening quarter was 58.6 seconds.

3:30 - Landy running with smooth strides and a more economical arm motion than Bannister maintains his 5 yard lead over Bannister through the next 220 yards and reaches three-eighths of a mile in about 1:30. But on the turn, Landy again seems to accelerate and increases his lead noticeably to about 10 yards.

3:45 - As they come off the turn, Bannister speeds up a bit and the gap is down to 5 yards again as they run up the homestretch for the 2nd time.

4:00 - Landy, looking very fresh, reaches the half-mile in 1:58. He still has the same 5 yard lead on Bannister.

4:20 - On the backstretch of the 3rd lap, Landy peeks over his left shoulder, and this seems to invigorate Bannister who immediately picks up his pace. Over the next 50 yards, Bannister closes the gap to just 2 yards as they reach five-eighths of a mile in approximately 2:30.

4:35 - As he did on the first 2 laps, Landy accelerates in the turn and pulls away from Bannister, once more opening a 5 yard lead.

4:50 - Bannister covers the move as they reach the homestretch for the 2nd to last time. By the middle of the homestretch Bannister is just a stride off from Landy.

5:00 - Landy is just barely ahead of Bannister as they reach the bell for one lap to go. The three-quarter mile time is 2:58.7.

5:15 - On the penultimate turn, Landy increases his pace and opens about a 3 yard lead. No one else is anywhere near the 2 great milers.

5:30 - They reach 220 to go in about 3:30. Landy is still in front by a yard.

5:45 - Late in the final turn, with perhaps 120 yards to go, Bannister begins his kick. Landy looks over his left shoulder to see where Bannister is and he’s not there. Bannister has blasted past Landy on his right side in just a couple of seconds. Bannister opens up a stunning 5 yard lead. And he maintains it all the way to the tape.

6:00 - Bannister crosses the line in 1st place. He immediately collapses into the arms of an official. Bannister’s winning time is 3:58.8. Landy is 2nd in 3:59.6.

It’s the first time that 2 men have broken 4 minutes for the mile in the same race. And they are still the only 2 men to have ever broken the once thought unbreakable barrier of 4 minutes for a mile.

Although he has lost the head-to-head match up, Landy can take solace that he is still the world record holder, the fastest miler in history.

Jack Hewins of the AP interviewed Bannister right after the race. Hewins noted that Bannister, who had been suffering from a cold earlier in the week, was coughing heavily and could barely talk. But Bannister managed to tell Hewins, “the race went just about as I expected.” Hewins then asked him about his devastating final kick to which Bannister replied, “I began to press him on the turn which is something I never do. And I knew it had worked when I saw him look over his left shoulder for me just as I passed him on the right.”

Bannister has reportedly run as fast as 53 seconds for the last 400 of a mile in the past. Confident of his final kick, his strategy of letting Landy lead, but never getting too far in front, worked out perfect today.

Dr. Roger Bannister will now return to his rounds as a physician in London and continue training for the final competition of his running career in 3 weeks at the European Games.

He has decided that he cannot continue to stay fit for the 1956 Olympics in 2 more years which would disrupt his medical career.

The European Games is the biggest track meet in the world in between Olympic Games. It will be like an Olympics to Bannister.

The Sports Time Traveler™ will be making the virtual trip to Bern, Switzerland to experience Roger Bannister’s race in the 1,500 meters (the metric mile) and I will report back to you on it around the end of the month.

Thanks for reading.

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