PROGRESS 2023
Spa City celebrates Ruth’s 128th birthday
Each year, The Sentinel-record welcomes businesses in Hot Springs and Garland County to share their success stories with its readers. And every year, there is plenty to share. This year is no exception. Formerly known as the Mail-away edition, Progress 2023 serves as a reflection of all the community has to offer and enjoy. Businesses share information on healthy living, educational opportunities in Hot Springs, places to relax and rejuvenate, and grow and prosper. As always, the businesses and organizations in this edition tell their stories in their own words, “sharing the good news” with our readers.
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This year, Hot Springs is celebrating the 128th birthday of Babe Ruth, who frequented the Spa City for Major League Baseball spring training and to soak up all the city had to offer.
To memorialize his time in Hot Springs, with the Feb. 6 unveiling of the Babe Ruth statue at Majestic Park, Visit Hot Springs offers the following facts to dive into the Babe’s connection to Hot Springs.
Did you know?
• Babe Ruth came to Hot Springs for
Major League spring training nine times, the first time being in 1915 with the Boston Red Sox.
• The first 500-plus foot home run in Major League Baseball history was hit by Babe Ruth in Whittington Park in Hot Springs on March 17, 1918. The ball flew out of the park and into the Arkansas Alligator Farm and Petting Zoo. It was later measured at a distance of 573 feet.
• Babe Ruth enjoyed his time in Hot Springs by taking advantage of the beautiful hiking trails, soaking on Bathhouse Row, playing golf at the Hot Springs Country Club, and spending time at the races at Oaklawn.
• You can visit the location of the original Whittington Park Home Plate, where Babe Ruth hit his legendary home run, while taking the Hot Springs Baseball Trail Tour. To take the tour visit http://www. hotspringsbaseballtrail.com.
• The world’s third bronze statue of Ruth was dedicated on Feb. 6, the 128th Anniversary of his birth, at the main entrance to Hot Springs’ Majestic Park baseball complex, where Ruth played in the early years of the 20th Century.