Johnny and the Bambino
The Sultan of Swat was the most popular athlete of the 1920s and 1930s
On Sunday, October 11, 2026, the Bradley Beach Historical Society will be celebrating the centennial of the Babe’s visit to the small ballpark at the Shore town. This was the first of many games in a barnstorming tour of the States, after the 1926 World Series. George Herman “Babe” Ruth was the best player in the game, and he was the headliner of an exhibition team that brought the Sultan of Swat to small-town America.
The series loss to Rogers Hornsby’s St. Louis Cardinals marked the end of his $ 52,000-a-year contract with the Yankees. He was rumored to be seeking $150,000, in his next contract.
The offseason games would bring Ruth at least another $25,000 in income. When it got too cold for baseball, Ruth did Vaudeville, which netted him another $100,000 for a folksy demonstration and storytelling session, combined with newsreel footage of his home run prowess.
At Bradley, Ruth’s opponents, the Brooklyn Royal Giants, a team of Negro League stars, warmed up as 3,500 fans who had paid $1.20 waited patiently. A crowd of several hundred had gathered in town at the train station. Mayor Borden and a parade of 14 cars were disappointed when the Babe was a no-show on the 11:06 train.
Where was the Babe?
Ruth was in Essex Fells, in the bedroom of Johnny Dale Sylvester. John had been vacationing with his family in a rented cottage at Bay Head. There, with his older brother Horace III and younger sister Ruth (yes, Ruth), the Sylvester kids enjoyed a privileged summer, sailing, beachcombing, and horseback riding. Their father Horace was a VP of Municipal Bonds at First National City Bank in New York.
Babe and Johnny Pacific & Atlantic Photos (public domain)
Late that summer, Johnny’s horse stepped in a hole awkwardly and fell. Johnny went down with his mount, and as the horse struggled to its feet, its hoof caught Johnny in the forehead. Blows from a horse could kill. That same week, a young man at the Sea Girt camp was killed when he was kicked in the chest as he fell from the saddle. Johnny’s brain swelled, and his skull was fractured. He developed a severe bone infection of the forehead/sinus and possible sepsis, putting his life in danger.
When one of Ruth’s 3 homers for Johnny broke a window in St. Louis, the dealer made an advertisement out of it.
To lift his spirits, Johnny’s father desperately telegrammed the Yankee organization. Johnny was a huge fan, and his friends called him “Little Babe Ruth.” The telegram in Johnny’s words, asked for a ball signed by Ruth “before I die”. The Babe sent several balls back via airmail. He got Hornsby and several Cardinal teammates to sign one, his Yankee teammates to sign another, and he wrote, “I’ll knock a homer for you on Wednesday -Babe Ruth.”
When the Yankees played game four in St. Louis on Wednesday, October 6, the Babe hit three home runs for a 10-5 Yankees win. Ruth was unable to lead his team to a series win, getting caught stealing to end the series. Hornsby tagged him out to end a 3-2 game seven at Yankee Stadium.
Ruth was determined to visit with Johnny before the Barnstorming season and detoured from his designated route to spend 45 minutes with the boy. Johnny was so excited that he forgot to ask Babe anything, and simply said, “I’m sorry you lost the series.”
Ruth eventually sped down to the shore in a new car given to him by a dealership. The Bradley Beach contingent met him in Eatontown and gave him a police escort down the coast. Before he took the field, Ruth signed hundreds of autographs, met with another sick boy, and took an early dinner at the home of Mr. & Mrs. S.L. Lowenstein in Bradley. Mother Lowenstein made the best blackberry pie Ruth had ever tasted.
The Giants beat Ruth’s team 3-1. Ruth hit two shots out of the small Bradley Beach park that were grounds-rule doubles, but they were Yankee Stadium-distance shots.
Johnny Sylvester’s spirits were lifted by Ruth’s visits, as was the generous reputation of The Babe. Johnny slowly recovered over the next few years, but legend often credited the visit of the Bambino. A few years later, obviously healthy, John and brother Horace were listed as winning sailing contests at their club on Greenwood Lake. Johnny graduated from Princeton and joined the Navy in 1942 after getting married.
He served as a Lieutenant, commanding a submarine chaser in the Pacific during World War II. He returned the favor to a dying Ruth when the slugger was hospitalized for lung cancer in 1948.
Babe wrote to Johnny several times from the road. (Grey Flannel Auctions)
After a successful business career and raising a family in Garden City, Long Island, John passed away in 1990, and family members lent his memorabilia to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
In 2014, the Ruth Promise Ball and two of Ruth’s letters to Johnny sold for $250,000.
Auction House Photo of the Johnny Baseball (Grey Flannel)
Tickets to the Ruth event at the BBHS are available on their website. A collector is offering a $10,000 reward for images of Ruth at Bradley Beach, as they try to authenticate a bat he used on the tour.