If you’re from Atlanta or have visited you may have seen this Magnolia tree . It feels out of place and super random but the tree is the center of baseball lore dating back to the Negro Leagues and Babe Ruth.
As we explore the origins of fun facts around the Negro Leagues check out our collection on fanatics of the Fear of God Negro Leagues collections.
In Atlanta, there is a fairly popular shopping center called the ponce city market, which is just adjacent to downtown Atlanta and now a part of a very cool development in Atlanta, the Belt Line.
Here used to be the Ponce De Leon Park. Which was the primary field for the Atlanta Crackers the white minor league team for 6 decades and the atlanta black crackers who played here off and on and captured the 1938 Negro American League 2nd half championship.
What was unique about the Ponce De Leon park is the magnolia tree that is still standing was a part of the field. Babe Ruth had two famous exhibition homers in Atlanta, one of which hit the tree while the other landed in a railroad car that then traveled 752 miles to Joplin, Mo
Eddie Mathews hit home runs that became stuck in the distant tree.[3] Willie Mays hit a 460-foot home run to centerfield during an exhibition game that was part of the 1955 Mays-Newcombe All-Stars "barnstorming tour".[4]
Baseball was the obvious calling card, but Ponce de Leon Park also served as a football field during the early years of Georgia Tech under the legendary John Heisman, as the Yellow Jackets played there until moving to their current home in 1913.
So next time you’re by Ponce Market and you see this magnolia tree remember that it once held a Babe Ruth Homerun and has seen more history than we care to remember.
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