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Sunday, May. 3, 2026

Did Babe Ruth play a baseball game in South Dakota?

Michael Klinski, South Dakota News Watch
yes

South Dakota baseball fans got a firsthand look at Babe Ruth during his 1922 barnstorming tour of the Midwest.

And fans in Sioux Falls had arguably the best show of all on Oct. 17, 1922. In a seven-paragraph story, the Argus Leader reported Ruth hit for the cycle (single, double, triple, home run), including a grand slam. About 1,500 fans attended the game and rosters were filled by local players.

The Sioux Falls mayor declared a holiday and asked businesses to close early. 

On Oct. 19, the tour visited Deadwood, where fans spent about $1.10 per ticket ($21 today) to see the New York Yankee pitch and go 2-for-4. The Rapid City Journal made note of a Deadwood pitcher who struck him out.

Ruth returned to South Dakota in 1948, flying out of Sioux Falls after stops in Iowa to promote youth baseball, two months before his death.

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