The Fourth of July fell on a Tuesday in 1939, and the New York Yankees were playing the traditional holiday doubleheader, this time at home against the Washington Senators.
The crowd that day in the House That Ruth Built was 61,808, The retired Babe was in attendance to help honor his co-legend, Lou Gehrig, who was now being sent into retirement by what had been a mysterious loss of coordination and strength.
Gehrig's ironman streak had ended at 2,130 regular-season games in early May. He tried to play a minor league game in June, had to leave the field and then went to the Mayo Clinic.