Upscaled and colorized with AI neural networks, this is the next of a series of restored historic baseball footage that will be restored for our channel. Subscribe to see more!

The backstory: Two days before Thanksgiving 1946, Babe Ruth went to New York’s French Hospital, complaining of headaches. Initially, doctors diagnosed a sinus condition but in January determined that he needed surgery and he underwent a “serious” procedure. News stories at the time were vague about the pain’s cause; the hospital said only, “One of the main arteries on the left side of the neck was ligated. Postoperative condition satisfactory.” The truth was that Ruth had cancer, a tumor on a carotid artery, and surgery was able to remove only part of it.

A number of Ruth’s supporters, including Chicago’s Emory Perry, called on Chandler and suggested that Opening Day in every ballpark be declared “Babe Ruth Day” on an annual basis, with proceeds going to a planned Babe Ruth Foundation.

Not long after Ruth’s discharge, Chandler announced that majorleague baseball would honor him: “All Americans … have been concerned … over the illness of one of baseball’s most beloved figures. … In order that (everyone) might have an opportunity to unite in a … prayer for his early recovery, Sunday, April 27, has been designated as ‘Babe Ruth Day.’”

The plan was that the center of the day’s activities would be, fittingly, Yankee Stadium and that other clubs would hold “appropriate ceremonies.” Roughly two weeks after Chandler’s announcement, George M. Trautman, president of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues, announced that every minorleague team with a game on April 27 would also celebrate Ruth. As it turned out, Japan also honored him that day, in ceremonies in Tokyo and Osaka.

That Sunday afternoon brought pleasant weather to New York, with temperatures in the mid60s at the time of the ceremony. The park was full, as 58,339 fans turned out, by far the Yankees’ largest attendance in the young season. (While they drew larger crowds later that year, the total was roughly 20,000 higher than Opening Day’s 39,344, previously the team’s biggest 1947 crowd.) In every majorleague ballpark hosting a game that day, the attendance was the highwater mark on the season to that point, save in Brooklyn.

Ruth was not there for the end: He had left after the seventh. He made one more visit to the Stadium, roughly 14 months later, when he came for a second ceremony, the retirement of his iconic number 3 jersey. He died on August 16, 1948.

From https://sabr.org/gamesproj/game/april...

✔ FPS boosted to 60 frames per second
✔ Image resolution boosted up to 4k
✔ Improved video sharpness
✔ Colorized*

*Please, be aware that colorization colors are not real and fake, colorization was made only for the ambiance and does not represent real historical data. The AI still struggles with the separation between infield dirt and grass, etc.

Original video source:
   • Babe Ruth Day  1947 Newsreel