As an Associate Producer of Cubs baseball games on television, I’m fortunate to be along for the ride on all the road trips. Sometimes, I take ferries to small islands all in the name of “game prep.”
This past August, I was in Toronto, and I woke up early to take a walk and check out the location of Babe Ruth’s lone minor league home run. As it happens, all of his career minor league homers were hit in Canada (all one of them), while all 714 of his Major League ones were hit in the United States.
The yellow pinpoint on Centre Island is where the markers are. See below.
On September 5, 1914, the Babe, playing for the Providence Grays (this was a few months after his Red Sox debut; he was sent down to help win the International League pennant) homered off Ellis Johnson of the Toronto Maple Leafs at Maple Leaf Park at Hanlan’s Point on Centre Island.
He was in the American League for good in 1915. And of course, Major League Baseball didn’t come to Canada until 1969.
This is what it looks like now. There’s an airport here.
And what a beautiful view looking back towards mainland Toronto.
Later that day, I showed our game producer these photos, and we got it into the game broadcast. Pretty cool.
The Hardball Voyager 