Montana

Who saw the Babe in the Magic City? • Daily Montanan

Published

2 years ago

March 10, 2024

Who saw the Babe in the Magic City? • Daily Montanan

A key step in Billings’ development as a baseball hub occurred two years after Archie Cochrane came to town, and it involved the biggest name in the sport’s history, Babe Ruth.

On July 13, 1947, the Billings Gazette reported that the Bambino, one of Ruth’s nicknames, might attend the American Legion junior baseball sectional tournament in Billings,

Legion baseball officials had invited Ruth to appear at the August 20–22, 1947, event, in his capacity as a consultant of the Legion youth program,

Harry Perrigo, Montana Legion athletic officer, told the Gazette that John F. Cooney, of Fargo, N. D., had informed him that Billings was on Ruth’s itinerary.

“However, due to the Babe’s health, none of the appearances are positive until you see him at the park,” Cooney told Perrigo. Ruth was scheduled to visit Billings during the tournament, and Cooney promised to provide details about his appearance.

“You may be sure we will do all possible to get the Babe out there. Bear in mind, however, all this is dependent on a very sick man’s health,” Cooney said.

Ruth was recovering from what was described as a “serious” neck operation, as reported in the Billings Gazette on January 9, 1947, and he was seldom seen unaccompanied by his nurse.

Perrigo said he expected a number of Legion and sports dignitaries to attend the tourney. Among them Mickey Cochrane, newly inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Cochrane told Perrigo that he was returning to Detroit in the near future, but that he would attend the Billings tournament if business matters permitted his return.

On August 20, 1947, the Gazette headlined the former Yankee slugger’s arrival the day before (August 19) in the Magic City: “Billings Throng Greets Babe Ruth.” After flying into the city’s airport, where a short ceremony honored him, the Ruth party boarded a stagecoach that took them on a parade through the business section.

Ruth showed signs of the effects of the lengthy illness that had required him to be hospitalized for much of spring and summer. He appeared, however, to have regained much of his weight.

“I am most happy to be in Billings,” he said to the airport crowd, speaking in a deep, raspy voice, “since I feel that Legion baseball is one of the finest things in the world for youngsters. I hope to see you all again at the tournament tomorrow and later in the week.”

The Midland Roundtable presented Ruth with a black, ten-gallon Stetson hat and gave Mrs. Ruth a bouquet of flowers. Then a police guard escorted a caravan of cars from the Rimrocks to the Billings Commercial Club–now the Chamber of Commerce. Billings Saddle Club members formed a horseback guard for the parade.

Afterwards, the Ruths checked into the Northern Hotel, and Babe retired to his room to rest for the Legion tournament banquet in his honor that night.

A Gazette reporter who interviewed Ruth before the banquet asked him at what age a youngster should start playing baseball.

“As soon as he can walk. The younger the kid starts, the quicker his muscles get into the rhythm of the game. Then he is bound to come out on top.

“That’s why I am all for junior Legion ball, because it gets the kids out in the field with proper equipment at an early age. No longer do boys in smaller cities have to worry about being spotted if they (don’t) have the goods. Junior Legion ball takes them throughout the nation–as this sectional tournament shows–and gives them the ability to display their abilities.”

Billings was the tenth city where the so-called “King of Swat” had appeared as the Ford Motor Company’s junior Legion baseball consultant. A Ford press representative accompanying the contingent said more than 3,000 cities had requested an appearance by Ruth, but organizers had to whittle the list to 13 because of his health. Billings was the smallest city Ruth visited on the tour.

Ruth stayed in Billings through Thursday, Aug. 21, 1947, and then he, his wife and his nurse flew to Seattle. After an overnight stop there, the party flew to San Francisco and then to Los Angeles to take part in opening ceremonies for the American Legion Little World Series.

Bambino’s legacy in Billings

Babe Ruth came to Billings 77 years ago (four years before I was born 220 miles down the Yellowstone River valley in Glendive, Montana), and the Yankee slugger left behind a lasting mark on the city.

Actually, what he left behind from his visit were autographed baseballs. At least two of them survived into the 21st century and became items prized by collectors. The Billings Gazette captured a sense of the Sultan of Swat’s time in Billings through articles published in 2008 and 2010.

The stories involve a retired dentist from the Dallas suburb of Garland, and two brothers who grew up in Livingston. One of the siblings was living between Dallas and Fort Worth in 2010 when Ed Kemmick wrote about them, and his brother was living in Phoenix then. Gazette reporter Clair Johnson wrote about the dentist who ended up owning another baseball, which was later sold in an online auction for $81,075.

How I wish I could board a time machine and travel back to 1947 when the Babe stopped in Billings and signed those baseballs!

Carvel Lincoln owned the ball that got the first dose of local publicity through Johnson’s article. He got the ball in August 1947 when he came to Billings to play in the regional American Legion baseball team for his Boise, Idaho, team.

Source link

Click to comment

Montana

Apparent AI Glitch in Filing by Montana Public Defender, Recent Congressional Candidate

Published

8 hours ago

March 2, 2026

Press Room

Apparent AI Glitch in Filing by Montana Public Defender, Recent Congressional Candidate

Everyone makes mistakes, even experienced professionals; a good reminder for the rest of us to learn from those mistakes. The motion in State v. Stroup starts off well in its initial pages (no case law hallucinations), but is then followed by several pages of two other motions, which I don’t think the lawyer was planning to file, and which appear to have been AI-generated: It begins with the “Below is concise motion language you can drop into …” language quoted above.

Griffen Smith (Missoulian) reported on the story, and included the prosecutor’s motion to strike that filing, on the grounds that it violates a local rule (3(G)) requiring disclosure of the use of generative AI:

The document does not include a generative artificial intelligence disclosure as required. However, page 7 begins as follows: “Below is concise motion language you can drop into a ‘Motion to Admit Mental-Disease Evidence and for Related Instructions’ keyed to 45-6-204, 45-6-201, and 4614-102. Adjust headings/captions to your local practice.” Page 10 states “Below is a full motion you can paste into your pleading, then adjust names, dates, and styles to fit local practice.” These pages also include several apparent hyperlinks to “ppl-ai-file-upload.s3.amazonaws,” “ppl-ai-fileupload.s3.amazonaws+1,” and others. The document includes what appears to be an attempt at a second case caption on page 12. It is not plausible on its face that any source other than generative AI would have created such language for a filed version of a brief….

There’s more in that filing, but here’s one passage:

While generative AI can be a useful tool for some purposes and may have greater application in the future, when used improperly, and without meaningful review, it can ultimately damage both the perception and the reality of the profession. One assumes that Mr. Stroup has had, or will at some point have, an opportunity to review the filing made on his behalf. What impression could a review of pgs. 12-19 leave upon a defendant who struggles with paranoia and delusional thinking? While AI could theoretically one day become a replacement for portions of staff of experienced attorneys, it is readily apparent that this day has not yet arrived.

The Missoulan article includes this response:

In a Wednesday interview, Office of Public Defender Division Administrator Brian Smith told the Missoulian the AI-generated language was inadvertently included in an unrelated filing. And he criticized the county attorney’s office for filing a “four-page diatribe about the dangers of AI” instead of working with the defense to correct her mistake.
“That’s not helping the client or the case,” Smith said, “and all you are doing is trying to throw a professional colleague under the bus.”

As I mentioned, the lawyer involved seems quite experienced, and ran for the Montana Public Service Commission in 2020 (getting nearly 48% of the vote) and for the House of Representatives in Montana’s first district in 2022 (getting over 46% of the vote) and in 2024 (getting over 44%). “Его пример другим наука,” Pushkin wrote in Eugene Onegin—”May his example profit others,” in the Falen translation.

Thanks to Matthew Monforton for the pointer.

Source link

Montana

Your guide to local sports events, plus what’s on TV

Published

20 hours ago

March 2, 2026

Press Room

Your guide to local sports events, plus what’s on TV

State

Zip Code

Country

Source link

Montana

Montana Department of Agriculture focusing on innovation in 2026

Published

1 day ago

March 1, 2026

Press Room

Montana Department of Agriculture focusing on innovation in 2026

HELENA — You probably have goals and plans for 2026—the Montana Department of Agriculture does too.

“We’re really focusing on innovative agricultural practices,” Montana Department of Agriculture director Jillien Streit said.

It’s no secret that agriculture—farming and ranching—is not easy. There are long days, planning, monitoring crops and livestock, and other challenges beyond farmers’ and ranchers’ control.

(WATCH: Montana Department of Agriculture focusing on innovation in 2026)

Montana Department of Agriculture focusing on innovation in 2026

“We have very low commodity prices across the board,” Streit said. “We still have very high input prices across the board, and we have really high prices when it comes to our equipment, and so, it’s a really tough year.”

But innovation, including new practices, partnerships and technology use, can help navigate some of those challenges.

“We can’t make more time and we can’t make more land, so we need to start putting together innovative practices that help us maximize what our time and land can do,” Streit said.

Practices range from using technology like autonomous tractors and virtual fencing—allowing rangers to contain and move cattle right from their phones—to regenerative farming and ranching.

“It is bringing cattle back into farming operations to be able to work with cover cropping practices to invigorate the soil for new soil health benefits,” Streit said.

The Montana Department of Agriculture is working to help producers learn, share, and collaborate on new ideas to work in their operations.

The department will share stories of practices that work from farms and ranches across the state. Also, within the next year or so, Streit said the department is hoping to roll out technology to help producers collaborate.

“(It’s) providing a communication platform where people can get together and really help each other out by utilizing each other’s assets,” she said.

While not easy, agriculture is still one of Montana’s largest industries, and Streit said innovating and sharing ideas across the state can keep it going long into the future.

Source link