UNIONDALE, LONG ISLAND – Once upon a time on July 22, 1926, there was an airplane flying above Mitchel Field in Uniondale, Long Island. It was piloted by Captain Harold McClelland. It was around 12 noon when a New York Yankee showed up wearing an army uniform, along with a baseball glove. The Yankee was Babe Ruth.
Ruth was there to help the U.S. Army promote a summer camp for civilians. His mission was to catch a fly ball. It wasn’t a normal fly ball that’s hit off a fungo bat. This ball was coming out of the plane that was 1000 feet above ground. It was a feat that, according to Linda Ruth Tosetti – The Babe’s granddaughter, was attempted months earlier by a civilian who failed in his attempt. When her grandfather heard about the stunt, he was all in to try it.
The first few tosses by Capt. McClelland was nowhere close to the Yankees slugger. The air from the plane’s engine blew the tossed ball far from its target. The pilot lowered the plane at a 300 foot level from the ground and in its seventh attempt, Ruth, risking head injuries, made the snatch.
Army officers approached Ruth to congratulate him and said, “If there should be another war and New York should be bombed, they would have Ruth assigned to defense work, catching enemy bombs.”
The event made the next day’s front page of the N.Y. Times.
On its 100th anniversary, will “The Catch” even get a mention in the Long Island based tabloid, Newsday? Will Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman greenlight a plaque to be placed at Mitchel Park to acknowledge the Ruthian event? Let’s not let this event be placed in the “Cancel Culture” category!
