Ruth’s family members gather for anniversary of first 500-foot slam

Babe Ruth’s family members, historians and baseball fans gathered at Whittington Park on Saturday to wrap up the inaugural Hot Springs Baseball Weekend in honor of the 100th anniversary of Ruth hitting Major League Baseball’s first 500-foot home run.

Freckle-faced 11-year-old Lexi Stevens, Ruth’s great-granddaughter, sat on the laps of loved ones listening to historians recount the life and achievements of her beloved great-grandfather.

Bill Jenkinson, historian and close family friend, kissed the tops of the great-granddaughters’ heads, Lexi and four-year-old Naddy Stevens, while they stood near the landmark plate during his retelling of the 500-foot slam.

“I love how Babe Ruth in his games would go to the kids in the bleachers and buy them chips and soda,” Stevens said.

Stevens visited the Alligator Farm and saw the plaque marking where Ruth’s ball landed over a century ago that day.

“Sometimes he gives me motivation to try new things too. When I think how he made his home run it makes me feel like I can do anything,” she said.

While Lexi Stevens hasn’t played baseball herself, she says Ruth has given her inspiration to try.

Her mother, Marie Stevens, said she has enjoyed hearing from historians about the family member she never had the chance to meet.

“I think it says a lot about who he was as a person, he clearly had such a unifying personality just to see everyone here in his honor 100 years later,” Marie Stevens said.

Steve Arrison, CEO of Visit Hot Springs, said the Whittington Park celebration was a major highlight of the baseball events.

“Nothing typifies baseball like Babe

Ruth, it has been an incredible experience in Hot Springs,” Arrison said.

Arrison said he was surprised and pleased by the amount of out-of-town visitors including Ruth’s family members, who made for a big impact to the weekend.

“We didn’t know what to expect with a firsttime event, but even a Japanese sports reporter with 1.8 million subscribers has come to cover this special weekend,” he said.

The Sentinel-Record/Rebekah Hedges LITTLE LEGACIES: Lexi Stevens, 11, and Naddy Stevens, 4, Babe Ruth’s great-granddaughters, stand at the historical memorial plate in Whittington Park while historian Bill Jenkinson recounts the story of Ruth’s 500foot home run a century ago on Saturday.