Events Honoring 100th Anniversary of Babe Ruth’s First Home Run to Take Place in Fayetteville, NC

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Babe Ruth in Fayetteville, NC

March 7 will mark the 100th anniversary of Babe Ruth’s first home run as a professional baseball player, which he hit back in 1914 in Fayetteville, NC.

Fayetteville, NC (PRWEB) March 06, 2014

Friday, March 7, will mark the 100th anniversary of Babe Ruth’s first home run as a professional baseball player, which he hit back in 1914 in Fayetteville, NC. To commemorate the occasion, several community organizations will join together to host a number of special events, including a re-dedication of the Babe Ruth historic highway marker and two Vintage Base Ball games. 
 
At 2:00 PM on March 7, state and local officials will hold a ceremony to re-dedicate the historic highway marker, located at the place where Ruth hit what he called, “the first professional home run of my life.” The marker is at the intersection of Gillespie St. and Southern Ave., in front of the NCDOT facility, which is where the re-dedication will take place. The event is free and open to the public.
 
Beginning at 11:00 AM on March 8, baseball re-enactors dressed in the traditional uniforms of the past will take the field at Arnette Park, located at 2165 Wilmington Hwy in Fayetteville, for a double header of Vintage Base Ball. Following the rules and customs of the 19th century, as adopted by the National Association of Base-ball Players, these Vintage Base Ball games will be played barehanded using balls and bats that meet the requirements established back in 1864. Both games are free and open to the public, and there will be concessions on site. For more information about Vintage Base Ball, visit the Vintage Base Ball Association’s website: http://vbba.org/. 

In addition to the events planned for the Centennial celebration, the Museum of the Cape Fear is partnering with the Fayetteville Area Transportation and Local History Museum to present an ongoing exhibit titled Sports in the Sandhills. Opening on March 7, the exhibit will feature the two visits made by Ruth to Fayetteville (1914 and 1935), as well as another baseball player who spent a short time in Fayetteville – Jim Thorpe. Also included are photographs of Fayetteville school and youth baseball teams. This exhibit will expand during the spring with baseball memorabilia and local golf history, coinciding with the men’s and women’s U.S. Open in Pinehurst this summer.

Led by the Museum of the Cape Fear, many community organizations have stepped forward to provide these programs at no cost: The Fayetteville Area Transportation and Local History Museum, the NC Dept. of Transportation, the Fayetteville Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, Fayetteville Parks and Recreation, and the City of Fayetteville.
 
For more information, please visit: http://www.BabeRuthFayettevilleNC.com; http://www.ncdcr.gov/ncmcf/Events.aspx, or call 910-486-1330.

ABOUT THE MUSEUM OF THE CAPE FEAR HISTORICAL COMPLEX:
The Museum of the Cape Fear Historical Complex, located on the corner of Bradford and Arsenal avenues in Fayetteville, is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.  The museum is part of the Division of State History Museums, Office of Archives and History, within the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources. The N.C. Department of Cultural Resources annually serves more than 19 million people through its 27 historic sites, seven history museums, two art museums, the nation’s first state-supported  Symphony Orchestra, the State Library, the N.C. Arts Council, and the State Archives. The N.C. Department of Cultural Resources serves as a champion for North Carolina’s creative industry, which employs nearly 300,000 North Carolinians and contributes more than $41 billion to the state’s economy.  To learn more, visit http://www.ncculture.com.

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