On This Day: Columbia 15, Wesleyan 2-Gehrig Crushes Record-Setting HR

NEW YORK, MAY 19th-It was 1923, and Columbia was thoroughly enjoying a season of outstanding mound work and tape-measure homers from a young Lou Gehrig. On this day, Wesleyan was paying a visit to the Lions at South Field, a game that Columbia would win going away, 15-2. 

Gehrig had already become a legend at Columbia, blasting homers at distances previously unseen at the Ivy League school. He would finish the 1923 season having set offensive marks that still rank in the top ten of Columbia's all-time single-season performances; his .444 batting average is still fifth, all-time, his .937 slugging percentage is the top mark in school history, and his seven home runs were the all-time mark up to that point. As a pitcher, his six wins are still tied for eighth and only two behind the all-time mark of eight, shared by five different pitchers. He also struck out 77 batters that year, which is still sixth all-time. That alone is surprising, considering that Columbia only played nineteen games, that year.

Gehrig played ten games at first, another eleven on the mound, and played both positions in three games. He set a single-game record of 17 strikeouts against Williams College on April 18^th, a record which stood for 45 years.

Scouts were already calling him “the next Babe Ruth”. As a side note, Gehrig very well could have ended up with the Washington Senators, had Clark Griffith's scout bothered to show up to see him play. The Giants also had a shot at Gehrig, but for reasons that escape me (comments welcome), McGraw refused to even consider giving him a chance to try out. Funny, how these things work out (see Robinson,Jackie; Boston Red Sox).

Anyway, Gehrig was working his magic as per usual on this day, going three shutout innings on the mound while allowing three hits and striking out five. He also went 2-3 at the plate, with a home run that left the stadium altogether and struck the School of Journalism building just outside of the center-field wall. The ball struck the steps of the building, over 450 feet from home plate and still considered the longest home run ever hit at South Field.

By June, Gehrig was a New York Yankee, and the rest is history.

From the Hartford Courant; May 20th, 1923: