Travel in Time with Dan: Bulkeley Stadium—Where Legends Played, and Babe Ruth Took His Final Swing
Hey everybody, how are you doing? It’s Dan Blanchard here with another edition of Travel in Time with Dan, where we mix travel with history, with leadership, and… of course… with me, Dan Blanchard!
Today, we are standing near the intersection of Hanmer Street and George Street in the South End of Hartford, Connecticut… just off Franklin Avenue. To most people driving past, it looks like ordinary ground. Overgrown grass. Former healthcare buildings. But decades ago, this very soil shook with the roar of thousands of fans watching some of the greatest athletes in American sports history. This was the site of Bulkeley Stadium…the place where Babe Ruth played the final baseball game of his life.
I’ve traveled back in time to speak with the man whose name the stadium carried: Morgan G. Bulkeley… President of Aetna, Mayor of Hartford, Governor of Connecticut, U.S. Senator, and the very first President of the Professional National League Baseball.
Here is our fictional conversation.
The Interview: Dan Blanchard Meets Morgan G. Bulkeley
Dan Blanchard: Mr. Bulkeley! Dan Blanchard here from Travel in Time with Dan. Thank you for meeting me on this ground. Most people today have no idea what once stood here.
Morgan G. Bulkeley: (Standing with the quiet authority of a man who built institutions) Mr. Blanchard. Ground remembers what people forget. This place opened in 1921 as Clarkin Field… one of the finest sporting venues in New England. Modern amenities, excellent locker rooms, a true showcase. Then came the fire of 1927. The stadium was gutted. When it rose again, they put my name on it. I had served as president of Aetna, mayor of this city, governor of Connecticut, United States senator, and the first president of the National League. Naming the stadium after me was an honor…, but the real honor was what happened inside it.
Dan: It wasn’t just a baseball park. It was a multi-sport cathedral.
Morgan G. Bulkeley: Exactly. Baseball, professional football, boxing, even oval-track auto racing. Hartford had its own NFL team in the 1920s—the Hartford Blues. They played the New York Giants right here. Members of Notre Dame’s legendary Four Horsemen suited up for the Blues. Steve Owen, who would later become a Hall of Famer and coach of the Giants, played on this field. In the ring, Willie Pep… the great lightweight with 229 wins and only 11 losses… boxed here. That kind of defensive mastery is rare in any era.
Dan: The baseball names are almost hard to believe. Lou Gehrig played his first professional season here under an assumed name to get around eligibility rules. Ted Williams hit a home run here. Ty Cobb. Cy Young. Jim Thorpe… one of the greatest athletes who ever lived… played for the Hartford team on this diamond.
Morgan G. Bulkeley: And major-league clubs came through for exhibitions—the Boston Red Sox, Boston Braves, Pittsburgh Pirates, St. Louis Cardinals, the Philadelphia Athletics. This was not a forgotten minor-league outpost. It was a stage that drew the best.
Dan: But the moment that still stops people cold is Babe Ruth’s last game. It didn’t happen at Yankee Stadium or Fenway. It happened right here in Hartford.
Morgan G. Bulkeley: (Nods slowly) At fifty years old, the Sultan of Swat came to play for the Savitt Gems against a New Britain club. In batting practice, he put on a show launching balls far out of the park the way only he could. When the game reached the late innings, he came in as a pinch hitter and grounded out to the pitcher. Afterward, he told the reporters, “Some days the pitches look like watermelons. Other days they look like peanuts.” That day the pitch looked like a peanut. Shortly afterward his health failed, and he never played organized baseball again. His final swing as a player happened on this hallowed ground.
Dan: The stadium didn’t last forever. In 1952, the Boston Braves moved to Milwaukee and took their farm team, the Hartford Chiefs, with them. Without a primary tenant and showing its age, the stadium was demolished in 1960. The site later held a convalescent home and a nursing facility. Both now closed. What’s left today is sparse: a section of the old third-base fence, a granite home plate marker often hidden in the tall grass, and, across town at Dunkin’ Donuts Park, a large mural of the Connecticut Senators that connects the new ballpark back to this era.
Morgan G. Bulkeley: Concrete and grandstands fall. That is the way of things. But the stories do not. The athletes who played here, the crowds that roared, the final chapter of Babe Ruth’s playing career… those remain. My own name on the stadium was never the point. The point was creating a place where excellence could be witnessed and remembered.
Dan: I have a personal connection here too. My grandfather, Joe Reynolds, played semi-professional football on this field. His twin sons later captained the football team at Bulkeley High School. And many years later, while playing for East Hartford High School, I played and won football games against Bulkeley High School for my own State Championship team. Standing here brings that family thread full circle. And I almost don’t have words for it as I stand on this ground and piece of history today.
Morgan G. Bulkeley: Then you understand. Places like this become part of family memory as well as public memory. That is how legacy works.
Dan: Standing on this ground with you, the leadership lesson is clear: Build something that outlasts you. Leave a lasting legacy. The stadium is gone. Many of the athletes are gone. But the stories, the community memories, and the example of excellence endure.
Morgan G. Bulkeley: Precisely, Mr. Blanchard. Physical structures crumble. The impact of what was built… the inspiration, the shared experiences, the standard of excellence… can travel forward through generations. Leaders who focus only on what they can see and touch in their own lifetime miss the deeper opportunity. Build so that the work continues to speak after you are gone.
Dan: Boom! Drop the bat! And the football! But never drop your hands is your boxing Willie Pep! Mr. Bulkeley, thank you for your time and for helping me see that even a vanished stadium can still teach us how to leave something that lasts.
Morgan G. Bulkeley: Safe travels back to your century, Mr. Blanchard. And the next time you drive past an ordinary-looking corner, slow down. History is often standing right there, waiting to be noticed.
The Travel in Time Wrap-Up
Standing on the former site of Bulkeley Stadium with Morgan G. Bulkeley made one leadership truth stand out clearly: Build something that outlasts you. Leave a lasting legacy.
What began as Clarkin Field in 1921 became, after a devastating 1927 fire, Bulkeley Stadium… named for a man who had already served as president of Aetna, mayor of Hartford, governor of Connecticut, U.S. senator, and the first president of the National League. For decades, the stadium hosted baseball legends including Lou Gehrig, Ted Williams, Ty Cobb, Cy Young, Jim Thorpe, Jimmy Foxx, and Babe Ruth, who played the final game of his career here at age fifty. It welcomed NFL football with the Hartford Blues, boxing with Willie Pep, and even auto racing. Major-league clubs came for exhibitions. Then the Boston Braves moved to Milwaukee to become the Milwaukee Braves. The Hartford Chiefs left with them, and the aging stadium was demolished in 1960. Today only fragments remain… a stretch of third-base fence, a granite home plate marker buried somewhere off to the left side in the overgrown grass… while a mural at Dunkin’ Donuts Park keeps the Connecticut Senators’ memory alive.
The grandstands are gone. The athletes are gone. My own grandfather, who played semi-pro football on this field, is gone. But the stories remain. That is the enduring power of legacy.
Every day we drive past places packed with extraordinary history we never notice. The question is whether we will build our own work… our leadership, our contributions, our character… in a way that continues to speak long after we are no longer standing on the ground.
So, what are you building right now that will outlast you? And what story will still be told about it when the physical structure is gone?
Until next time, this is Dan Blanchard with the Travel in Time with Dan show… where we mix travel with history, leadership, and me! Take care, and have a wonderful day!
Enjoyed this journey to the vanished stadium where Babe Ruth took his final swing? Don’t forget to check out our companion book chapters, YouTube videos, and podcasts to keep uncovering history and inspiring leadership!