On This Day in History, Mar. 20: Babe Was a Good Sport
On March 20, 1934, Mildred “Babe” Didrikson, perhaps the greatest female athlete of all time, pitched one inning of baseball for the Philadelphia Athletics in an exhibition game against the Brooklyn Dodgers. Babe allowed one walk and no hits (though she did accidentally nick one player with the ball.) The Dodgers ended up winning 4-2. In other exhibition games she served up strikes to the likes of Joe DiMaggio.
Babe was born Mildred Ella Didrikson in Port Arthur, TX, the sixth of seven children, so her family nicknamed her Baby — until the day she hit five home runs in a baseball game. With that, and with a nod to the New York Yankees’ “Sultan of Swat,” Baby was instantly shortened to Babe.
An athletic prodigy with enormous talent, she was named an All-American in basketball when she was only 16. Babe made her professional basketball debut in 1933 with the all-girl team, the Brooklyn Yankees.